PULLMAN, Wash. – KK Limbhasut (70-69-66-75 – 280, E) tied for sixth place at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships that concluded Wednesday at the par-70, 7257-yard Palouse Ridge Golf Club. His finish tied for the highest conference showing in recorded history by a Cal freshman, equaling the tied for sixth place finish by Michael Weaver in 2010. Cal (359-361-356-364 – 1440, +40) placed seventh as a team at the event co-hosted by the Pac-12 and Washington State.
“KK played some great golf both in this tournament and all season,” head coach Steve Desimone said. “This is arguably the best conference in the country. To finish in the top 10 in this tournament you've done a lot of things right. It was a great job on KK's part.”
“Overall I'm playing well right and now, and I'm glad to have tied Cal's freshman record in this event but I would love to win a team and individual title in the near future,” Limbhasut said. “This was definitely one of the best tournaments I've ever played in. It was an experience to be near the top, and I learned what to do and what not to do on a golf course this tough. More importantly I can apply what I learned to NCAA Regionals in a couple of weeks.”
Limbhasut's top-10 finish was his fifth of the season to tie Sebastian Crampton for the team lead while his top-15 showing was his team-high seventh. Limbhasut won his first collegiate tournament at the Aggie Invitational earlier this month and he is the only Cal player to have participated in each of the team's first 12 events and 37 rounds in 2014-15.
Limbhasut started Wednesday's fourth and final round from the 10th tee tied for second place four shots behind eventual individual medalist Maverick McNealy of Stanford (65-68-68-61 – 262), who broke both the Pac-12 Championships mark for fewest strokes over 72 holes and the Palouse Ridge Golf Club single-round mark with his 61 on Wednesday. Limbhasut was unable to make up any ground during a birdieless final round that included three bogeys on the par-three 11th, and par-four 17th and 18th holes, and a double bogey on the par-four first.
Limbhasut had made 14 birdies in the first three rounds to rank second only to McNeely after 54 holes.
Shotaro Ban (67-71-73-71 – 282, +2) finished in a tie for 13th after having been near the top of the leaderboard for most of the first half of the 72-hole event and in sole possession of the lead briefly at one point during Monday's second round. Ban's up-and-down final round Wednesday included four birdies (10, 14, 18, 2) and five bogeys (13, 16, 17, 6, 7). He would finish the tournament with 15 birdies to rank tied for third.
“I really grinded out there today and played a lot better than I scored as I did for the whole tournament,” Ban said. “I had a solid first round Monday and then never really recovered from a bad stretch in the second round. Congratulations to Maverick [McNealy] on the win as he's worked hard and is playing at another level right now. I'll take this as experience and get him next time.”
Crampton (77-71-71-70 – 289, +9) shot his best round of the tournament Wednesday and jumped up eight spots in the final standings from where he started the day into a tie for 31st. Crampton had four birdies (14, 15, 18, 5) and four bogeys (11, 12, 3, 9) in his third consecutive tour of the golf course in one-over or better.
“My last three rounds were definitely an improvement, but overall my putting just wasn't good enough for anything good to happen this week,” Crampton said. “If my putting was better, I could have posted a few really good numbers and a solid finish.”
Keelan Kilpatrick (72-75-71-72 – 290, +10) and Ben Doyle (73-75-75-76 – 299, +19) also scored for the Bears on Wednesday, finishing tied for 34th and tied for 56th, respectively. Alexander Wilson added a seven-over par 77 on Wednesday in his third round of competition that was his best of the event. Wilson also had one of Cal's two eagles for the entire tournament on the par-four 15th when he hit his drive approximately 350 yards downwind to within three feet of the hole and tapped in. Wilson had an 11-over par 81 in his first round Monday and then was forced to withdraw from his second round later in the day due to illness before returning with a nine-over 79 on Tuesday. Cameron Shaw was scheduled to play in the tournament but did not make the trip also due to illness.
“I was very pleased with how we played overall given the limitations we had with our health issues,” Desimone said. “There's no question we were at a disadvantage, but it's all part of the game. We have been fortunate all year to not have significant health or injury issues. It's just too bad that they hit us heading into arguably the biggest tournament that we've had the whole year to this point, but it looks like we're in the recovery mode.”
Stanford (362-348-346-340 – 1396, -4) won the conference title for the second straight season after Cal had captured the league crown for the first two times in school history each of the previous two campaigns. The Cardinal had trailed third-round leader and eventual third-place finisher Arizona State (354-351-342-364 – 1411, +11) by nine shots heading into Wednesday's action but ended up winning by 14 strokes after a 10-under par final team round that was the best of the tournament. Oregon (357-360-349-344 – 1410, +10) had the second-best round of the day at six-under par on Wednesday and finished in second place one shot better than Arizona State.
Cal will learn its NCAA postseason fate next Monday when selections for each of the six NCAA Regionals are announced live on Golf Channel's Morning Drive program starting at 7 a.m. PT.
NCAA Regional action is slated for May 14-16 at six sites around the country including Bremerton, Wash. (Gold Mountain Golf Club; Host – Washington); Chapel Hill, N.C. (Finley Golf Course; Host – North Carolina); Lubbock, Tex. (Rawls Course; Host – Texas Tech); New Haven, Conn. (The Course at Yale; Host – Yale); Noblesville, Ind. (Sagamore Club; Host – Ball State); and San Diego, Calif. (Farms Golf Club; Host – UC San Diego).
The top five teams from each of the six NCAA Regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships hosted by South Florida and played May 29 – June 3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
Cal is looking to set a new school-record with a ninth straight NCAA Regional appearance and is one only six teams in the country to have reached the final NCAA Championships field of 30 for each of the last five campaigns.
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS (CO-HOSTED BY PAC-12 AND WASHINGTON STATE)
PULLMAN, WA
PALOUSE RIDGE GOLF CLUB (PAR 70, 7257 YARDS)
FINAL TEAM LEADERBOARD (after 3 of 3 days/4 of 4 rounds/72 of 72 holes)
1. Stanford (362-348-346-340 – 1396, -4)
2. Oregon (357-360-349-344 – 1410, +10)
3. Arizona State (354-351-342-364 – 1411, +11)
4. USC (355-344-361-357 – 1417, +17)
5. Washington (363-353-357-362 – 1435, +35)
6. Oregon State (361-357-357-363 – 1438, +38)
7. Cal (359-361-356-364 – 1440, +40)
8. UCLA (364-358-358-362 – 1442, +42)
9. Arizona (372-364-359-351 – 1446, +46)
10. Washington State (363-347-366-377 – 1453, +53)
11. Colorado (374-365-361-359 – 1459, +59)
12. Utah (382-376-382-375 – 1515, +115)
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST (after 3 of 3 days/4 of 4 rounds/72 of 72 holes)
1. Maverick McNealy – Stanford (65-68-68-61 – 262, -18)
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 3 of 3 days/4 of 4 rounds/72 of 72 holes)
T6. KK Limbhasut (70-69-66-75 – 280, E)
T13. Shotaro Ban (67-71-73-71 – 282, +2)
T31. Sebastian Crampton (77-71-71-70 – 289, +9)
T34. Keelan Kilpatrick (72-75-71-72 – 290, +10)
T56. Ben Doyle (73-75-75-76 – 299, +19)
WD. Alexander Wilson (81-WD-79-77)
