LOS CABOS, MEXICO – Freshman Collin Morikawa (70-68-67 – 205, -8) posted the best finish of his young collegiate career by tying for second place and Cal (281-285-283 – 849, -3) tied for fourth at the conclusion Tuesday of the Querencia Cabo Collegiate co-hosted by Arkansas and Houston at the par-71, 6928-yard Los Cabos Querencia.
Georgia (281-268-285 – 834, -18) won the prestigious event that featured a 15-team field with three top-10, nine top-25 and 12 top-50 squads. South Florida (274-283-287 – 844, -8) finished second followed by Baylor (275-289-283 – 847, -5), Cal and Stanford (286-278-285 – 849, -3). The Golden Bears' one-under par final round tied for the second-best of the day and was better than both Georgia and South Florida.
“I can't give our guys enough compliments,” associate head coach Walter Chun said. “They hung tough, played smart and didn't back down from anyone. We beat the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams in the country in Wake Forest and Florida State, and we tied with No. 7 Stanford. I think our guys are understanding that they're pretty good. They'll hopefully learn from any of their mistakes and just continue to build and improve.”
“I'm going to take all of the positives I can out of this week,” Morikawa said. “It is great momentum for me going into next week at Southern Highlands and the rest of the spring.”
Morikawa was tied for the lead with individual medalist Aksel Olsen of South Florida (68-67-69 – 204, -9) heading into his final hole but a three-putt bogey dropped him out of a shared top spot and the opportunity for a playoff. Morikawa, who started on the sixth hole in a shotgun start, left his approach shot to the fifth green 30 feet from the pin on the front part of the green. His first putt over one ridge and down another ended up five feet beyond the hole before his par putt slid by the right side of the hole.
“I wasn't trying to force anything on the first putt but just got a little aggressive with the speed,” Morikawa said. “The second putt never really had a chance. It wasn't a good putt.”
Morikawa, who moved up four spots with the tournament's second-best final round after starting Tuesday in a tie for sixth, had seven birdies and three bogeys in his four-under tour of the course. After starting with three pars, he would make birdie on the par-five ninth, followed by a bogey on the par-four 10th, back-to-back birdies on the par-three 11th and par-four 12th, and a bogey on the par-four 13th. After making par on the par-three 14th, Morikawa would play his next eight holes in four-under par with birdies on the par-five 15th, par-four 18th, par-four third and par-five fourth.
“I was feeling good,” Morikawa said.
“When Collin gets rolling he tends to make birdies in bunch,” Chun added.
Senior Cameron Shaw (70-70-71 – 211, -2) moved up two spots Tuesday to tie for 10th and wrap up his best performance since the fall of his 2014-15 junior season with the third top-10 finish of his career. Shaw, who played for the first time this season in Cal's previous tournament at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, started on the seventh hole Tuesday with his round including two birdies on the par-three 11th and par-five 15th before two bogeys on the par-four 16th and 18th.
Fellow senior Shotaro Ban (71-73-71 – 215, +2) jumped up 15 spots Tuesday to finish in a tie for 18th after an even-par round that included three birdies and three bogeys. Ban, who started on the eighth hole, birdied two of the course' three-par fives (9, 15) while he bogeyed two of four par-threes (11, 2). He also had one birdie (1) and one bogey (18) on the course's remaining 11 par-four holes.
Sophomores KK Limbhasut (71-74-74 – 219, +6) and Sebastian Crampton (70-75-74 – 219, +6) both had three-over par final rounds Tuesday and tied for 34th.
NOTES
● Cal has finished in the top four in all eight of its events in 2015-16. The Bears have recorded a pair of victories (Inverness Intercollegiate, Alister MacKenzie Invitational), two second-place showings (Gopher Invitational, John A. Burns Intercollegiate), finished third three times (Nick Watney Invitational, Tavistock Collegiate Invitational, Arizona Intercollegiate) and tied for fourth once (Querencia Cabo Collegiate)
● Morikawa has been in the top 20 in all eight of his collegiate events and extended his string of top-10 finishes to four with both the most by any Cal player in 2015-16.
● Ban had the only eagle of the tournament for the Bears on the par-five 15th hole during Monday's second round.
● Cal played in the Querencia Cabo Collegiate for the first time in school history and out of the country for the first time since 2000 when the Bears played at the Topy Cup in Fukushima, Japan. Cal also played in Mexico for the first time since three straight victories from 1996-98 at the International Intercollegiate at Club Campestre in Monterrey.
QUERENCIA CABO COLLEGIATE (CO-HOSTED BY ARKANSAS AND HOUSTON)
LOS CABOS, MEXICO
LOS CABOS QUERENCIA (PAR 71, 6928 YARDS)
FINAL TEAM LEADERBOARD (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Georgia (281-268-285 – 834, -18)
2. South Florida (274-283-287 – 844, -8)
3. Baylor (275-289-283 – 847, -5)
T4. Cal (281-285-283 – 849, -3)
T4. Stanford (286-278-285 – 849, -3)
6. Vanderbilt (294-275-282 – 851, -1)
7. Florida State (284-285-299 – 868, +16)
8. Mississippi (292-282-297 – 871, +19)
9. Arkansas (291-286-295 – 872, +20)
T10. Washington (285-294-294 – 873, +21)
T10. LSU (295-289-289 – 873, +21)
T12. Houston (292-294-294 – 880, +28)
T12. Oregon State (287-289-304 – 880, +28)
14. Wake Forest (294-290-301 – 885, +33)
15. Rice (296-298-300 – 894, +42)
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Aksel Olsen – South Florida (68-67-69 – 204, -9)
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
T2. Collin Morikawa (70-68-67 – 205, -8)
T10. Cameron Shaw (70-70-71 – 211, -2)
T18. Shotaro Ban (71-73-71 – 215, +2)
T34. KK Limbhasut (71-74-74 – 219, +6)
T34. Sebastian Crampton (70-75-74 – 219, +6)
