WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – California (289-289-283 – 861, -3) shot the best round of the day on Tuesday at North Ranch Country Club and led by one stroke heading into the final two holes but ended up one shot behind USC (284-285-291 – 860, -4) in the battle for the team title at the Southwestern Invitational hosted by Pepperdine.

USC's Justin Suh and Kaito Onishi both dropped birdie putts on their 54th hole of the tournament at the 18th green in third and final=round action Tuesday, while Cal's Collin Morikawa and Sebastian Crampton made par. The Bears and Trojans had been tied heading into the 18th hole in the final round but Cal had taken a one-stroke advantage on the third to last hole when Cal's KK Limbhasut made par while USC's Issei Tanabe bogeyed.

Suh (68-68-68 – 204, -12) won individual medalist honors by four strokes while Morikawa (70-70-71 – 211, -5) led all Cal players with a third-place finish seven strokes off the pace. Crampton (73-71-69 – 213, -3) and Kaiwen Liu (72-71-70 – 213, -3) were two of the five players to tie for fourth two strokes behind Morikawa although Liu was playing as an individual so his effort did not count toward the Golden Bears' team score. Cal did have two thers in its lineup place in the top 20 in KK Limbhasut (73-73-71 – 217, +1) and James Song (73-76-72 – 221, +5), who tied for 13th and 20th, while Jamie Cheatham (75-75-74 – 224, +8) took home a share of 35th in the 66-player field.

Cal is scheduled to return to action March 3-5 at the prestigious Southern Highlands Collegiate hosted by UNLV at the Southern Highlands Golf Club.
 
More …

• Cal just missed winning its third consecutive tournament for the first time since the fall of 2013 after having previously captured the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational to end the fall schedule and The Farms Invitational to begin the spring
• Morikawa extended his amazing current streaks of top-five, top-10 and top-20 finishes to six, 12 and 19 in a row, respectively
• Morikawa birdied three of the course's par-fives (4, 12, 15) in Tuesday's third round to make it 9-of-12 for the tournament and also had a birdie on the par-four seventh Tuesday but also had a bogey on the par-four 10th and a rare double bogey (third of season) on the par-three 13th
• Crampton recorded his third straight top-four finish
• Liu had the best showing of his career while playing as an individual after a two-under par round Tuesday that included birdies on both back nine par-threes (13, 17) among his four birdies
• Crampton, Limbhasut and Song had a team-high-tying five birdies each on Tuesday
• Crampton's three-under par 69 was the team's best round of the day, tied for the second-best of the day overall and his best of the tournament
• Limbhasut's final three birdies came in successive fashion on holes 15-17

 
What They Are Saying …

• "I'm really proud of everyone. We played well and kept persevering. When we made mistakes, we would bounce back with some birdies and that's the mark of a team that's determined and won't let up." – Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Walter Chun
• "It was great to see the team fight back into contention coming down the stretch. This week really showed where our game stands against some great teams, and we'll keep our heads high heading forward. We didn't play our best, but we managed what he had. I'm sure all of us will look back at the past couple of days and refine parts of our game for next week in Las Vegas. Southern Highlands is one of the toughest courses to play, so we'll all have to be sharp every single shot." – Collin Morikawa
• "Overall, we're in a good spot moving forward, and I like our chances at Southern Highlands and beyond. I'm excited to get back there and test our game against the best teams in the country." – Sebastian Crampton

 
FINAL SOUTHWESTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE LEADERBOARDS
(After 2 Of 2 Days, 3 Of 3 Rounds, 54 Of 54 Holes)
North Ranch Country Club (Par 72, 6992 Yards)
 
TEAM
1. USC (284-285-291 – 860, -4); 2. California (289-289-283 – 861, -3); 3. UCLA (286-288-291 – 865, +1); 4. Pepperdine (296-288-285 – 869, +5); 5. Tennessee (291-290-296 – 877, +13); 6. San Jose State (293-296-289 – 878, +14); 7. Oregon State (295-292-293 – 880, +16); 8. San Diego State (293-298-290 – 881, +17); 9. LMU (298-291-297 – 886, +22); 10. Washington (305-299-285 – 890, +26); 11. George Washington (306-304-301 – 911, +47); 12. Augusta (310-309-295 – 914, +50)
 
PLAYER – INDVIDUAL MEDALIST
1. Justin Suh – USC (68-68-68 – 204, -12)
 
PLAYER – CAL INDIVIDUALS
3. Collin Morikawa (70-70-71 – 211, -5); T4. Sebastian Crampton (73-71-69 – 213, -3), ^T4. Kaiwen Liu (72-71-70 – 213, -3); T13. KK Limbhasut (73-73-71 – 217, +1); T20. James Song (73-76-72 – 221, +5); T35. Jamie Cheatham (75-75-74 – 224, +8)
^played as individual