MURRELLS INLET, S.C. – California (288-286 – 574, -2) is 18 holes from reaching the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2016 with the Golden Bears in sole possession of fifth place following the conclusion of second-round action Tuesday at the NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional. The top five teams and one individual not from those teams will advance to a 2019 NCAA Championships field of 30 teams and six additional individuals May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.

"We haven't played to what we are capable of yet we're still in a position to advance to the NCAA Championships," Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Walter Chun said. "That shows how much heart this team is putting into it out there on the course. As long as we keep our focus, our composure and our grit, tomorrow's performance will take care of itself."

Cal hovered in and around the fifth position on the team leaderboard for most of Tuesday's second round and will begin Wednesday's third and final round three strokes ahead of both Texas Tech (289-288 – 577, +1) and Oregon (289-288 – 577, +1). Florida State (286-292 – 578, +2) and Northwestern (296-284 – 580, +4) are also within striking distance of the final advancing spot.

Ohio State (284-281 – 565, -11) is on top of the team leaderboard after 36 holes, while Wake Forest (286-281 – 567, -9), Illinois (279-288 – 567, -9) and UNLV (288-284 – 572, -4) are also in front of the Bears.

KK Limbhasut (69-71 – 140, -4) is the first Cal player listed on the individual leaderboard in a tie for seventh place and looking for his third career top-five performance at an NCAA Regional after finishing tied for fourth in both Lubbock in 2015 and Tucson in 2016. Limbhasut dropped one spot Tuesday after being in a tie for sixth following the opening round and is four strokes behind co-leaders Edwin Yi of Oregon (69-67 – 136, -8) and Michael Feagles of Illinois (68-68 – 136, -8).

Sebastian Crampton (73-69 – 142, -2) jumped 16 spots Tuesday into a tie for 13th after a three-under par round of 69 that was Cal's best of the day and matched Limbhasut's round Monday. Crampton got to five-under par for the round with three par-four birdies (10, 12, 4) and the team's lone eagle of the round by making a short putt after hitting his approach shot to within three feet of the cup. He gave two strokes back with a pair of bogeys on the par-three fifth and seventh holes.

Kaiwen Liu (72-73 – 145, +1) held onto his spot in a tie for 20th after his one-over par round of 73 on Tuesday, while Collin Morikawa (74-73 – 147, +3) is up one place into a tie for 34th after he matched Liu's round and James Song (74-75 – 149, +5) is down 15 spots into a tie for 50th following his three-over par 75.

Third and final-round action of the NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional co-hosted by Coastal Carolina and the Myrtle Beach Regional Sports Alliance at the par-72, 6950-yard TPC Myrtle Beach is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 7:30 am ET/4:30 am PT. Cal will play in five threesomes along with UNLV and Texas Tech starting from the 10th tee at 8 am ET/5 am PT.
 
More …

• Limbhasut birdied three of the course's par-five holes (14, 2, 6) but had one of his three bogeys on the other (18) while he also bogeyed back-to-back holes on the par-four fourth and par-three fifth
• All four of Liu's bogeys came over a six-hole stretch on his first nine (13, 15, 16, 18) while he had three birdies including one before the stretch on the par-four 12th as well as two on his second nine with one on each of the two par-five holes (2, 6)
• Morikawa made 15 pars to go along with one birdie on the par-five 14th as well as two bogeys on the par-three 13th and par-four eighth
• Morikawa's back-to-back rounds over par to start the NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional mark the first time he has had back-to-back rounds over par since the third and final round of the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational to end the 2017 fall season and the first round of the Arizona Intercollegiate to begin the 2018 spring slate
• Morikawa goes into Wednesday's final round with streaks of 10 straight finishes in the top seven, 16 consecutive showings in the top 10 and 23 in the top 20
• Song's round consisted of four bogeys including two on par-fives (14, 6) as well as the par-three 13th and par-four ninth, as well as a birdie on the par-four eighth
• Cal has three seniors in the lineup in Morikawa, Crampton and Limbhasut each looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2016 with the trio now having combined for 10 individual victories, 144 events and 443 rounds

NCAA MYRTLE BEACH REGIONAL LEADERBOARDS
(After 2 Of 3 Days, 2 Of 3 Rounds, 36 Of 54 Holes)
TPC Myrtle Beach (Par 72, 6950 Yards)
 
TEAM
1. Ohio State (284-281 – 565, -11); T2. Wake Forest (286-281 – 567, -9); T2. Illinois (279-288 – 567, -9); 4. UNLV (288-284 – 572, -4); 5. California (288-286 – 574, -2); T6. Texas Tech (289-288 – 577, +1); T6. Oregon (289-288 – 577, +1); 8. Florida State (286-292 – 578, +2); 9. Northwestern (296-284 – 580, +4); T10. Oregon State (296-294 - 590, +14); T10. Cal State Fullerton (292-298 – 590, +14); 12. VCU (301-291 – 592, +16); 13. Middle Tennessee State (305-293 – 598, +22); 14. Robert Morris (305-303 – 608, +32)
 
PLAYER – CO-INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
T1. Edwin Yi – Oregon (69-67 – 136, -8); T1. Michael Feagles – Illinois (68-68 – 136, -8)
 
PLAYER – CALIFORNIA INDIVIDUALS
T7. KK Limbhasut (69-71 – 140, -4); T13. Sebastian Crampton (73-69 – 142, -2); T20. Kaiwen Liu (72-73 – 145, +1); T34. Collin Morikawa (74-73 – 147, +3); T50. James Song (74-75 – 149, +5)
 
What They Are Saying …
 
Sebastian Crampton

• "Tomorrow is undoubtedly a huge day for us. We know what we are capable of, and we know playing  well and advancing should be well within our reach. To do so, we need to hit smart shots and trust our game and each other. None of the seniors want tomorrow to be our last time in Cal colors and we're going to do all we can to make that happen."

KK LImbhasut

• "We are in position to advance tomorrow and I believe that every single one of us knows what to do. As seniors, we have been in this position so many times and we have pulled it off before. The is the last stretch of college golf for myself, Collin, Seb and Ben, so we want to go as far as possible. We are confident we will do great things tomorrow and move forward. We will need to get off to a hot start and that will give us a chance to put up a great score."

Collin Morikawa

• "Our team hung in there once again and although we would have liked a much lower round, we're still in it with one day left. There's a lot of teams around us with one day left, we'll have to put everything out there. We've been in this position before so we just have to stick to our game plan and execute."