FAIRFAX – The California men's golf team put itself in position to contend for a third consecutive Alister MacKenzie Invitational title by shooting 32-under-par across 36 holes Monday at Meadow Club. The Golden Bears, winners of the past two MacKenzie Invitational titles and 13 of 19 overall, shot 266-270 in rounds one and two and are in third place and nine shots off the lead entering the final 18 holes of play.
 
Pacific (-41) sits atop the team leaderboard after shooting a scorching 28-under-par 256 in round two, while San Jose State (-37) is in second. San Diego (-31) and Saint Mary's (-27) round out the top five along with Cal after 36 holes. Two Spartans – Zubair Firdaus and Keshav Mungali – are co-clubhouse leaders at 13-under-par individually.
 
The Bears were guided by a number of impressive performances Monday, including Wenliang Xie's 68-66 (-8) and Papon Sawatyanon's 67-67 (-8), which put both golfers in a tie for 14th individually. Charlie Berridge (-6), who is tied for 22nd along with Matthew Miyamoto, shot a team-low 18-hole score of 65 in the first round.
 
Daniel Heo, playing as an individual, owned the best day by a Bear, shooting 67-66 for a 9-under-par effort and a tie for eighth place. The junior has already this season tied for sixth at The Tindall in late September and won his match in the annual Big Match event between Cal and Stanford. Freshman Kai Hirayama, also playing as an individual and making his collegiate debut, was under par in both rounds, shooting 70-66 to tie for 22nd after the first day.
 
TEAM LEADERBOARD (TOP 5)

Place	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Pacific	-41	271	256		527
2	San Jose State	-37	264	267		531
3	California	-32	266	270		536
4	San Diego	-31	271	266		537
5	Saint Mary's	-27	275	266		541

 
CAL ON INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD

Place	Name	R1	R2	R3	Total
T8	Daniel Heo (Ind.)	67	66		133 (-9)
T14	Wenliang Xie	68	66		134 (-8)
T14	Papon Sawatyanon	67	67		134 (-8)
T22	Matthew Miyamoto	66	70		136 (-6)
T22	Charlie Berridge	65	71		136 (-6)
T22	Kai Hirayama (Ind.)	70	66		136 (-6)
T38	Sihao Cong	71	67		138 (-4)

 
UP NEXT
Cal's lineup starts the final round of the MacKenzie Invitational on hole 1 between 8:55-9:39 a.m. PT Tuesday. The Bears will play alongside Pacific (-41), San Jose State (-37) and San Diego (-31), all of which are separated by 10 strokes with 18 holes left. Heo and Hirayama – playing as individuals – are grouped together and teeing off hole 10 at 10 a.m. PT.
 
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