Golfers Tie For Third At Pac-12 Championship

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team took a quick lead here Sunday but could not hold off a charging Stanford team and eventually settled for a tie for third place as the 63rd annual Pac-12 Championship came to a close.

No. 9 and the host Cardinal pulled away from the field early; entering the round tied for third and two strokes behind No. 57 Colorado and No. 37 Washington, familiarity with the home course finally paid off for them, as it was 5-under on the front nine, while the Buffs were 6-over and the Huskies 8-over. In the end, Stanford was the only team under par in the final round (a 4-under 346) and finished with a 19-under score of 1,381.

No. 4 Arizona State clung on to second with a 1,394 score, while the Buffaloes and Washington State tied for third with 1,395 totals. No. 22 Oregon and No. 37 and defending champion Washington tied for fifth at 1,397, on the back end of just four strokes separating five teams.

It was still CU's second-best finish in 11 Pac-12 championship meets, as only a second place effort in 2018 topped this weekend's performance. After entering the day tied for first place, the Buffaloes did assume the lead early Sunday for a few holes, until Stanford caught fire.

The scores were higher the last two rounds, when the winds picked up a bit; on Sunday, they were gusting at times from 15-to-20 miles per hour. As a result, the final round's stroke average was over three strokes higher than in the second round, and of the 195 double bogeys or worse scored here, 74 took place on Sunday. Colorado wound up with the second fewest of those here with just 10, one behind Washington (the home team even had 16, six on Sunday, one more than CU and UW).

Sophomore Dylan McDermott finished second after firing a 2-under 68 for a 13-under 267 scorecard, which was two back of Stanford's Michael Thorbjornsen, who also closed with a 68 and a 15-under 265 total on the 6,727-yard, par-70 Stanford Golf Club course layout. In scoring in the 60s all four rounds, he became just the third Buffalo to accomplish the feat, with the 13-under effort tying the school best in relation to par in a tournament on any course configuration, including the best-ever on a par-70 design.

McDermott led the field in par-4 scoring at 10-under par, three better than his Stanford counterpart; he tied for fifth in birdies with 18, two back of Thorbjornsen. He also had an eagle and 46 pars with just seven bogeys all weekend. From midway in the second round until early in the fourth, he posted a team season-best 30 straight holes of par or better, a stretch where he was 8-under par.

"Dylan played just amazing," head coach Roy Edwards said. "He went toe-to-toe with the world's third-ranked amateur, and was right there with him the entire time. He went stroke-for-stroke with him all day, and even though he came up just short, the experience for Dylan will be both beneficial and memorable."

McDERMOTT vs. THORBJORNSEN DUEL. Stanford junior Michael Thorbjornsen claimed medalist honors with a two-stroke victory over CU sophomore Dylan McDermott. But it didn't come easy. Entering the day two back with an 11-under 199, total, McDermott caught Thorbjornsen right away, as he birdied No. 1 while the Thorbjornsen bogeyed No. 2. But McDermott bogeyed No. 3 to fall one stroke back again, but would pull even with a birdie on No. 5. Tied through six, McDermott bogeyed No. 7, the two birdied the par-3 8th, and Thorbjornsen birdied No. 9 to resume his two-stroke lead at the turn.

But McDermott birdied No. 10, and when Thorbjornsen bogeyed No 12, the two were again tied. But the Cardinal top golfer, ranked third in the nation, took over the lead for good with a birdies on Nos. 13 and 15, once again up by two. Both birdied the par-5 16th and closed with bogeys on No. 18. McDermott's bogey on that hole came after he was under a tree after his tee shot; he chipped out and then on the green in three and two-putted from about 25 feet. It turned out to be a pretty good bogey save, which also kept him in second place by himself and the team in a tie for third.

"It was amazing, being right there for the Pac-12 was awesome," McDermott said of both his effort and the team's. "It was nice being in this position before at Notre Dame (where he opened the season with medalist honors), but I knew what it meant playing against someone like Michael. It was a dream come true and a tough battle, and even though it ended like it did, it was a fun experience and it meant a lot.

He felt his play off the tee was the key to a successful tournament, especially Sunday when the winds whipped up. "My driving kept it in the fairway almost all of the time. It limited my mistakes and kept me in the running the entire tournament. The wind as really rough today, and it got a lot of people. I was a little nervous at the start, and there were a lot of people out here watching. I focused and didn't let the wind or the moment get to me and hit all the fairways except the one on 18."

"Team-wise, we did something that money can't buy, and that is getting a lot of experience playing with the lead on a really tough day on a tough golf course," Edwards said. "Getting that experience and playing with the pressure and emotion, I feel like we handled it for the most part. It was really pivotal for a young team and eventually falling short to one of the nation's top teams on its home course is nothing to be ashamed about.

"Our course management was good all week, much more challenging today with the weather," he added. "The native grass was so thick and high, and with the wind, if you miss-hit it, the ball would got into those native grasses and a high number was inevitable – there were a lot of lost balls. I was really proud of how the team managed their games."

Freshman Hunter Swanson carded a 1-over 71 that led to an even-par 280 for the championship and a tie for 20th. He had two birdies and 13 pars with three bogeys Sunday, and he recorded 14 birds and 46 pars for the weekend. He played the par-3's at 2-under, tied for fourth-best.

"(Associate) Coach (Derek) Tolan and I were talking about how good Hunter is going to be," Edwards said. "He had a really nice week and he just keeps getting better and better. We're really looking forward to see how he develops."

It was the third highest finish by a CU freshman in the Pac-12 championship and the second-best score in relation to par. Swanson also tied for fourth among the 19 freshmen competing here; Washington State's Sam Renner won the rookie race with a 4-under 276, followed by Oregon State's Collin Hodgkinson (278); Arizona State's Michael Mjaaseth and USC's Mahanth Chirravuri matched Swanson.

Sophomore Justin Biwer tied for 26th with a 1-over 281 score after closing with a 6-over 76, unfortunately his high score for the year. It was inflated by the first triple bogey of his collegiate career after 1,211 holes; he scored a 7 on the par-4 6th hole after standing even on the round at the time. He had three birdies and eight pars with six bogeys and the triple on the day, and had CU's second-most birdies (16) for the weekend.

Sophomore Tucker Clark wrapped things with a 4-over 74, which gave him a 4-over 284 overall and a tie for 34th; he had opened with three straight 70s. He started Sunday with a birdie, his only one of the round, and went on to score 12 pars against five bogeys in the final round and 14 birds and 40 pars overall. He played the par-5 holes the best of all the Buffaloes at 6-under.

Sophomore Jack Holland tied for 43rd after fashioning a 3-over 73 to finish with a 7-over 287 total. He had two birdies and 12 pars with three bogeys and a double Sunday, and finished with 11 birdies and 46 pars overall. He was even through five holes but had a stretch of 4-over to wrap the side; he rallied to keep his score most respectable. Of the 12 players seeded in their No. 6 positions, he posted the third best score.

"Jack had a monster back nine," Edwards noted. "He was irritated about how he finished his front nine, but he just sucked it up and played well on the back.

"Everybody on the team just battled all week and I couldn't be prouder."

Senior Jack Hughes had his troubles for a second straight round, finishing in 65th overall after closing with a 14-over 84; that pushed him to 21-over 301 for the weekend. He had seven pars against eight bogeys and three doubles; his second round 67 here was key, however, in the Buffs setting a school record 14-under par round that firmly entrenched CU in the top fourth of the standings. He had 10 birdies and 35 pars overall.

The NCAA Championship selections for six regionals will be announced live on the Golf Channel this Wednesday, May 3 beginning at 11:00 a.m. MDT (also streamed live on its website). Colorado should be in good position for its first berth as a team since the 2017-18 season, though has had an individual qualify each of the three regionals since.

NOTES: McDermott's four rounds in the 60s this weekend gives him 20 for the year, topping the previous CU record of 18 set by Jeremy Paul in 2015-16; he now owns the season mark of rounds or par or better with 30, which includes 11 in a row after setting the school mark of 13 last fall … McDermott also now has 24 subpar rounds, tying the school-best by Yannik Paul in 2017-18 … The average score for all 288 rounds was 71.48: the 73.42 mark for Sunday was the highest of the four rounds, well above the second round low of 70.26 … Colorado played the par-4's the second-best at 27-over (Stanford was slightly best at plus-26); the Buffs also played the par-3s at 14-over (sixth) and the par-5s at 21-under (ninth) … The Buffs finished tied for third in birdies (83, Oregon led with 86, Stanford had 84) and was ninth in pars (254; Oregon State led with 280) … Colorado is now 15-10-1 versus Pac-12 schools this year, and also holds the edge in rounds by 48-36-5; CU is 127-52-5 against Division I competition; the first criteria for selection into the NCAA Regionals owning a winning record against Division I opponents ... The Buffaloes defeated four top 50 teams here (No. 18 Arizona, No. 22 Oregon, No. 37 Washington and No. 50 Cal), and kept three others ranked behind them at an arm's length … Heading into regionals, McDermott lowered his team-leading stroke average to 69.76 for 34 rounds.

NOTES II: Previous to McDermott's effort here, Ross Macdonald and Yannik Paul were the first to record four rounds in the 60s in the same event, doing so in the 2018 Pac-12's; both tied for second that year down the coast southwest of Los Angeles … Swanson's effort as a freshman trailed only Biwer in 2022 (fifth, 1-under 283) and Ethan Freeman in 2014 (tie-16th, 6-over 294) … It also tied for the 12th best finish by a freshman in a conference meet in school history. The highest finish by a freshman in a league meet came in the 1979 Big Eight Championship, when Rick Cramer finished second; that had topped Steve Jones when he was third in 1978 … Holland's 7-over 287 out of the slotted No. 6 spot was bested only by OSU's Hodgkinson (2-under 278) and Stanford's Ethan Ng (4-over 284) … It was McDermott's eighth top 10 finish this season, one back of the school mark first set by Jones in 1980-81 and matched by Patrick Grady in 2008-09; his five top five finishes are tied for second, behind only six by Bobby Kalinowski in 1993-94.

NOTES III: The Pac-12 Network will broadcast a review of the event at 8 p.m. MDT on May 1... The six regional sites for the 2023 NCAA Championships are East—Salem, N.C. (Clemson); South— Auburn, Ala. (Auburn); Midwest—Bath, Mich. (Michigan State); Central—Norman, Okla. (Oklahoma); Southwest—Las Vegas, Nev. (UNLV); and West—Morgan Hill, Calif. (San Jose State) ... Arizona State will host the 2024 Pac-12 Championship at Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree (north of Scottsdale) next April (dates TBA).

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
2.	Dylan McDermott	66-66-67-68—267
T20.	Hunter Swanson	70-67-72-71—280
T26.	Justin Biwer	70-66-69-76—281
T34.	Tucker Clark	70-70-70-74—284
T43.	Jack Holland	68-71-75-73—287
65.	Jack Hughes	72-67-78-84—301

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

1.	Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford	63-66-68-68—265
2.	Dylan McDermott, Colorado	66-66-67-68—267
3.	Pono Yanagi, Washington State	68-66-68-66—268
4.	Javier Barcos, Utah	69-68-64-71—272
5.	Nate Stember, Oregon	67-70-66-70—273
T6.	Bo Peng, Washington	68-68-68-71—275
T6.	Karl Vilips, Stanford	69-68-68-70—275

TEAM STANDINGS

1.	Stanford	350-341-344-346—1381
2.	Arizona State	331-345-359-359—1394
3.	COLORADO	344-336-353-362—1395
3.	Washington State	344-349-349-353—1395
5.	Oregon	342-345-351-359—1397
5.	Washington	343-343-347-364—1397
7.	Arizona	352-349-350-363—1414
8.	California	351-353-351-361—1416
9.	Oregon State	351-362-352-358—1423
10.	Southern California	356-354-358-359—1427
11.	Utah	361-348-342-381—1432
12.	UCLA	366-348-364-370—1448

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Players Mentioned

Justin Biwer

Tucker Clark

Jack Holland

Jack Hughes

Dylan McDermott

Hunter Swanson