Men’s Golf | May 18, 2022
Trojan freshman Jackson Rivera fired a final-round 2-under 70 to tie for 10th at the NCAA Championships Stockton Regional, coming one stroke short of a playoff that decided an individual NCAA final berth on Wednesday (May 18) at The Reserve at Spanos Park.
Rivera, a 2022 All-Pac-12 Second-Teamer and All-Freshman pick who played as an individual this week, finished 54 holes at 7-under 209 (68-71-70) and came ever-so-close to earning the region’s individual bid to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk G.C.
As it was, Rivera’s 7-under was one back of Washington’s RJ Manke and LSU’s Drew Doyle. Manke defeated Doyle on the first playoff hole.
Rivera got off to a 3-under start with birdies on 1, 6 and 7, turned at 3-under and got to 4-under with another birdie on 11, edging in front of the contingent vying for the individual NCAA invite.
His only bobble of the day came with bogeys on 12 and 13 which dropped him to 7-under and a shot back. He finished with five straight pars, one stroke outside of the playoff.
“Jackson had a great tournament,” USC Coach J.T. Higgins said. “He played such solid golf and gave himself a lot of good opportunities to score. Coming down the stretch, he had a lot of good looks but the putts just didn’t fall. Overall, it was a great experience and should give him a lot of confidence going forward.
“I think he had an incredible freshman season. But more importantly, he grew and developed along the way so I think his best golf is yet to come. We are really excited about his future as well as our team’s with Jackson leading the way.”
His finish today marked his third top 10 in his last four events, including a pair of ties for sixth.
With today’s 2-under, Rivera finishes the season with a team-best 20 rounds under par and 23 of par or better (tied for ninth on USC’s all-time season list). His team-leading stroke average dropped to 71.70, which is 16th on USC’s all-time season chart.
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