Bears Battle Through First Day Of NCAA Championships

MGOLF5/24/2024 9:07 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Sampson Zheng Tied For 13th Individually After 18 Holes

CARLSBAD – California senior Sampson Zheng carded an even-par 72 to pace the Golden Bears through a challenging opening day of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships at Omni La Costa’s North Course. Cal finished the first round in 23rd place with a 16-over-par 304.
 
All 30 teams in the field posted above-par scores, with Virginia (+2) and Arizona (+2) tied atop the leaderboard. The Golden Bears sit just six shots outside of the top 15 with 36 holes to play before the 30-team field is cut in half.
 
Zheng ended the first round in a tie for 13th individually following his even-par 72. The Golden Bear standout – ranked 12th in the PGA TOUR University rankings entering the NCAA Championships – was under par and inside the top 10 before back-to-back bogeys on holes 8-9 ended his day. Zheng posted birdies on 10, 13 and 2 and will head into the second round five shots behind Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai (-5), who led the field with a 67.
 
Like most of the field, Cal struggled on the back nine holes – 10-over-par as a team – after starting the day on hole 10. Despite his difficult individual start with an 8-over-par back nine, sophomore Nathan Wang built momentum for Saturday with an impressive front nine. The lefty shot 5-under-par over his final 10 holes of the day, including four birdies in a five-hole span throughout a spotless front nine, and is tied for 81st with a 4-over-par 76.
 
Ethan Fang (+5), Eric Lee (+7) and Kuangyu (Tony) Chen (+10) are tied for 97th, 125th and 144th, respectively.
 
UP NEXT
Cal will remain grouped with 13th-seeded Georgia Tech and 14th-seeded East Tennessee State in the second round Saturday. They’ll tee off hole 1 between 8:30-9:14 a.m. PT. Following 54 holes of competition, the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team will advance for one additional round of stroke play on Monday to determine the top eight teams for match-play competition and the 72-hole stroke-play individual champion.
 
CAL ON LEADERBOARD