LAS VEGAS — The conversation surrounding the 2020 Southern Highlands Collegiate was its loaded field featuring six of the top-seven teams in the country.
They’re all chasing No. 37 USC.
Led by freshman star Yuxin Lin, the Trojans hold a dominant nine-shot lead at 6 under after a blustery 36 holes at the nation’s premier men’s college golf event. Able to outduel the elements, Southern Cal is the sole team under par.
Texas (+3) is in second, followed by Florida and Texas Tech (T-3, +7) and UCLA (+9). Thanks to a dominant 7-under 65 performance from senior leader Sahith Theegala on Monday, Pepperdine (+11) shot up the leaderboard and sits sixth.
Lin, a freshman from Beijing, China, shot a second-consecutive 5-under 67 to increase his individual lead to five shots at 10 under. Florida freshman Ricky Castillo fired off a 4-under 68 and sits second (-5), followed by SMU’s Mac Meissner in third at 4 under.
“I gave myself more looks and made it easy on myself,” said Meissner. “I really only hit one bad shot on one, then I think I hit every green after that. Stress-free golf makes it a lot easier.”
Southern Highlands: Team Leaderboard | Individual
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Theegala, Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, Texas’ Parker Coody and UCLA’s Devon Bling are all T-4 at 3 under. USC’s Cameron Henry and Georgia’s Davis Thompson are T-8 at 2 under, with UCLA’s Hidetoshi Yoshihara rounding out the top 10 at 1 under.
SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS: Watch the final round LIVE on Tuesday, March 3. Part of College Golf Live’s 2020 Spring Series.