Cal (287-285-293 – 865, +1) finished tied ninth at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic that concluded with third-round action Tuesday at the San Diego Country Club, while the Golden Bears top individual on the player leaderboard Finigan Tilly (71-70-69 – 210, -6) also wrapped up the 54-hole event in a tie for ninth. Tilly moved up nine spots Tuesday with a two-under par 69 that included a pair of eagles.
Tilly’s first eagle came on his first hole of a shotgun start at the par-four, 461-yard fourth when his 185-yard approach with a six-iron rolled into the cup.
“I thought it would be close to the hole until about 20 seconds later when I heard a cheer from the green,” Tilly said about the first eagle he has had on a par-four at Cal. “It was the best possible way to start a round.”
Tilly also eagled his 17th hole of the day on the par-five second when he hit a three-wood from 250 yards to within three feet of the cup and tapped in.
“I put my best swing of the day on it,” Tilly said about his approach.
Tilly’s round also included four birdies and five bogeys. He got to three-under for the round and seven-under for the tournament twice before giving strokes back both times with bogeys on the par-four 18th and par-three third following birdies on the par-five 16th and his second eagle of the round on the par-five second.
Sampson Zheng (71-70-73 – 214, -2) was the next Golden Bear on the leaderboard in a tie for 25th followed by Aaron Du (72-71-76 – 219, +3), Tony Chen (73-74-75 – 222, +6) in a tie for 72nd and Simon Kwon (75-77-81 – 233, +17) in a tie for 90th.
“Yesterday, we were able to hang in there despite not hitting the ball well, but today our ball striking and putting caught up to us,” Cal’s Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf Walter Chun said. “We didn’t put ourselves in good enough position to score, and it was an uphill battle all day.”
Cal will return to action March 24-26 at The Goodwin hosted by Stanford at the Stanford Golf Course.