Sampson Zheng carded his second two-under 68 in as many days and tied for 13th individually while leading the California men’s golf team to a 10th-place finish at the Fighting Irish Classic on Labor Day.
Zheng (68-70-68 – 206, -4) dominated the front nine holes for the second time in the 54-hole tournament, sinking birdies on No. 1, 4 and 7 for a three-under 32 effort. As a group, the Golden Bears shot a five-over 285 Monday at Warren Golf Course on the way to a seven-over 847 (279-823-285) finish.
Cal, which used an opening-round 279 to get off to a strong start in South Bend before falling back to 10th during the second 18, finished three shots behind Michigan State (+4) and Kansas (+4).
Florida (-21) clinched the tournament title as Georgia Southern (-20) and North Carolina (-19) took second and third, respectively.
Aaron Du, who entered Monday’s final round at three-under, dropped into a tie for 37th with a five-over 75. He finished tied with Cal newcomer Jeewon Park (70-72-70 – 212, +2). Ethan Chung carded an eight-over 218 (71-74-73) over 54 holes played to tie for 60th.
Costas Panay (72-75-74 – 221, +11) tied for 65th.
CAL GOLFERS
T13. Sampson Zheng (68-70-68 – 206, -4)
T37. Jeewon Park (70-72-70 – 212, +2)
T37. Aaron Du (70-67-75 – 212, +2)
T60. Ethan Chung (71-74-73 – 218, +8)
T65. Costas Panay (72-75-74 – 221, +11)
UP NEXT
Cal returns to action on Thursday, Sept. 29 when it teams up with the Golden Bear women’s team against Stanford in the third Big Match at Menlo Country Club in Woodside, California. Cal won the previous two Big Matches in 2018 and 2019, though the competition has not been held since due to scheduling limitations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.