Three top-15 U players card first-round 68s at NCAA Championship
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Anupansuebsai, Brightwell, Pak in contention at Grayhawk Golf Club
Written by Chris Richards
Anupansuebsai, Brightwell, Pak in contention at Grayhawk Golf Club
Three players in the PGA TOUR University top-15 are in the top-10 after the first round of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. Puwit Anupansuebsai (9th/San Diego State), Jonathan Brightwell (13th/Oklahoma) and John Pak (1st/Florida State) each shot 2-under 68 and are two strokes behind leader Cole Bradley (96th/Purdue).
Anupansuebsai has top-two finishes in each of his last four starts, including back-to-back wins at the Mountain West Championship and the Kingston Springs Regional. His first-round 68 was his 13th consecutive round of par or better, and he has improved from 53rd to 9th in PGA TOUR University since the start of the calendar year.
Brightwell and Pak continued their stellar springs on Friday, as well. A graduate transfer from UNC-Greensboro, Brightwell has five top-10s in eight starts this spring and is No. 13 in the U Ranking after starting the year No. 29. Pak has led PGA TOUR University from start to finish, and he has posted seven consecutive top-10s entering his final event as a Seminole.
As the individual leaderboard changes this weekend, so will the PGA TOUR University projections as players vie for a top-15 finish. Based on the NCAA Championship’s Power determined by WAGR, the individual NCAA Champion will receive approximately 24.76 points. Consequently, seven players are mathematically capable of improving into the top-15.
| U Rank | Player | University | Divisor | Place needed for 15th | Place needed for 14th | Max Final |
| 14 | Alex Schaake | Iowa | 18 | DNQ | DNQ | 956.28 |
| 15 | Jovan Rebula | Auburn | 23 | DNQ | DNQ | 931.42 |
| 16 | Tim Widing | San Francisco | 23 | 18th (solo) | 4th (solo) | 997.8 |
| 17 | Spencer Ralston | Georgia | 24 | T14 (2-way) | T3 (2-way) | 992.06 |
| 18 | Matthias Schmid | Louisville | 29 | T5 (2-way) | Win | 968.25 |
| 19 | Hunter Wolcott | Tennessee | 25 | 4th (solo) | Win | 968.06 |
| 24 | Mason Andersen | Arizona State | 27 | Win | - | 934.19 |
| 26 | James Piot | Michigan State | 24 | Win | - | 936.3 |
| 32 | Eric Bae | Wake Forest | 21 | Win | - | 932.51 |
| 27 | Clay Feagler* | Pepperdine | 24 | - | - | 931.28 |
| 31 | John Murphy* | Louisville | 27 | - | - | 917.14 |
*Mathematically eliminated from top-15 contention because their maximum final points average with a victory is less than 15th-ranked Jovan Rebula’s final points average (931.42).
After the conclusion of stroke play, the top-15 players in PGA TOUR University will earn membership on either the Korn Ferry Tour or Forme Tour.
• The top-five finishers will receive Korn Ferry Tour membership and will be exempt into all open, full-field events beginning with the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation (June 10-13).
• Players finishing 6th-15th will receive Forme Tour membership, starting with the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club in Watkinsville, Georgia (June 23-26).
The final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship will be live on Golf Channel from 5-9 p.m. ET on Monday, May 31.
