No. 21 USC Stays Local, Hosts Pac-12 Championships At Rolling Hills C.C.

The No. 21 USC men's golf team, led by Golfweek's No. 2 ranked player and four-time winner this year, junior Justin Suh, is set to host the 2018 Pac-12 Men's Golf Championships at the Rolling Hills C.C. in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., Monday through Wednesday (April 23-25).

The 59^th annual conference tilt kicks off with 36 holes on Monday beginning at 7:15 a.m. with the second round set to start at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday's third round is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start with Wednesday's final round set to begin at 8 a.m.

The Pac-12 features five top 25 teams (Golfweek rankings) in No. 5 California, No. 12 Stanford, No. 19 Arizona State, No. 21 USC and No. 24 UCLA. The Pac-12 boasts the nation's top three individuals in California's Collin Morikawa, USC's Suh and Oregon's Norman Xiong.

The last time the USC men hosted the Pac-12 Championships was in 2006 at Big Horn C.C. in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The Trojans hosted the NCAA Championships in 2012 at The Riviera in Palisades, Calif.

USC'S HISTORY AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Trojans have won a conference-best 19 Pac-12 titles, including its most recent in 2011, a playoff win, and a dominating 36-stroke win in 2007. USC came close in 2008 to back-to-back wins (like they did in 2001 and 2002), but fell in a playoff to ASU ... USC finished third in 2012 and tied for third in 2017, its best finishes since the 2011 title. Troy claimed the crown 15 times between 1962 and 1986 ... USC boasts 21 individual champions, most recently Martin Trainer in 2011, who outlasted Oregon State's Alex Moore during a seven-hole playoff for the win. Jamie Lovemark won in 2007, which ended a drought that dated back to Sam Randolph's tie for first in 1983 ... USC has also earned eight Pac-10 Golfer of the Year honors, including its most recent, Matt Giles in 2009, as well as Lovemark's 2007 distinction and Kevin Stadler's in 2002 ... Sherman Finger's three wins in 1964-65-66 are tied for the Pac-12's most individual conference titles (with ASU's Paul Casey in 1998-99-2000) … USC tied for third at the snow-shortened 2017 Pac-12s at 32-over 1082 (366-365-351). Rico Hoey led USC in a tie for second at 1-under 209 (72-68-69), three back of first. It was Troy's best individual result since Trainer's 2011 win. Justin Suh closed with a 65 last year to tie for ninth at 5-over 215 (72-78-65), his final round tying USC's conference championships record with T.J. Vogel (2010). The only Trojan besides Suh with Pac-12 Championships experience is sophomore Cheng Jin, who tied for 26^th last year at 9-over 219 (75-73-71) … Jamie Lovemark's 2007 title-winning 269 is USC's lowest 72-hole score at the Pac-12s, which led the Trojans to their lowest team score ever at the Pac-12s, a 51-under 1389 (358-342-345-344).

Suh-perlatives

USC, under 12^th-year head coach Chris Zambri, has been led this year by Suh, a four-time winner in nine events this season who is averaging a remarkable 68.69 strokes in 26 rounds, leading to eight top 9 finishes. His stroke average is under the season school record set by Jamie Lovemark (70.10, 2007).

Win 1 – Suh captured his second career collegiate title and first of the season at the Trinity Forest Invitational at 10-under 203 (67-69-67).
Win 2 -- Suh won his second title this year at the Saint Mary's Invitational with a dominating 13-under 200 (67-66-67) – that included 15 birdies and an eagle – to close fall play.
Win 3 -- He won his third event of the season at the Amer Ari Invitational to open spring play, taking the title at 13-under 837 (69-66-68) while birdieing four of the final six holes, including 17 and 18.
Win 4 – Suh won again at the Southern Highlands Collegiate at 8-under 208 (68-70-70) for a two-stroke win, using an eagle on the 14^th hole in the final round to help clinch it.

Suh also tied for second at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invite at 12-under 201 (67-71-63). The final round was USC's best since Rico Hoey carded the same score at the Amer Ari Invitational last season. The last Trojan round lower belongs to Sam Smith, a 62 in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Pullman Regional. Suh's previous best was a 65 at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships.
Suh opened the season by tying for ninth in the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite at even 210 (70-69-71), tied for fourth in the 36-hole Prestige at PGA West at 2-under 140 (71-69) and was fourth at the Western Intercollegiate at 8-under 202 (67-68-67), the fourth time this year he's broken 70 in each round.

Suh, the sixth-ranked amateur in the world, has 17 rounds in the 60s this season in 26 rounds, including a mid-season streak of seven in a row. He also boasts 19 rounds under par and has 22 rounds of par or better.

Overall this year, Suh is 31-10-2 against the top 25, 51-19-3 against the top 50, 115-30-4 against the top 100 and 713-79-15 against all players. He now has 14 top 20 finishes in his last 16 outings dating back to last season, 12 of which have been inside the top 9 and 13 in the top 11.

Suh's four wins are the most by a Trojan in one season since Jamie Lovemark won four events as a 2007 freshman. Prior to that, Sam Randolph won four times in the 1983-84 season while Scott Simpson won four times in 1976-77 and 1974-75. Suh's 17 rounds under 70 are also the most since Lovemark had 20, also in 2007.

Suh's dominance this year earned him a spot on the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup team, announced March 14, where he'll follow in the footsteps of recent teammates Sean Crocker (2017) and Rico Hoey (2015). Other Trojans who have played in the Palmer Cup include Netherlands-native Tim Sluiter (2008), who represented Europe, Jamie Lovemark (2007) and Brian Hull in the first Cup in 1997. Zambri also led the U.S. to victory, 13-11, as the head coach in 2010.

Suh is among 10 semifinalists for the 2018 Ben Hogan Award and has been among the top 3 all season on the 2018 Haskins Award Watch List.

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Freshman Kaito Onishi (71.77) is second on the team in stroke average. Onishi, who had a mid-season run of five straight rounds under 70, is also tied for second on the team with seven rounds in the 60s. Onishi was included on an earlier version of the Arnold Palmer Cup rankings for the international team, coming in at 15^th. Onishi tied for second at the Saint Mary's Invitational at 8-under 205 (73-63-69) -- his middle round tying Suh for low on the team – and then tied for fourth at the Amer Ari Invitational at 11-under 205 (69-66-68). He has three top 20 finishes and six in the top 28.

Jin has posted a par of top 23 finishes this year, highlighted by a tie for 20^th at the Southern Highlands Collegiate at 2-over 218 (70-76-72). He also tied for 23^rd at the Nike Golf Collegiate, where he carded his season-low 67. Jin recorded a 17-stroke victory to win the PGA Tour Series-China Mainland China Qualifying Tournament on March 2 and earn a spot on the tour.

Sophomore Kyle Suppa (72.62) is third on the squad in stroke average and is tied for second in rounds in the 60s (seven). He turned in a season best at Saint Mary's as he tied for sixth at 6-under 207 (75-68-64), his final round 7-under tying his collegiate best. He tied for 16^th at the Western Intercollegiate at 1-under 209 (69-69-71), tied for 20^th at the Trinity Forest Invitational at 1-over 214 (72-70-72) and has four top 33 finishes this year.

Sophomore Ryan Slater is averaging 73.73 strokes per round in 14 outings, including one round under 70, with a tie for 42^nd at the Trinity Forest topping his season.

Onishi is among four newcomers on the team that also include freshmen Issei Tanabe and Owen Calvin-Smith as well as junior Sam Kim, who comes to USC after two years at New Mexico. Kim has averaged 73.43 strokes in 12 rounds this year (three in the 60s) while Tanabe is at 74.30 in 20 rounds (two in the 60s). Calvin-Smith has played in six rounds.

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Players Mentioned

Owen Calvin-Smith

Sean Crocker

Rico Hoey

Cheng Jin

Sam Kim

Kaito Onishi

Ryan Slater

Justin Suh

Kyle Suppa

Issei Tanabe