Patrick Cantlay had already gone to the head of the freshman class. Now he’s being mentioned in the same breath as Peter Uihlein of Oklahoma State and Bank Vongvanij of Florida as a candidate for national player of the year.
Cantlay, from Los Alamitos, finished no worse than second in a span of four consecutive tournaments and capped that run with a two-stroke victory over Scott Pinkeney of Arizona State in the USC Intercollegiate Invitational at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.
Making a seamless transition from junior golf, he also captured the individual crown at the Gifford Intercollegiate Championship, tied for the title in Amer Ani Invitational before losing in a playoff and finished second in the Battle of the Beach earlier in the season.
“It’s just a mind-set, it’s just golf,” Cantlay said in explaining his instant success for the Bruins. “I’m just playing the golf course. It’s not a different game just because I’m in college now.
“From the beginning (at UCLA), I felt like I belonged. I got hot early and was able to keep it going.”
Despite Cantlay’s efforts, the second-ranked Bruins were unable to overtake San Diego State for the team title.
The Aztecs, who rose to No. 7 in the national rankings by winning their third title in six outings, posted a score of 282-279-289–850, two-under par, while the second-ranked Bruins wound up at 280-286-286–852.
“We have a very mature team and they’ve seen this golf course before, and really stay disciplined,” Coach Ryan Donovan of San Diego State said. “They went out there with a great attitude and to their credit, they got it done.”
Oregon was third at 282-288-291–861, followed by Stanford at 285-289-289–863, UC Davis at 283-289-295–867, Arizona State at 292-292-285–869 and Michigan at 289-286-296–871.
USC was eighth at 283-304-288–875, California at 286-298-293–877, Pepperdine at       296-287-295–878 and the University of San Diego at 306-292-282–880.
Washington finished 12th at 290-300-291–881, followed by Fresno State at 299-301- 291–891, Cal State Northridge at 297-301-294–892 and Brigham Young at 293-311- 302–906.
Cantlay, who climbed to No. 2 in the national rankings behind Uihlein, posted a score of 67-72-68–207, while Pinkeney, a senior from Anthem, Ariz., recorded the highest finish of his career at 71-71-67–209.
“I played well,” said Cantlay, who captured the California State High School Championship last season for Servite High. “I didn’t miss too many shots and got a couple putts to fall at the end.”
Johan Carlsson of San Diego State shot 68-69-73–210 and tied for third with Tyler Raber of UC Davis, who wound up at 70-73-67–210.
Andrew Yun of Stanford finished at 70-70-71–211 to tie for fifth with Bhavik Patel of Fresno State, who came in at 71-73-67–211, while J.J. Spaun of San Diego State was seventh at 71-71-71–213.
Pontus Widegren of UCLA totaled 69-73-72–214 and finished in a big tie for eighth that included Chris Williams of Washington at 70-72-72–214, Anton Arboleda of UCLA at 70-70-74–214, Joey Garber of Michigan at 70-71-73–214, Josh Anderson of         Pepperdine at 72-73-69–214 and Todd Baek of San Diego State at 71-74-69–214.
“The fact that we have a freshman playing as well as Patrick is outstanding,” Widegren said. “He’s not just a good freshman, he’s one of the hottest and best players in college right now.”
Even though he’s simply playing it cool.
— Tom LaMarre
USC Collegiate Invitational
Feb. 27-Mar 1, 2011
North Ranch C.C.
Westlake Village, CA
1. San Diego State………………………………………………………. 282–279–289—850
2. UCLA……………………………………………………………………. 280–286–286—852
3. Oregon…………………………………………………………………. 282–288–291—861
4. Stanford……………………………………………………………….. 285–289–289—863
5. UC Davis……………………………………………………………….. 283–289–295—867
6. Arizona State…………………………………………………………. 292–292–285—869
7. Michigan……………………………………………………………….. 289–286–296—871
8. Southern California…………………………………………………. 283–304–288—875
9. California………………………………………………………………. 286–298–293—877
10. Pepperdine………………………………………………………….. 296–287–295—878
11. San Diego…………………………………………………………….. 306–292–282—880
12. Washington…………………………………………………………. 290–300–291—881
13. Fresno State………………………………………………………… 299–301–291—891
14. CSU-Northridge……………………………………………………. 297–301–294—892
15. Brigham Young……………………………………………………… 293–311–302—906
Individuals
1. Patrick Cantlay,UCLA……………………………………………………. 67–72–68—207
2. Scott Pinckney, Arizona State………………………………………… 71–71–67—209
3. Johan Carlsson, San Diego State……………………………………… 68–69–73—210
3. Tyler Raber, UC Davis…………………………………………………… 70–73–67—210
5. Bhavik Patel, Fresno State…………………………………………….. 71–73–67—211
5. Andrew Yun,Stanford…………………………………………………… 70–70–71—211
7. J. J.  Spaun, San Diego State…………………………………………… 71–71–71—213
8. Josh Anderson, Pepperdine………………………………………….. 72–73–69—214
8. Anton Arboleda, UCLA…………………………………………………. 70–70–74—214
8. Todd Baek, San Diego State…………………………………………… 71–74–69—214
8. Joey Garber, Michigan………………………………………………….. 70–71–73—214
8. Pontus Widegren, UCLA……………………………………………….. 69–73–72—214
8. Chris Williams, Washington……………………………………………. 70–72–72—214
14. Nick Delio, CSU-Northridge………………………………………….. 74–72–69—215
14. Stewart Hagestad  *,Southern California………………………… 72–72–71—215
14. Charlie Hughes, Washington………………………………………… 72–72–71—215
14. Ben Murray, San Diego……………………………………………….. 73–70–72—215
14. Andrew Vijarro, Oregon……………………………………………… 71–73–71—215
19. Alex Kang,San Diego State…………………………………………… 72–68–76—216
19. Daniel Miernicki, Oregon…………………………………………….. 72–74–70—216
19. Eric Mina, California……………………………………………………. 72–71–73—216
19. Matt Thompson, Michigan…………………………………………… 71–70–75—216
19. Eugene Wong, Oregon……………………………………………….. 72–70–74—216
24. Daniel Covrig, UC Davis……………………………………………….. 73–67–77—217
24. Connor Driscoll, UCLA…………………………………………………. 74–71–72—217
24. Robbie Ziegler, Oregon……………………………………………….. 67–72–78—217
27. Steve Lim, Southern California……………………………………… 69–81–68—218
27. Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine………………………………………. 74–70–74—218
29. Rahul Bakshi  *,Michigan……………………………………………… 75–73–71—219
29. Zac Blair, Brigham Young……………………………………………… 73–73–73—219
29. Jeffrey Kang, Southern California………………………………….. 70–79–70—219
29. Lion Kim, Michigan……………………………………………………… 74–71–74—219
29. Ramsey Sahyoun, Southern California……………………………. 71–77–71—219
29. Sam Smith  *,Southern California………………………………….. 72–76–71—219
35. Tom Berry, San Diego State………………………………………….. 72–71–77—220
35. Thomas Buran, Arizona State……………………………………….. 75–71–74—220
35. David Chung, Stanford………………………………………………… 74–75–71—220
35. Stephen Hale, California……………………………………………… 71–77–72—220
35. Michael Weaver, California………………………………………….. 71–75–74—220
40. Alex Ching,San Diego………………………………………………….. 78–73–70—221
40. Phil Francis, Arizona State……………………………………………. 74–78–69—221
40. Austin Graham, UC Davis…………………………………………….. 72–74–75—221
40. Johnny MacArthur, Pepperdine……………………………………. 76–70–75—221
44. Andrew Haggen, UC Davis…………………………………………… 68–75–79—222
44. Gunner Wiebe, San Diego……………………………………………. 77–74–71—222
44. Cameron Wilson, Stanford…………………………………………… 68–72–82—222
44. Oscar Zetterwall, Arizona State…………………………………….. 72–75–75—222
48. Trevor Simsby, Washington…………………………………………. 75–77–71—223
49. Scott Brace, San Diego………………………………………………… 78–75–71—224
49. Jack Schultz, Michigan…………………………………………………. 74–74–76—224
SDSU Wins USC Collegiate
