CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 鈥 Oklahoma surged to the first round lead at the 2025 红杏视频 Division I Men鈥檚 Golf Championships, carding an 8-under-par 280 to lead by five strokes at the finals being played at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course (7,528 yards/par 72).
Texas A&M senior Phichaksn Maichon is alone atop the individual leaderboard, carding a bogey-free round of 66 (6-under-par). One-stroke back at 67 are Vanderbilt senior Jackson Van Paris, Georgia junior Carter Loflin and Texas junior Tommy Morrison.
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After the first 18 holes, the Sooners have a five-stroke team lead over Florida State, Florida and Texas, with each school recording a 285. Arizona State, Illinois and defending national champion Auburn are six strokes back at 286. The Sooners were led on Friday by scores of 4-under 68 from Clark Van Gaalen, 3-under 69 from Jase Summy, 2-under 70 from Drew Goodman and 1-over 73 from Ryder Cowan.
鈥淭oday was a great start for our group,鈥 said Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl. 鈥淟ast year we got off to a tough start, so coming out strong on day one this time around was huge for us. It鈥檚 a long week and we still have a lot of work ahead, but this was a solid beginning. Our guys are feeling confident, and we鈥檙e ready to get back after it tomorrow morning.鈥
Starting on hole No. 1, Maichon had a clean card with six birdies (holes 2, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 16) along with 12 pars.
鈥淚t was good,鈥 Maichon said. 鈥淚 hit a lot of fairways and greens. I made a couple putts along the way. It wasn鈥檛 anything special. It wasn鈥檛 like I was hitting it super close or anything. I just kind of kept it in front of me. It鈥檚 a championship golf course and it鈥檚 tough, so you just have to play smart shots and limit your mistakes.鈥
Morrison fired a 5-under 67 in the afternoon wave, tallying six birdies (holes 1, 2, 6, 9, 10 and 11) against just one bogey (hole 4). This marked his 17th round in the 60s this season (37 total rounds).
鈥淓verything was pretty solid today and I kept it right in front of me,鈥 said Morrison. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 necessarily all out of the middle of the face, but it was going where I was looking for the most part. I made some nice putts early which was important, as you need to get off to a good start here. I played with nice freedom.鈥
鈥淚 love it out here,鈥 Morrison continued. 鈥淪ince we first saw it last year, I鈥檝e been a big fan of the golf course, the design and what they did with it. The rough is slightly more down than last year. The greens firmed up really nice today, and the course still showed its teeth.鈥
Loflin recorded the top individual score in the morning wave at 5-under 67. Starting on hole 10, he had a clean card with five birdies (holes 12, 18, 2, 6 and 7) and 13 pars. He tied his collegiate career-low 18-hole score with his 67 (set twice before).
鈥淏ogey-free rounds are fun,鈥 said Loflin. 鈥淚 wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be this morning. Our entire group of coaches talk a lot about mental approach and just making sure that expectations aren't too high, which obviously really helps. I've been trending in the right direction for a few weeks now so you know I know my golf game is good but it's really just all about not making it too big of a deal. I can shoot the scores at home but doing it when the lights on is a completely different thing or at least you can make it that way so it feels good.鈥
The second round of the championship will tee off on Saturday, May 24 at 6:30 a.m. PST.
Finals play for the 2025 championships consists of three days of stroke play over 54 holes on Friday thru Sunday (May 23-25), after which the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will be determined. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play (Monday, May 26) to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, May 27, followed by the finals on Wednesday, May 28.
