CAREFREE, Ariz. - Karl Vilips became the 16th individual Pac-12 champion in program history on Sunday afternoon, carding a final-round 68 to win in comeback fashion by one stroke over Arizona State's Ryggs Johnston. Stanford finished third in the team standings with a 44-over 1464, finishing behind team champion Arizona State and California.
Vilips turned in a 2-under 282 for the first tournament win of his collegiate career, giving Stanford the Pac-12 individual champion for the second consecutive season. The senior now joins Pete Choate (1960, 1962), Sandy Adelman (1969), Mike Peck (1977-78), Jack Stilling (1980), Don Walsworth (1986), Christian Cevaer (1989, 1992), Tiger Woods (1996), Jim Seki (2002), Andrew Yun (2012), Patrick Rodgers (2014), Maverick McNealy (2015), and Michael Thorbjornsen (2023) as Stanford's only individual conference medalists.
Beginning the day three shots off the lead, Vilips got out to a blazing start with a 4-over front nine that included three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole opposite an early bogey on the second hole. The senior registered a more modest back stretch with a lone birdie on the 15th and two bogeys, but an up and down par on the 18th green helped Vilips maintain possession of the lead as he awaited the final groups.
Arizona State's Johnston and Wenyi Ding were Vilips' biggest competition for the conference title, but two costly triple bogeys for Ding knocked him out of contention down the stretch while Johnston could only manage par on the final four holes to allow Vilips to walk away as the tournament winner by a single stroke.
Defending champion Michael Thorbjornsen capped off his third-career top-10 finish at the Pac-12 Championships with a final-round 73 scorecard with four birdies, two bogeys, and two double-bogeys, good enough to finish tied-8th on the individual leaderboard. Thorbjornsen now heads into NCAA Regionals with four consecutive top-10 tournament finish.
After four bogeys in the opening five holes, Barclay Brown battled back to a weekend-best even par 71 round with three birdies and an eagle of the final ten holes. Jake Beber-Frankel and Sean-Karl Dobson also turned in their tournament-best scorecards on Sunday, shooting a 1-over 72 and 3-over 74, repectively. Ethan Gao was Stanford's non-scoring round of the afternoon, shooting a 6-over 77.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, both Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips were named to the All-Pac-12 First Team. It is Thorbjornsen's third first team all-conference honor in his career, while Vilips was named to the first team for the second consecutive season.
Stanford now prepares to host NCAA Regionals on May 13-15 at Stanford Golf Course. NCAA regional selections will take place on Wednesday, May 1 at 11 a.m. PT on Golf Channel.
Pac-12 Championships (Desert Forest Golf Club, par 71)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Stanford | 359 (+4) | 378 (+23) | 369 (+14) | 358 (+3) | 1464 (+44) |
| 1. Karl Vilips | 68 (-3) | 75 (+4) | 71 (E) | 68 (-3) | 282 (-2) |
| T8. Michael Thorbjornsen | 65 (-6) | 76 (+5) | 75 (+4) | 73 (+2) | 289 (+3) |
| T22. Ethan Gao | 70 (-1) | 76 (+5) | 74 (+3) | 77 (+6) | 297 (+13) |
| T29. Jake Beber-Frankel | 76 (+5) | 74 (+3) | 76 (+5) | 72 (+1) | 298 (+14) |
| T44. Barclay Brown | 82 (+11) | 77 (+6) | 73 (+2) | 71 (E) | 303 (+19) |
| 68. Sean-Karl Dobson | 79 (+9) | 86 (+15) | 79 (+8) | 74 (+3) | 319 (+35) |
Italics - Non-scoring round