Men’s golf looks to carry momentum into Hawaii


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Junior Leon D’Souza recently led USC to its best showing of the season. (Photo Courtesy of USC Athletics)

The USC men’s golf team will depart for Waikoloa, Hawaii, to compete Thursday in the Amer Ari Invitational at Waikoloa King’s Course. The Trojans will face off against No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 21 Auburn and No. 25 Texas, among a host of other opponents.

USC entered the season with high expectations but has struggled to live up to them so far, having slipped to No. 43 nationally after a preseason No. 11 ranking. The descent in the rankings comes after several disappointing fall performances in a number of tournaments and head-to-head competitions. 

“I’ve been doing this for a while, and, by the looks of our team, I think we have a chance to be pretty good,” USC head coach Chris Zambri said. “We just didn’t show it in the fall.” 

However, it appears that the Trojans may be trending upward at precisely the right time. 

The upcoming Amer Ari Invitational comes on the heels of an impressive third place finish at the Southwestern Invitational last week. The Trojans’ effort was led by performances from freshman Yuxin Lin, juniors Leon D’Souza and Issei Tanabe and senior Kyle Suppa. With the exception of Lin, each finished at or under par. 

D’Souza nearly finished the tournament with the best individual scorecard, but a costly bogey on the 17th hole in his final round resulted in a second place finish for the talented junior. 

“Leon did a great job all week,” Zambri said. “He had just about a perfect week. He’s already shown that he knows how to win golf tournaments.” 

D’Souza sounded optimistic about the team’s chances heading into the Invitational. 

“We can take a lot of positives from [this finish] knowing that if we do play our best we’re definitely going to be at the top or near the top,” D’Souza said.

The trio of D’Souza, Lin and Tanabe will likely lead USC in Waikoloa. But if the Trojans hope to improve their national standing at the invitational, they will need stellar play from the rest of the lineup as well.

“I think our goals should be high even though the fall was kind of mediocre,” Zambri said. “With [who] we have in our lineup and what each guy has shown when they’re at their best, I don’t see a reason why we can’t contend to win a national championship this year.” 

Outside of the trio, USC will rely on junior Kaito Onishi, who’s returning from a neck injury, and freshman Tyler Guo to perform at their highest level in Waikoloa. If previous results are any indicator, they are certainly capable of taking on the challenge. 

Onishi was given All-American honors last season after being named the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a 2019 All-Pac-12 first teamer and Guo is full of potential as he continues his first Division I collegiate campaign. 

Zambri confirmed Tuesday that Lin, D’Souza, Tanabe and Onishi will be in the starting lineup at the invitational. Zambri said he is still deciding whether to give the last spot on the lineup to Suppa or Guo. The pair will be notified of his decision on Wednesday. 

The Amer Ari Invitational tournament begins Wednesday and concludes Saturday.