Four No. 2 seeds, a No. 1 seed, and a Power 5 conference champ all miss qualifying

Pac-12 champion Arizona State is left wondering what could have been. Expectations for ASU have been high over the last few years because they were the host school at Grayhawk. With the championship at La Costa, some thought it would free up the Sun Devils. That was not the case. They didn’t get much from Wenyi Ding or Preston Summerhays and will have to wait another year. The week started inauspiciously with the news that Luke Potter was transferring to Texas after two years as a Sun Devil. 

Alabama, Washington, Ole Miss, and Arkansas are all two seeds that did not qualify. This is a stunning result that leaves some of the best programs in the country on the outside looking in. Virginia and Arizona are the only two seeds that did qualify. 

Northwestern was celebrating a Big 10 title less than two weeks ago. The shock victory for the Wildcats broke Illinois’ stranglehold on the conference. However, it was a tough week in Chapel Hill. Northwestern, the five-seed, finished in 12th place, 29 shots outside of the top five. The program has plenty to be proud of this year, but a trip to La Costa would have been the icing on the cake.

Thorbjornsen, Vilips, and Brown drag Stanford to Nationals

Michael Thorbjornsen, who is ranked No. 2 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, shot a bogey-free 64 to flip the script at Stanford on Wednesday. For a while, it looked like the host team, who was the fifth seed in the region, wasn’t going to head down the California coast.

Instead, Thorbjornsen finished strong to pull Stanford into a T4 finish with SMU. Along with Thorbjornsen, Barclay Brown, who has struggled this year, particularly with driver, keep the big dog in the bag and managed his way around his home course for a 69. 

Karl Vilips, who won the Pac-12 championship last week, helped the Cardinal punch their ticket, too. He shot a 71 on the final day.

The Men's National Championship will start Friday, May 24.