Preston Stout of Oklahoma State is experiencing Deja Vu in Hawaii.
After shooting a 10-under 62 at the 2024 Amer Ari Invitational in the opening round, the Sophomore did the same exact thing at Mauna Lani Resort Golf Course, the North Course, in Kamuela, Hawaii, to set the pace early on.
The Richardson, Tex. native carded eight birdies and an eagle in the bogey-free round. He is currently ranked No. 73 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
After Wenyi Ding set the collegiate scoring record last year, the historic Invitational is no stranger to low scores recently. Stout finished as co-medalist at the 2024 Big 12 Championships.
Eric Doyle of Oregon is in solo second place at 9-under, and Ethan Fang of Oklahoma State and Michael Mjaaseth of Arizona State are T3 at 8-under. Billy Davis of Auburn, Justin Bai of Pacific, Grant Roscich of North Carolina, and Peer Wernicke of Arizona State are T5 at 7-under to round out the top five.
In the team competition, Oklahoma State is two shots clear of Arizona State at 26-under. Arizona State is in solo second place at 24-under. North Carolina and Oregon are T3 at 20-under, and Pacific is in solo fifth place at 17-under.
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In just his second collegiate start at the 2024 Amer Ari, Arizona State freshman and 2022 US Junior Amateur champion Wenyi Ding shot a historic 27-under 189 with rounds of 63-64-62, becoming the first player to break 190 in collegiate competition. He beat the previously lowest-known score of 192, which several players, including fellow Sun Devil Jon Rahm, held.
Ding recorded a nine-stroke victory and was nearly 22 strokes better than the field average at Mauna Lani’s North Course.
North Carolina won the team title by five shots, and Arizona State finished in second place.
Past winners include Notah Begay, Anthony Kim, Tyler Leon, Cameron Tringale, Jonathan Moore, Nick Taylor, Jordan Niebrugge, CT Pan, Justin Suh, David Puig, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, Todd Demsey, Troy Matteson, Aaron Wise, and Matthew Wolff.