Arizona Wildcat golfer Zach Pollo will return to the United States from the birthplace of golf with some major hardware — and the UA men's and women's teams could just follow suit with team trophies of their own.
While the UA men's and women's teams both turn match-play finals Wednesday to determine who the champion of the St. Andrews Links Collegiate event at famed St. Andrews, Scotland, it was Pollo, a junior from Rocklin, California, who shot a 2-under 68 Tuesday to win the tournament's men's title by two strokes at arguably the most storied track in all of golf.
Pollo's victory — the second of his career after he won the N.I.T. in Tucson as a freshman — came after Day 2 of stroke play, which also saw Wildcat Filip Jakubcik tie for second with Northwestern's Cameron Adam (3 under)
Pollo
In the team competition, the UA men were 3 over par Tuesday to finish the six-count-five stroke play format at even par, six shots better than second-place Northwestern.
In the women's tournament, Wildcat Charlotte Back was 2 under Tuesday to finish stroke play at 2 under — three shots behind women's medalist Ashley Yun of Northwestern. Arizona's Carolina Melgrati tied for fifth (2 over). The UA women hit the clubhouse Tuesday second as a team (8 over), trailing Northwestern (4 over).
Arizona’s Zach Pollo makes his shot onto the 11th green during play in the final round of the National Invitational Tournament at Omni Tucson National, Tucson, Ariz., January 30, 2024.
Wednesday will be Wildcats vs. Wildcats for the men's and women's match-play championships, with both teams from Arizona and Northwestern vying for titles. The final round will air on Golf Channel at 6 a.m. (with replays at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.).
