CARLSBAD, Calif. – Michael La Sasso couldn’t sleep the night before becoming an NCAA individual champion. He tossed and turned, his mind racing about what was on the line at Omni La Costa.
A U.S. Open exemption. A likely Masters invitation. NCAA immortality.
“Sleeping with a lead is never easy by any means,” said La Sasso, who led Texas A&M senior Phichaksn Maichon by two shots through 54 holes. “Trying to shut your mind off and go to bed is a very underrated thing to do.”
Maichon, starting five groups ahead of La Sasso on Monday morning, immediately erased that lead with back-to-back birdies before La Sasso even teed off. The Ole Miss junior matched those opening birdies, but his front nine quickly unraveled – a mud ball led to bogey on 13, two plugged lies, and a pair of double bogeys at 15 and 17.
The La Sasso who transferred to Oxford from NC State two summers ago might have crumbled after that 2-over 38, which left him two strokes behind Maichon at the turn.
It was just last August when Rebels assistant Emerson Newsome found La Sasso sulking on the practice green and told him, “Dude, you have got to snap out of it.” La Sasso had just tied for 191st at the U.S. Amateur, capping a brutal summer where he’d contracted a stomach virus at the SEC Championship and lost 22 pounds.
“I had this victim mindset,” La Sasso said. “I had missed first-team All-American; I was the only kid on the Palmer Cup team who wasn’t. I was wondering to myself, like, am I not meant to be here? Am I a fluke? Emerson’s like, ‘You’re plenty good enough. You have to be more optimistic.'”
La Sasso began working with a performance coach this season, and by spring, Ole Miss head coach Chris Malloy noticed “a light bulb had gone off in his head.” This NCAA victory marked La Sasso’s third win of the season and his 10th finish of T-13 or better.
He’s shown remarkable toughness. La Sasso shared 13th in Puerto Rico earlier this spring despite battling the flu. Less than a month later, he matched that finish at the Cabo Collegiate after stepping on a black sea urchin during a beach trip the day before the first round. Malloy urged him to withdraw after four hours of surgery to remove spines from his right foot and hand, but La Sasso refused.
“I’ve personally fought a s— ton of stuff these last two years since I’ve been at Ole Miss,” La Sasso said, “and I feel like I’m a pretty gritty guy.”
At the NCAA Tallahassee Regional two weeks ago, La Sasso didn’t bring his best stuff and still finished runner-up to Luke Clanton on his home course. La Sasso played alongside the Florida State star Monday as he looked to close out the biggest win of his career.
“This was new territory for him,” Malloy said. “We sat down and had a quick talk this morning, and looking at his eyes, he looked like he was ready for the moment, and he ultimately was.”
La Sasso’s mindset remained steady: “I told myself if I just keep playing my game, good things would come.”
Maichon, who plans to turn pro this summer with a Korn Ferry Tour card thanks to PGA Tour University, bogeyed Nos. 5 and 6 to drop back to 9 under. He’d par in to shoot a closing 72 and finish two shots ahead of Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout – and three clear of Auburn’s Jackson Koivun and reigning U.S. Amateur winner Josele Ballester of Arizona State.
Meanwhile, the bounces finally started going La Sasso’s way. He played a bogey-free final nine, which included birdies on Nos. 4 and 6. On that par-5 sixth, La Sasso’s drive took three bounces off the left cart path before ricocheting into the fairway. That birdie moved him back to 11 under, where he’d finish after a 72 of his own.
On the par-4 seventh, La Sasso’s tee ball nestled against a bunker rake left by another Ole Miss player a few groups ahead. “Nice rake job,” La Sasso later joked to his teammate. He still flew the green with his approach but saved par with a clutch up-and-down.
Clanton carded an uncharacteristic 4-over 76 as Florida State played the last three holes in a combined 6 over to finish at 12 over. The Rebels were 4 over in that stretch, though La Sasso’s tap-in par at No. 9 narrowly secured the eighth seed in match play for Ole Miss, which will meet Arizona State in Tuesday morning’s quarterfinals.
Virginia climbed four places to seventh and gets reigning NCAA team champion Auburn. Florida, after the round of the day (8 under), will face host Texas. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma will square off for the first time ever in NCAA match play.
Florida State declined a Golf Channel request to speak to Clanton, who is expected to make his pro debut as a PGA Tour member next week at the RBC Canadian Open.
La Sasso, who has one more year of eligibility, was thrilled about the professional opportunities now coming his way. He no longer needs to fly to U.S. Open final qualifying in Columbus, Ohio, and can instead rest before the Arnold Palmer Cup at Congaree and his major debut at Oakmont. He’s also in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July – with more invites likely on the way.
“He’s going to have a lot thrown on his plate, but he’ll be ready and figure it out,” Malloy said. “He’s earned it, and I’m just really looking forward to watching him do it.”
This is just Ole Miss’ third NCAA Championship appearance under Malloy – and Tuesday will mark its first match-play appearance. But twice now the Rebels have boasted the individual winner, with current PGA Tour pro Braden Thornberry being the first in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms.
Thornberry recently played nine holes with La Sasso and spoke with him by phone Sunday night. His biggest advice? Appreciate how special the opportunity is to win a national championship.
“I thought about that a few times today,” La Sasso said. “To be able to follow in his footsteps is pretty unbelievable.”
Unlike Thornberry, though, La Sasso will have to pause his celebration and shift to match play. He’ll go out in the anchor match opposite Arizona State star Preston Summerhays. History favors La Sasso – NCAA individual champions are 6-1 all-time in their quarterfinal matches.
Malloy isn’t worried about his star’s motivation.
“The guy wakes up with his hair on fire,” Malloy said. “He’s not going to have any lack of motivation.”
Much is still at stake.
