University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Big Ten Championships
Men's Golf Moves Into First Place at Big Ten Championships
May 01, 2026 | Men's Golf
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. – The UCLA men's golf team moved into first place after the second round of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, carding 11-under 269 in the second round.
The Bruins (-10, 550) pushed out in front of second place Washington by 11 strokes. Washington will enter Sunday's final round 1-over 561. Through Saturday's second round, Illinois (+5, 565) was in third place, while USC, Purdue and Nebraska (+10, 570) were tied for fourth place.
After shooting 1-over 281 on Friday in the opening round, the Bruins registered the best round score of any team in this season's tournament on Saturday (11-under 269).
Bruins' freshman Josh Kim continued his strong play, closing the evening in first place on the individual leaderboard. Kim shot 3-under 67 on Friday and improved upon that score, carding 4-under 66 in the second round on Saturday. He enters Sunday's final round with a two-stroke lead over USC's Jaden Dumdumaya (5-under 135).
Through the opening two rounds, UCLA had three players among the top six golfers on the individual leaderboard. In addition to Kim, the Bruins had Tyler Loree in a tie for third place (3-under 137) and Baylor Larrabee in a tie for fifth place (2-under 138).
Kim registered seven birdies and three bogeys, while Loree totaled six birdies and two bogeys. Loree had consecutive birdies on holes 10, 11 and 12.
Junior Alex Papayoanou finished the second round at 2-under 68, totaling a two-day score of 2-over 142 (T-19). Senior Kyle An shot even par (70) on Saturday, recording a two-day score of 4-over 144 (T-35).
The top nine teams, in order, through the second round included (1) UCLA, (2) Washington, (3) Illinois, (T-4) USC, (T-4) Purdue, (T-4) Nebraska, (7) Michigan, (8) Rutgers and (9) Minnesota.
Sunday's third and final round will include three hours of live coverage at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, televised by the Big Ten Network. Coverage will begin on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (PT), anchored by Rick Pizzo and Eric Ciotti in the Big Ten Network's studios, along with Emma Carpenter on the course.
UCLA's Day One Recap (Friday, May 1)
UCLA finished the opening round of the three-day Big Ten Championships in a tie with Washington for second place, carding 1-over 281, just two strokes behind first-place Illinois.
The Bruins, along with Washington, had built a three-stroke lead over fourth-place Nebraska (4-over 284). Illinois closed the opening round with the team lead (1-under 279).
The Big Ten Championships will continue from Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon with the second round on Saturday and the third round on Sunday. UCLA won the Big Ten Championships in its first year as a Big Ten member last May and is looking to repeat as the conference champion.
Freshman Josh Kim, from Danville, Calif., was tied for first place on the individual leaderboard after Friday's first round. Kim shot 3-under 67 through 18 holes, tied with Northwestern's Jeremy Chen and Illinois' Freddie Turnel. Two golfers were tied for fourth place at 2-under 68. Bruins' sophomore Baylor Larrabee closed the opening round in a tie for sixth place, having carded 1-under 69.
Kim finished the day with no bogeys, having totaled three birdies – on holes 3, 13 and 18.
Larrabee totaled three birdies and two bogeys. He was one of five golfers in the first round to finish at 1-under 69.
Bruins' freshman Tyler Loree shot 1-over 71, tied for 16th place on Friday. Senior Kyle An and junior Alex Papayoanou each finished at 4-over 74 (T-57th).
The top nine teams on Friday, in order, included (1) Illinois, (T-2) UCLA, (T-2) Washington, (4) Nebraska, (T-5) Minnesota, (T-5) Northwestern, (7) Rutgers, (8) Michigan and (9) Oregon.
UCLA will return to action in the second round on Saturday, May 2, at approximately 11:10 a.m., from the first hole at Pumpkin Ridge's Witch Hollow.
Players Mentioned
