UCLA
Big Ten Championship
Men's Golf Wins 2025 Big Ten Championship
April 25, 2025 | Men's Golf
BALTIMORE, Md. – The No. 12-ranked UCLA men's golf team won the 2025 Big Ten Championships on Sunday afternoon at Baltimore Country Club, as senior Omar Morales captured his third career medal.
The Bruins secured their first conference title since 2006, while Morales became the first Bruin to medal at the conference tournament since Daniel Im at the 2006 Pac-10 Championship.
UCLA finished the three-day tournament at 2-over 842, just one stroke ahead of second-place Illinois (3-over 843). Sunday's course presented consistent winds at 12-18 miles per hour, gusting to as high 35 miles per hour.
Morales shot even par (70) on Sunday afternoon, sinking a putt on the 18th hole to hold at par before awaiting the results of Oregon's Greyson Leach. Morales finished the tournament at 7-under 203, while Leach carded 4-under 206. Leach needed to birdie the final three holes to have any chance of tying Morales for the top spot (Leach had a bogey on the 17th hole).
"I just hit one shot at a time, and I think that I kept the ball really well under the wind," Morales told Big Ten Network analyst Emma Carpenter as he awaited the final competitors to conclude on Sunday. "I was putting really well from inside six feet, which are the putts that matter. I think the save on hole 15 was huge. I hit a perfect six iron that hit the top of the ridge and came all of the way back down, off the green, and then at one point I had 12 feet up the hill for birdie. And then when the ball stopped, I had like 75 feet. So that two putt was huge and the save on 18 was pretty big as well."
In addition to Morales, UCLA had several strong individual performances in the third and final round on Sunday. Senior Pablo Ereño shot 2-under 68 on Sunday to finish the tournament with a final score of 2-over 212. Ereño registered four birdies and two bogeys on the final day of action.
Upon conclusion of Sunday's final round, Ereño was honored with the Big Ten Conference's Les Bolstad Award. This award is annually presented to the Big Ten men's golf individual with the lowest stroke average of the season (69.8, through 33 rounds).
"This was such a special moment with the guys, in a special form and fashion to do it where we had to come back from an eight-shot deficit to start the day," UCLA head coach Armen Kirakossian said. "We weren't even playing in the final group. But we knew it was going to be challenging out there. It was super windy and the conditions were tough. The wind was coming from an opposite direction than it had been all week. And last night, I just had a good feeling that we were going to have a great round. I didn't know what that meant or if it would be good enough to win. Now, we were going to need some help from Illinois. Our guys came out today so stoic with great energy, with great intensity, and they kept it for the entire round."
Junior Kyle An shot 3-over 73 on Sunday, while sophomore Luke Powell finished at 1-over 71. Powell competed in the second and third rounds, posting a 36-hole score of 2-over 142.
Freshman Baylor Larrabee carded 9-over 79 in the final round after having registered scores of 1-under 69 on Friday and 4-over 74 on Saturday.
UCLA entered Sunday's third and final round trailing Illinois by eight strokes. The Bruins reduced the margin to as few as two strokes mid-way through the afternoon. UCLA concluded its round with Illinois still in action and the Bruins nearly tied for the lead.
Morales' strong effort on Sunday helped him secure his third career collegiate medal. As a sophomore in 2022-23, Morales won the individual title at the El Macero Classic. As a junior in 2023-24, Morales won his second career medal at The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate (Oct. 2023).
With the victory on Sunday, UCLA has secured the Big Ten Conference's automatic berth to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Bruins will learn which NCAA Regional they will head to later this week when the NCAA Tournament Selection Show takes place on Wednesday, April 30. The show will air on the Golf Channel at 10 a.m. (PT) this Wednesday.
NCAA Regionals will take place at six different sites from May 12-14. The national championship competition will take place from May 23-28 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Big Ten, All-Champions Team
Jake Birdwell, Illinois
Yang Kuang, Maryland
Emil Riegger, Maryland
Lorenzo Pinili, Michigan State
Greyson Leach, Oregon
Omar Morales, UCLA
Additional quotes from Coach Kirakossian (Sunday, April 27)
on Sunday's team win at the Big Ten Championships
"It was so challenging out there, and our guys were faced with so many difficult shots and putts and just executed at such a high level, time and time again. This is one of those moments where these guys will remember this forever. It's our first Big Ten Championship, to be able to go there and bring back the trophy is as moment and a bond that we'll share together, with this unit that went on this trip. I could not be more proud of the guys for how they competed. I was impressed with the tournament. The Baltimore Country Club put on a first-class show. From start to finish, the hospitality here was off the charts. The golf course was spectacular. The Big Ten, in conjunction with the Baltimore Country Club, they did a wonderful job of running a really championship experience and golf tournament. We appreciate them for all of that."
on senior Omar Morales medaling at the conference championship
"And with Omar, what can I say about Omar? I mean, this guy continues to impress and be awesome in the big moments. I am so happy for him. He has had an OK season so far, but probably not up to what his standards or expectations are. For him to go out and take it down in the fashion that he did, he was just playing such high-level golf. He hit the right shots over and over again. I got to tell you on that 18th green, he had a four-foot putt, sliding downhill and downwind, and it probably cost me a couple of gray hairs. He buried it right in the middle. Our team got to celebrate, and then we had to go sit and wait. Now that was a really stressful hour, hour and a half [awaiting the final competitors]. But it turns out that we got to celebrate in the end."
Day Two Recap
The Bruins closed the second day of action in fourth place in the overall team standings.
April 26, 2025
BALTIMORE, Md. – The No. 12-ranked UCLA men's golf team finished in fourth place through two rounds of the 2025 Big Ten Championships on Saturday at Baltimore Golf Course.
The Bruins shot 2-over 282 through 18 holes on Saturday. Senior Omar Morales finished the second round in first place atop the Big Ten's leaderboard (7-under 133), having carded 3-under 67 in the second round. Morales finished Friday's opening round at 4-under 66.
Morales registered four birdies and one bogey in Saturday's second round. Through all 36 holes so far in the tournament, the Bruins' senior has totaled eight birdies and just one bogey.
Junior Kyle An and sophomore Luke Powell each shot 1-over 71 on Saturday. Through both rounds, An has shot 3-over 143 and rests in a tie for 32nd place (along with freshman Baylor Larrabee). Larrabee finished Saturday's second round 4-over 74.
Senior Pablo Ereño carded 3-over 73 on Saturday. He's currently tied for 43rd place, having shot 4-over 144 through both rounds.
Powell subbed for freshman Trevor Garus on Saturday afternoon.
Morales, at 3-under 67 on Saturday, has now totaled 12 rounds this season where he has shot in the 60s and 18 rounds under par.
Looking at the team leaderboard through Saturday's action, Illinois currently sits in first place (8-under 552), followed by second-place Oregon (2-under 558), third-place Indiana (1-under 559) and the fourth-place Bruins (even par, 560). Minnesota and Ohio State concluded Saturday in a tie for fifth place (1-over 561).
Day One Recap
Senior Omar Morales was tied for second place through the first round in Baltimore.
April 25, 2025
BALTIMORE, Md. – The Bruins shot 2-under 278 through the opening round of the 2025 Big Ten Championships at Baltimore Golf Course on Friday.
UCLA stands in third place out of 18 teams, heading into Saturday's second round. The Big Ten Championships feature three rounds (one round each day) from Friday through Sunday. UCLA is eight strokes behind first-place Illinois (10-under 270) and just one stroke shy of second-place Indiana (3-under 277.
Senior Omar Morales led UCLA on Friday, carding 4-under 66 in the opening round. Morales finished in a tie for second place on the individual leaderboard, tied with Clay Merchant from Indiana.
Freshman Baylor Larrabee shot 1-under 69, tied for 14th place overall, while senior Pablo Ereño finished the afternoon 1-over 71 (T-29). Rounding out the Bruins' five competitors on Friday included senior Kyle An (2-over 72, T-41) and freshman Trevor Garus (5-over 75, T-79).
Morales totaled four birdies and no bogeys. He birdied the first, fourth and sixth holes to finish 3-under par through the first nine holes. Morales also finished with a birdie on the 12th hole.
Larrabee also had three birdies through the opening nine holes on Friday. He finished the day with five birdies, one bogey and one triple bogey.
Saturday's second round is expected to begin at approximately 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET in Baltimore). The third and final round is scheduled for Sunday, April 27.
Players Mentioned
