UCLA's Morales, Ereño Ranked Among Top 10 by PGA TOUR U
May 27, 2025 | Men's Golf
CARLSBAD, Calif. – UCLA seniors Omar Morales and Pablo Ereño finished the 2025 collegiate golf season ranked No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, in the PGA Tour University (PGA TOUR U) rankings.
Ereño climbed into the No. 10 position in the rankings by finishing sixth on the individual leaderboard at the NCAA Championships at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. He shot 3-under 69 on Sunday and Monday to finish with a four-day score of 5-under 283.
Morales finished in the No. 9 spot in this year's PGA TOUR U rankings.
Players who finish between the sixth and 10th spots in these rankings earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2025, fully exempt membership on PGA TOUR Americas for 2026 through the Latin America swing, plus an exemption to the second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School. PGA TOUR U was introduced in 2020 to provide a clear avenue for the nation's top collegiate golfers to ascend to the professional ranks.
Both Morales and Ereño were honored over the weekend on the NCAA Division I PING All-West Region team, as announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). The Bruins' senior duo was also recognized on the same All-West Region team as juniors in 2023-24.
"Reflecting upon this year's tournament, obviously we were disappointed that we did not do better as a team," UCLA head coach Armen Kirakossian said. "I'm just so proud of Pablo for finishing sixth, being the low finisher for the Bruins since 2012. To secure a top 10 finish against that field, it's probably the best amateur field in golf, and that's super impressive. We are so proud of him. For Pablo to take a top-seven finish and move into the top 10 of the PGA TOUR U rankings, it's a dream finish for him. That is a nice way to cap off what might have been a disappointing week for our team. So that's something to celebrate as a silver lining for us at the NCAA Championships."
As a team, UCLA finished in 20th place (tied) out of 30 programs through Sunday's third round at the NCAA Championships. As an individual who competed through Monday's fourth round, Ereño became UCLA's first golfer to have finished in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard at the NCAA Championships since Lorens Chan in 2014 (t-9th, in Hutchinson, Kansas). In addition, Ereño's sixth-place finish was the best by any UCLA individual since Patrick Cantlay finished in a tie for fourth place at the 2012 NCAA Championships in the Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Morales and Ereño each secured collegiate medals during the Bruins' 2024-25 season. Ereño won UCLA's first event in the fall, capturing his first collegiate medal at The Tindall at Aldarra Golf Club (Sammamish, Wash.). Morales won his third college medal by winning the Big Ten Championships in late April in Baltimore, at the Baltimore Country Club.
The nation's top five men's golfers in this year's PGA TOUR U rankings included (1) David Ford of North Carolina, (2) Brendan Valdes of Auburn, (3) Josele Ballester of Arizona State, (4) Ian Gilligan of Florida and (5) Jackson Van Paris of Vanderbilt. Moving along in the rankings included (6) Phichaksn Maichon of Texas A&M, (7) Preston Summerhays of Arizona State and (8) Sebastian Moss of Louisville.
UCLA and Arizona State were the only two collegiate programs with two golfers ranked among the PGA TOUR U top 10 rankings this year.
"It's really important to take a larger perspective in golf, and really in the case of most sports when you reflect back on a season," Kirakossian said. "But in golf, when you zoom out and look at the season, it's been amazing. I am so proud of the way our guys competed. We picked up three wins, with one of those being the Big Ten Championship. We qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. And for us, having two guys finish in the top 10 PGA TOUR U, you're talking about only two schools having accomplished that with Arizona State and UCLA. We had some great individual wins with Omar winning the Big Ten Championship and Pablo winning The Tindall. There are so many amazing things to take away from this season. You can't help but to be really satisfied and proud of the way that it all went down.
"Even though the NCAA Tournament wasn't exactly what we wanted for the team, I couldn't be happier about our season. We made so much progress this year. I'm so happy that Pablo and Omar got to compete in an NCAA Tournament at least one time in their four years at UCLA. That was a nice way to send them off. For both those guys to earn their PGA TOUR U cards and earn Korn Ferry Tour status, right there on the site at La Costa after the tournament, was icing on the cake. That was a really cool way for us to be able to celebrate with them and for the team to be able celebrate the season together. I think that as time goes on, I'll continue to reflect and look back at this season as a pivotal year for UCLA golf, moving forward."
Players Mentioned
