SOMIS, Calif. — UC San Diego's Davis McDowell leads an 84-player field after Monday's 36 holes at the 27th annual Bill Cullum Invitational in Ventura County. 

UC San Diego is in sixth place.

CSUN is hosting the 54-hole, 14-team tournament at The Saticoy Club.

HOW IT HAPPENED
McDowell enters Tuesday's third and final round on top of the leader board with a 2-under 142. 

The redshirt junior started off slow, shooting 76 (+4) in the morning 18. He caught fire in the second round, improving his score by 10 strokes and his standing by 40 positions. McDowell's 66 (-6) was not only the low round of the day, it also matched a career best. McDowell logged seven birdies, 10 pars, and a single bogey in the round. He birdied three of his first four holes.

McDowell leads four other players by a single stroke. The five were the only golfers to finish the day under par.

Triton freshman Justin Gill is tied for 19th in his collegiate debut. The San Marcos, Calif, native shot 70-77 for a 147 (+3).

Senior Jerry Wu is also in the top 30, tied for 26th at 4-over par. He had rounds of 73 and 75.

UC San Diego holds a 591 (+15) after shooting rounds of 297 and 294.

CSUN leads the field at 2-over par. North Dakota State is in second, trailing by seven strokes. Hawai'i and UC Riverside are tied for third, giving the Big West three teams in the top-three along with CSUN.

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TRITON RESULTS
1. Davis McDowell, -2 (76-66--142)
T-19. Justin Gill, +3 (70-77--147)
T-26. Jerry Wu, +4 (73-75--148)
T-41. Davis Lee, +8 (76-76--152)*
T-61. Kyle Dougherty, +11 (78-77--155)
T-61. Nathan Tseng, +11 (78-77--155)*
T-67. Francis Catalano, +13 (81-76--157)
T-73. Leo Cheng, +17 (83-78--161)*

* Playing as an individual and does not count in team scoring

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TRITON TIDBITS
• Davis McDowell also shot 66 in the first round of the Orange County Collegiate Classic in 2022. He went on to win the tournament, the first victory of his career.
• McDowell was UC San Diego's top finisher in seven of 11 tournaments last season.
• Along with Justin Gill, junior transfer Leo Cheng is also making his Triton debut at this tournament.
• There are six Big West teams competing - Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai'i, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego.
• The Tritons also played in this tourney in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
• Nathan Tseng competed in the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship.

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UP NEXT
The third and final round of the Bill Cullum Invitational is set to tee off Tuesday morning. You can follow with live scoring.
 

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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.