Stanford’s Karl Vilips, No. 14 in PGA TOUR University Ranking, leads by five at NCAA Championship
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Karl Vilips preparing to putt on hole No. 9 at The Goodwin at TPC Harding Park on March 28, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Stanford Men's Golf)
Written by Staff, PGATOUR.COM
CARLSBAD, California – Off the strength of a 5-under 31 on the back nine of Omni La Costa’s North Course, Stanford University senior Karl Vilips raced out to a five-stroke lead through 36 holes of the 2024 NCAA Championship. Vilips, who began his round on the back nine, carded a 4-under 68 Saturday, taking him to 7-under par for the tournament.
Vilips, who entered the week at No. 14 in the PGA TOUR University Ranking, currently projects to move to No. 4 should he go on to win the individual national title.
East Tennessee State University redshirt senior Mats Ege and Baylor University redshirt senior John Keefer maintained spots in the top 10 of the individual leaderboard, standing T7 and even par after two rounds.
Ege, who entered the week ranked No. 11, currently projects to move to No. 10. Keefer, who entered the wee ranked No. 29, currently projects to move to No. 24.
Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht, who entered the week ranked No. 2, subbed out of the team’s second round lineup due to a back injury. Lamprecht needed to win the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Championship (and have current No. 1 Michael Thorbjornsen finish outside the top 10) to finish No. 1 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking. Due to the substitution, Lamprecht is no longer eligible to win the individual national title.
PGA TOUR University Ranking Projections
| Projected rank | Current rank | Player (college) | NCAA Championship |
| 1 | 1 | Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford University) | T40 |
| No. 1 earns PGA TOUR membership | |||
| 2 | 2 | Christo Lamprecht (Georgia Tech) | -- |
| 3 | 3 | Austin Greaser (University of North Carolina) | T91 |
| 4 | 14 | Karl Vilips (Stanford University) | 1st |
| 5 | 4 | Matthew Riedel (Vanderbilt University) | T34 |
| Nos. 2-5 earn fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership | |||
| 6 | 5 | Nicholas Gabrelcik (University of North Florida) | T22 |
| 7 | 6 | William Moll (Vanderbilt University) | T67 |
| 8 | 8 | Cole Sherwood (Vanderbilt University) | T27 |
| 9 | 7 | Frederik Kjettrup (Florida State University) | T117 |
| 10 | 11 | Mats Ege (East Tennessee State University) | T7 |
| Nos. 6-10 earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour status, fully exempt PGA TOUR Americas membership | |||
| 11 | 9 | Gustav Frimodt (Texas Christian University) | -- |
| 12 | 10 | Michael Brennan (Wake Forest University) | T40 |
| 13 | 12 | Sampson-Yunhe Zheng (University of California-Berkeley) | T40 |
| 14 | 13 | Ben Lorenz (University of Oklahoma) | T91 |
| 15 | 15 | Jonas Baumgartner (Oklahoma State University) | T67 |
| 16 | 17 | Dylan Menante (University of North Carolina) | T54 |
| 17 | 16 | Herman Wibe Sekne (Purdue University) | T91 |
| 18 | 19 | Ryggs Johnston (Arizona State University) | -- |
| 19 | 20 | Canon Claycomb (University of Alabama) | -- |
| 20 | 18 | Maxwell Moldovan (Ohio State University) | T91 |
| 21 | 21 | Petr Hruby (University of Washington) | -- |
| 22 | 22 | Bryce Lewis (University of Tennessee) | T40 |
| 23 | 23 | Santiago De la Fuente del Valle (University of Houston) | -- |
| 24 | 29 | John Keefer (Baylor University) | T7 |
| 25 | 25 | Ben Van Wyk (University of Georgia) | -- |
| Nos. 11-25 earn fully exempt PGA TOUR Americas membership | |||