Ole Miss junior Michael La Sasso knew the magnitude of what faced him during the final round of the NCAA individual championship at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif., on Monday.
La Sasso struggled to sleep on the two-shot lead he held over Texas A&M senior Phichaksn Maichon. With a ticket to the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, the 2026 Masters and likely numerous PGA Tour sponsor invites on the line, La Sasso tossed and turned the night before the biggest round of his life.
By the time La Sasso stepped on the tee Monday, Maichon had already opened with back-to-back birdies to erase La Sasso’s lead. La Sasso, starting on the back nine, opened his round with two birdies as well but then ran into a string of bad luck. There was a mudball that led to a bogey at No. 13 and then plugged lies that caused double bogeys at 15 and 17. He was two shots back at the turn.
But where that would have broken La Sasso in the past, causing him to spiral and crash out, the Rebels junior star steadied himself, showcasing the level of mental fortitude required to win a championship.
It wasn’t too long ago that La Sasso was down on himself after a tough spring and summer that saw him lose 22 pounds due to a stomach virus at the SEC Championship. He followed that up with a tie for 191st at the U.S. Amateur. Ole Miss coach Chris Malloy and assistant coach Emerson Newsome suggested La Sasso work with a performance coach to work on his mental approach and emotions. That work paid off massively this season, as La Sasso won twice and posted nine top-13 finishes entering the NCAA Championships.
“You know, kind of just being able to have a level head and learn that we are just playing golf,” La Sasso said via Golf Digest’s Tod Leonard. “There’s no need to get too down on yourself. Golf is golf at the end of the day, and that’s what I was trying to tell myself.”
The grit showed.
La Sasso birdied Nos. 4 and 6, the latter aided by a few lucky bounces after La Sasso’s tugged tee shot bounced three times on the cart path before bounding back into the fairway. That birdie at No. 6 was La Sasso’s last of the round and got him to 11 under par. Up ahead of him, Maichon dropped two shots to post nine under, leaving La Sasso with a clear target to hit to hoist the trophy. On the 7th hole, La Sasso’s tee shot landed next to a bunker rake that his Ole Miss teammate had left out. He flew his second shot over the green but got up-and-down for par and cruised into the house to post a final-round 72 and become the second player in Ole Miss program history to win the individual title, joining Braden Thornberry.
