SEASIDE, Calif. - Santa Clara men's golf junior Emil Nielsen won the first event of his collegiate career on Wednesday, earning co-medalist honors at the 2026 Saint Mary's Invitational with a final score of 10-under par. The junior shot 3-under in the final round at the par 72 Bayonet/Black Horse Golf Course to finish in a four-way tie at the top of the individual standings. The 21st-ranked Broncos shot 7-under as a team for the day to lock up a second-place finish at 18-under 846. 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Nielsen is the first Bronco to win medalist honors this season and the first to win in a team event since J.P. Odland won twice in 2024. 
• Nielsen teed off the final round on No. 1 and bogeyed the first two holes before settling in with six pars and one birdie over the rest of the front nine. After making the turn, he promptly sank his second birdie of the day on No. 10 and added another on No. 13. 
• With medalist honors within reach, Nielsen rose the occasion with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 17-18 to climb back into the top spot. He finished the round with five total birdies and just the pair of early bogeys. 
• Nielsen, who is ranked 15th nationally in the latest Scoreboard Rankings, tied for the individual title with Washington's Hamish Farquharson, Oregon's Adam Anderson and Cal's Sihao Cong. A decision was made to not execute a playoff due to Washington needing to catch their flight back home, but Nielsen won a card-off based on the tournament's tiebreaker rule to claim ownership of the trophy. 
• Freshman Ryan Xie had the best round of the day for the Broncos, carding 5-under 67 with eight total birdies. After logging a pair of birdies on the front, Xie opened the back nine with three-straight birdies on Nos. 10-12 before logging a pair of bogeys. Like Nielsen, he also delivered a clutch finish with another streak of three-straight birdies to close the round. 
• Xie finished tied for sixth at 8-under 208 for his second top 10 finish in just four events played this fall. 
• Odland also shot under par, turning in his second-straight 71 (-1) thanks to a brilliant finish. After a bogey on No. 17, the Tiburon, Calif., product headed to the 18th at 1-over, but rolled in an eagle putt to finish under par. He finished just outside the top 20 in a tie for 21st at 2-under 214. 
• SCU's two individuals, Tucker Sweeney and Jared Abercrombie, tied each other for 25th at 1-under 215. Sweeney was 1-under 71 for the day while Abercrombie shot even par. 
• Matt Robles tied for 39th at 2-over 218 after carding 2-over 74 in the final round while Jack Hayden shot a 74 for the second-straight day to bring his 54-hole total to 10-over par. 
• Santa Clara's round total of 7-under par was tied for the third-lowest of the day. They were surpassed by No. 31 Washington, who carded 16-under for the day to claim the team title at 26-under 838. The Broncos edged out Oregon by one stroke for the runner-up finish. 

SANTA CLARA INDIVIDUALS:

Place	Player	Score (To Par)
T1.	Nielsen	70-67-69--206 (-10)
T6.	Xie	71-70-67--208 (-8)
T21.	Odland	72-71-71--214 (-2)
T25.	Sweeney (Ind.)	73-71-71--215 (-1)
T25.	Abercrombie (Ind.)	72-71-72--215 (-1)
T39.	Robles	72-72-74--218 (+2)
T83.	Hayden	78-74-74--226 (+10)

FINAL STANDINGS:

Place	Team	Score (To Par)
1.	#31 Washington	278-288-272--838 (-26)
2.	#21 Santa Clara	285-280-281--846 (-18)
3.	Oregon	278-283-286--847 (-17)
4.	Cal	278-285-285--848 (-16)
5.	San Francisco	283-294-279--856 (-8)
6.	GCU	285-286-287--858 (-6)
7.	Pacific	282-292-288--862 (-2)
8.	Cal Poly	284-285-295--864 (E)
T9.	Seattle U.	282-291-293--866 (+2)
T9.	Arkansas State	288-284-294--866 (+2)
T11.	Washington State	279-297-292--868 (+4)
T11.	Saint Mary's	285-293-290--868 (+4)
T13.	Nevada	298-292-281--871 (+7)
T13.	Long Beach State	287-290-294--871 (+7)
15.	Xavier	291-292-291--874 (+10)
16.	Sam Houston	294-293-294--881 (+17)
17.	Fresno State	294-297-301--892 (+28)
18.	Gonzaga	306-300-296--902 (+38)

UP NEXT:
The Broncos will wrap up the fall season Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 26-27, at the Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in Monterey, Calif.