Freshman Daniel Zou named AAC Golfer of the Week

By Evie Vu     3/11/25 11:04pm

Following a top 10 individual finish at the Cabo Collegiate tournament, freshman Daniel Zou received the American Athletic Conference’s Golfer of the Week honor. 

His performance helped the team place 10th in the tournament, besting No. 1 Ole Miss and falling just behind No. 13 Vanderbilt. 

After three days of play, Zou finished in 10th place, two under par, while defeating the No. 1- and No. 3-ranked players in the country.

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Zou’s game improved steadily over the three rounds. On the first day, he carded a 74, three over par, then shed four strokes for a 70 on Day 2. On Day 3, Zou shot a 67, the best score of the day out of the entire field and his second-best round of the year. 

Zou credited the drop in his scores to his growing familiarity with the course. 

“Going there, I wasn’t used to that kind of style of golf, so the first two days were adjustment days,” Zou said. “Then, [on] the last day, I finally felt comfortable on that course and playing my own game.”

Rice played the Cabo Collegiate at the Twin Dolphin Club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The course, Zou said, boasts narrow fairways with numerous hazards, making it imperative that he strike the ball well.

“I only missed a couple of greens every day and three fairways all week,” Zou said. “That worked to my advantage at this course because if you miss the green or fairway in Cabo, you’ve either lost your ball or would have to take an unplayable. Keeping it in the fairway and in play was the most important thing last week.”

In golf, the unplayable ball rule is a relief that can be taken by the ballstriker if they do not think they can hit their shot. Because of the one-stroke penalty given, an unplayable is typically only taken when the ball is in a very difficult position.

Going into Cabo, Zou paid extra attention to his game on the putting green. He said his putting held him back in the fall because it packed on unnecessary strokes to his scores that he said he could easily shed.

Despite his high finish at the tournament, Zou said he still needs to work on his short game, the part of golf played in and around the green. Specifically, he said in Cabo he messed up easy chips — short shots where the ball leaves the ground — and struggled to adjust to how quickly the ball traveled over the green. 

He slightly changed his putting method after the first two days of the tournament. In his final round, given the quicker green speeds, he adopted the method where he putted the ball past the hole instead of playing from behind and hitting the ball short.

In a game that is difficult mentally, Zou said he embraces an “it is what it is” mentality. 

“Anything that happens on the course doesn’t affect me too much mentally anymore,” Zou said. “I accept it for what it is. What has helped in the last few tournaments is that care-free attitude instead of over-analyzing every shot and feeling like it’s life or death when I play.”

Following his success in Cabo, Zou broke into the top-150 Scoreboard rankings at No. 141 in the nation. 

The team played in the Louisiana Classics from March 10-11 in Lafayette, La. Planning to celebrate its 40th year, the event is one of the longest-standing tournaments in the country. 75th-ranked Rice hopes to use the tournament to improve their ranking before the postseason.

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