How NCAA individual champ Michael La Sasso is learning to enjoy PGA Tour spotlight at Rocket Classic

USA Today

25-06-2025

Michael La Sasso admits his head is still spinning from everything that has happened the last month.
On May 28, he won the NCAA individual title at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California, capping his junior year in style. Two weeks later, he was on the East Coast teeing it up in his first U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, a perk that came with his win at the NCAA Championship.
Now, La Sasso, a rising senior at Ole Miss and third-ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is making his first start at a PGA Tour event, the 2025 Rocket Classic, playing as a sponsor exemption. Donning Rocket on his hat, the youngster is still processing the craziness of the last month as he prepares to take on Detroit Golf Club.
"We were kind of joking about how many flights I've been on," La Sasso said. "It's kind of something I've not been recently exposed to, but hopefully I can in the future. Yeah, I feel like I've been on the road consistently, but it's been great. It's something that I'm fortunate to be a part of."
There have been a handful of notable names to congratulate La Sasso on his victory, but the one that stands out is former Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, now with the New York Giants. Also among those reaching out is Braden Thornberry, who won an NCAA individual title at Ole Miss in 2017, and has been a role model for La Sasso in recent years.
During the NCAA Championship, La Sasso said he and Thornberry talked about handling the pressure and how La Sasso needed to enjoy the week. Then Thornberry was one of the first to reach out when La Sasso won the biggest title of his amateur career.
"Braden lives in Memphis, so he comes down pretty much every Monday when their golf courses are closed. I always try and make time in my day if it's kind of trying to get out of class early or trying to go just like spend time with him, pick his brain," La Sasso said. '"He's like the nicest ever, and he's great. You ask a ton of questions, he's great to us. Just to have the ability to talk with a guy who's kind of seen everything is something that is pretty underrated."
That advice has helped La Sasso process a new outlook on golf in the past month. He was late to the golf game, not really following the sport or getting into it as a player until after the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he was a standard bearer. He followed Martin Kaymar and Thomas Pieters that week, and he closely followed Akshay Bhatia's path of skipping college golf and turning pro, with the two sharing the same swing coach.
La Sasso arrived at Ole Miss as a wide-eyed freshman still not realizing his full potential. He got closer and closer to a win but couldn't break through his first two years. Then this year, he ran away with the title at the Hamptons Intercollegiate, where he won by 11 shots. Then came the win at NCAAs.
"Kind of knowing that I'm very much capable of being able to compete on a collegiate level," La Sasso said. "It was more kind of maturing a little bit, having the ability to realize all right, my time management needs to be in the right spot, kind of just knowing what it takes to actually win.
"Most times you've got to think it's perfect golf for all 54 holes for us, but there's going to be some rough stretches in how you handle that and just are able to keep like a good mindset is just kind of smile is what I've kind of just been trying to take into this summer and into senior year."
His busy summer will continue after the Rocket Classic, even after finally getting a chance to go home and have a quick reset. He'll be one of the favorites at the 2025 U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club in August before representing the U.S. in the Walker Cup in September, where last week he was named one of the first three selections to the 10-man team.
Heading into his senior year, he has a chance to earn a PGA Tour card via PGA Tour University, where he's going to be in the top five when the Class of 2026 preseason rankings are announced later this summer. It makes weeks like this more important, as every point counts when trying to secure job status on the biggest professional golf tour in an era where Tour cards are harder to come by.
But in the meantime, he's trying to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
"You know, I try and keep it pretty light. Something about me is if you're not enjoying what you're doing, there's kind of no point in doing it. I try and keep a smile all the time, take it pretty light and just kind of enjoy and know where you're at.
"It's so easy to get caught up in everything, especially like with all the tournaments and people, it's a little bit of a different environment, but just realize like how cool it is to actually be here, have the ability to play first PGA Tour event, very special. Just smile, take it all in and just grateful to be here."