Justin Suh: USC’s golf stud no one has heard of

Suh has won four tournaments this year and holds the top spot in collegiate golf, but to everyone else on campus, he's just another face in the crowd.

By Sam Skalbania
The nation’s No. 1 golfer Justin Suh has a cool head on his shoulders and a bright future ahead of him.
As the sixth-ranked amateur golfer in the world, Suh has Pac-12s, NCAAs, and the PGA Tour ahead, but for him, it’s all about the next shot.
The junior from San Jose, California has risen to the top spot in college golf, but Suh, calm and collected, doesn’t let that affect him on or off the course.
“At the end of the day, you’re taking it one shot at a time,” Suh said of his mental approach to the game. He has worked tirelessly with team psychologist Kevin Sverduk since he started at USC. Suh doesn’t deny that tournaments can be a lot, but his work with Sverduk has allowed him to find clarity before entering what can often be a psychological gauntlet.

“There’s all this crazy stuff going on,” Suh said, “So I kinda meditate.”

Suh uses a nine-breath technique on the way to or at the course that he says gives him a way “to just stay in the present”—a skill that separates the good from the great in the world of golf. His breathing technique focuses on calming the mind, then the body, and then on silencing everything else.

Suh says he's used this breathing tactic throughout his college career, and the results could not be more impressive.

Despite receiving interest from USC as early as 8th grade, Suh didn't let his own hype distract from improving his game, and he still hasn't. Suh racked up accolades in high school and then quickly jumped to third in scoring average on the USC team his freshman year. He got his first collegiate win and was named on the All-Pac-12 First Team his sophomore year. Now, he has already racked up four wins this season and sits atop the NCAA as the No. 1 player in the country.

Talk about staying hungry.

One of those four wins came just under a month ago at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas. Suh eclipsed a highly competitive field by two shots, posting an eight-under three-day total of 208. Suh's performance elevated the Trojans into a tie for second with Texas Tech at one-under, four-back of the victorious University of Florida team.

Less than 24 hours before his flight to Las Vegas, Suh said he was “stoked” for the Southern Highlands Collegiate, a tournament he called “one of our [USC’s] biggest events” of the year.

A flight to Vegas on Saturday, a four-under 68 Monday, then a two-under 70 Tuesday, and another round of 70 to win his fourth tournament of the year on Wednesday. Not a bad week.

His most recent tournament in San Francisco, The Goodwin, probably has Suh a little less stoked, however. Suh posted three consecutive rounds over-par to tie for 65th with teammates Cheng Jin and Kyle Suppa at +6. Suh's tough few days are quite an anomaly, as he only had one other round over par this year coming into The Goodwin.

But win or lose, dominate or come in 65th, it’s unlikely Suh will come home to much praise -or disappointment- back on campus in Los Angeles.

At football-dominated USC, the vast majority of students have no idea that the top collegiate golfer in the country is enrolled at their school, let alone what he looks like.

“For now, it’s nice,” Suh said of the minor amount of attention he receives outside of the golfing world. During nationals in 2017, Suh remembers seeing former NFL star Lynn Swann following his group, “getting recognized by every single [person] one passing by.” Suh has played in charity tournaments and spent time with Swann and admits that the attention the USC Athletic Director gets “is a hassle” at times.
The junior isn’t looking for Super Bowl-MVP celebrity status like Swann, but thinks that the game of golf could use “a little more popularity.” Suh admires young stars on the PGA Tour like Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Rickie Fowler, and he believes their celebrity will have a great impact on the growth of the game.
But after a resounding victory in Vegas, a deserved applause from students in one of his Thursday afternoon business lectures certainly wouldn’t be lost on Suh.
Even with trips to Hawaii, Las Vegas, and other tournament destinations during school weeks and non-stop practice, Suh is able to stay on top of rigorous USC coursework. His sophomore year, Suh earned Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention honors, while maintaining a 71.17 stroke average on the year.

With workouts, practices, lessons, classes, and schoolwork, it's hard to imagine Suh even has much time to eat food, let alone relax. But Suh says he and his teammates find time to goof-off, whether it be at one of their Friday-night Korean BBQ excursions, or at 3 am in their golf simulator practice facility.

"People don't really know this, but you can actually go online on the TVs," said Suh of the simulator screens in the basement of the John McKay Center. "So me and a teammate of mine actually watched like half a season of Stranger Things, and then we would practice a little bit, it was fun."

Of course, Suh’s relaxation time still involves a little swing practice. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

Suh is expected to eventually join the stars he commends for growing the game on the PGA Tour, but he isn't worried about turning professional just yet.

"PGA [Tour] is definitely the goal," Suh said. "I mean, it is something like a career for me so there is some pressure coming into the situation when it happens, but the only one I'm focused on is the next event."

So far so good, Justin.

Only time will tell when Suh will make it to the Tour, but hopefully soon, so Suh and his favorite professional player may have the chance to square off against each other.

His favorite player? You guessed it: Tiger Woods. Suh attributed his love for Woods to his father, who got Suh and his older sister started on golf and Tiger before they reached kindergarten.

There are many tournaments to be played before Suh can ever compete for PGA Tour title, or against Tiger, but Suh's brilliance and determination beg the question: Will we ever see the pair walking down 18 together at Augusta?

There’s no way to tell now, but Stranger Things have happened.

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