UNLV roundup: Ban candidate for Arnold Palmer Cup

UNLV senior golfer Shintaro Ban, ranked as the country’s 10th-best player this season, is among the candidates to compete in the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup as the spring’s first ranking was released Thursday.

The top six golfers from the final spring ranking from the United States and international men and women — 12 total golfers — will be among the 24 individuals to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup, set for July 6-8 in France.

Using Golfstat’s NCAA player ranking as a base, the Arnold Palmer Cup Ranking awards bonus points for wins and high finishes and penalties for poor finishes. The ranking also contains a strength-of-schedule component.

Ban leads the Rebels in scoring average this season at 69.60 strokes per round. He finished in the top 20 in all five of his events in the fall, earning medalist honors at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Alabama.

During the team’s recent trip to Australia, Ban tied for second at the Australian Master of the Amateurs, and his final round of 8-under-par 63 set the Royal Melbourne Golf Club’s record for low round.

The remaining six men’s and women’s spots for the U.S. will consist of five committee selections, including at least one non-Division I golfer, and a coaches pick.

Subsequent rankings will be released Feb. 22 and March 8, with teams being announced March 15 during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Ban is on track to earn his degree in economics at the end of this semester, and he has been a member of the athletics department’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

The Rebels begin their spring season Thursday at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

UNLV junior Aiwen Zhu was named Mountain West women’s player of the week for the second time in three weeks. The Wuxi, China, native improved to 5-0 at No. 1 singles this season with three wins last week and is ranked No. 63 nationally.

Zhu stands 15-5 overall in singles. She and partner En-pei Huang, who are ranked 60th, are 14-4 in doubles this season.