COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men's Golf signed a pair of future student-athletes to its 2019 recruiting class, head coach Mark Leroux announced Wednesday. Hometown star Ross Steelman (Columbia, Mo.) and international talent Yu-Ta Tsai (Taipei, Taiwan) inked National Letters of Intent to play at Mizzou next year.
"I believe this is the strongest recruiting class we've ever had," head coach Mark Leroux said. "Ross and Yu Ta are both extremely talented golfers with outstanding resumes and top rankings. In addition, they are both outstanding young men who will represent our team and this University well."
Steelman, ranked No. 48 in the national 2019 Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings, is a local standout from Rock Bridge High School. Steelman captured the individual 2018 Missouri Class 4 state championship as a junior with an 8-under par 136 for the tournament. His performance steered Rock Bridge to a team state title, its first since 2015. Steelman and company won the team championship by 23 strokes.
The Columbia phenom finished fifth in the state as a sophomore and 10th as a freshman. Steelman has also secured runner-up finishes at a pair of major American Junior Golf Association events, including the AJGA Lockton Kansas City Junior and the AJGA Bass Pro Shops/Payne Stewart Junior Championship.
Additionally, Steelman won the Missouri Junior Match Play Championship at Mizzou's Al Gustin Golf Course with an impressive 10-under 62.
Tsai, who hails from Taipei, Taiwan, is ranked No. 75 in the national Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings. Tsai's prep career was a highlighted by a Top-10 finish at the 2018 IMG Academy Junior World Championship (10th).
Tsai added a victory at the CTGA Standard Chartered Bank National Fall Ranking Tournament at the Chang Hwa Golf Club.
In 2017, he finished in the Top-15 in all three of his AJGA starts, including a T-4 finish at the Under Armour/Allison Lee Championship and a T-3 finish at the AJGA Junior at Riverwatch event. Tsai has 17 career top-10 performances.
For all the latest on Mizzou's Men's Golf, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @MizzouHoops.