Men's Golf: Can Anyone Stop Oklahoma?
Can anyone stop Oklahoma?
The No. 1-ranked Sooners are headed to the NCAA Championship for the 11th year in a row thanks to a dominant performance this week at the Norman Regional. It was the Sooners’ seventh tournament victory this season, tying a program record.
There was virtually no danger OU wouldn’t make the NCAA Championship field next week at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ, as the top five teams from each of the six regionals advance. But the Sooners started Wednesday’s third round in second place behind Auburn and then exploded with an array of shotmaking to outpace the Tigers by 16 strokes and run away with the event by a 10-shot margin at Jimmie Austin Golf Club.
“We played better golf today, no doubt about it,” head coach Ryan Hybl said in an OU press release. “Not only did we get off to a nice start, but we finished well. We had all five guys under par and as a golf team, I just don't think you can complain when that happens. Very special day for us to come out here and clinch a spot at Grayhawk, but to win on our home turf against this field is a big deal.”
OU finished the event 26-under par, 10 shots better than Auburn.
Logan McAllister led the way as all five OU golfers finished under par for the day. McAllister shot 5-under 67 on Wednesday and concluded the regional with an 8-under par 208, good for fourth place in the medalist standings.
Patrick Welch shot 3-under 69 and finished tied for fifth for the tournament at 6-under 210. OU’s Drew Goodman shot 2-under 70 and tied Welch in fifth place. Chris Gotterup also carded a 70 and finished tied for ninth at 5-under 211, while Stephen Campbell rang up his best round of the week with a 1-under 71 and ended the week at 1-over par at 217. OU carded 17 birdies as a team in Wednesday's final round.
Oklahoma’s 54-hole score of 838 shattered the course postseason record of 850, which OU recorded in 2018.
‘We talked as a team last night about how we weren't thriving and we were just surviving,” Hybl said. “That's something that we're always trying to talk about is that we want to thrive when we play. So today we wanted to let these horses get up and run. We made the turn and saw the leaderboards and all the fan support, which was out of this world all week long, and felt really good about ourselves.”
It’s OU’s sixth NCAA regional championship all-time and tied the 1989 squad for most tournament victories in program history.
Ole Miss’ Jackson Surber took home medalist honors with a postseason course-record-tying 11-under 205.
The Sooners seek their third national championship in program history when they head to Scottsdale for the tournament that runs May 27-June 1. OU is the only school in the nation to appear in each of the last five NCAA Match Play quarterfinals.
Stroke play will be 72 holes, with the field cut from 30 teams to 15 after three rounds. The top eight teams will play a match-play tournament to determine the national champ.