Oklahoma State opens spring with spectacular 10-shot victory in The Amer Ari Invitational

   Alabama was the last team to go back-to-back in the NCAA Championship, capturing the title in 2013 and 2014.

   Reigning NCAA champion Oklahoma State, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings, made it clear last week that the Cowboys have every intention of making it two in a row with a spectacular 47-under-par showing that won The Amer Ari Invitational at the Waikoloa Beach Resort’s Kings’ Course in Waikoloa, Hawaii.

   Riding the wave of a 21-under 267 over the 7,074-yard, par-72 Kings’ Course layout in the opening round, the Cowboys posted an 11-under 277 in Saturday’s final round for a 47-under 817 total that was 10 shots clear of reigning Southeastern Conference champion Auburn.

   Leading the way for Oklahoma State was individual champion Matthew Wolff, a sophomore from Agoura Hills, Calif. who closed with a 7-under 65 for an 18-under 198 total that gave him a three-shot victory.

   Wolff, No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was coming off a solid showing in an appearance on the PGA Tour. Wolff played the weekend in the Waste Management Phoenix Open after making the cut and finished in the group tied for 50^th.

   It’s not like Oklahoma State beat a soft field in Hawaii either. No. 16 Auburn, which capped the fall season by capturing the East Lake Cup over SEC rival Alabama, had the best team round of the day in Saturday’s final round, a 14-under 274 that left the Tigers in second place at 37-under 827.  Oklahoma State defeated Auburn in the semifinals on its way to the NCAA title on its home course at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

   The low team round for the week was not Oklahoma State’s opening 21-under 267 salvo. That honor went to the Cowboys’ Big 12 rival Texas. The No. 14 Longhorns ripped off an outstanding 23-under 265, a record for a program with a distinguished history, in the second round to surge into contention and finished third at 35-under 829, two shots behind Auburn. Texas cooled off in the final round with a 5-under 283.

   A couple of Pac-12 powers, No. 8 Southern California and No. 45 Oregon, shared fourth place at 30-under 834. Kind of tough to shoot 30-under and finish 17 shots behind the winner. The reigning Pac-12 champion Trojans struggled a little in the final round with a 1-over 289 while the Ducks carded a 6-under 282.

   No. 29 Texas Tech was a shot behind Southern Cal and Oregon in sixth at 29-under 835 after a final round of 5-under 283.

   It was a 15-shot dropoff to No. 60 TCU in seventh place, the Horned Frogs finishing up with a 1-under 287 for a 14-under 850 total.

   Reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion Georgia Tech, ranked second, and No. 25 Oregon State were a shot behind TCU in a tie for eighth in the loaded 18-team field at 13-under 851. The Yellow Jackets probably weren’t thrilled with their 2-over 290 in the final round while the Beavers carded a 1-under 287.

   Wolff actually trailed teammate Zach Bauchou, a senior from Forest, Va. and No. 14 in the WAGR, by six shots after Bauchou fired a brilliant 9-under 63 in Thursday’s opening round.

   But Wolff followed up his opening-round 69 with a pretty special 8-under 64 of his own in the second round before his final-round 65 gave him the individual title at 18-under 198.

   Bauchou cooled off in the second round with a 2-under 70 and finished up with a solid 4-under 68 to share second place with Oregon’s Edwin Yi, a senior form Beaumont, Calif., at 15-under 201.

   Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland, a junior from Norway, matched par in the final round with a 72 to give Oklahoma State three players in the top eight as he finished alone in eighth at 11-under 205. Hovland, No. 3 in the WAGR, had opened with rounds of 66 and 67.

   Austin Eckroat, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., finished in the group tied for 30^th at 3-under 213. Eckroat, No. 43 in the WAGR, contributed a 3-under 69 to the Cowboys’ blazing start before matching par with 72s in each of the final two rounds.

   Hayden Wood, a senior from Edmond, Okla., rounded out the Oklahoma State lineup as he finished among the group tied for 66^th at 3-over 219 after matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Yi, one of the holdovers from Oregon’s 2016 NCAA championship team, fired a final-round 69 after scorching the Kings’ Course layout with rounds of 67 and 65 to get his share of second with Bauchou.

   Two of men’s college golf’s biggest stars, Southern California’s Justin Suh, a senior from San Jose, Calif. and the No. 1 player in the WAGR, and Texas’ Cole Hammer, a freshman from Houston and No. 11 in the WAGR, finished in a tie for fourth at 13-under 203.

   Suh trailed Hammer by one in the individual chase after firing an 8-under 64 in the second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71. Hammer, who reached the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur at the Pebble Beach Golf Links before falling to Hovland, matched Suh’s 8-under 64 in the second round and had the individual lead at 13-under going into the final round before backing off with an even-par 72.

   Yi’s Oregon teammate Sam Foust, a senior from Edina, Minn., and Auburn’s Trace Crowe, a senior from Bluffton, S.C., finished a shot behind Suh and Hammer in a tie for sixth at 12-under 204. Foust closed with a 1-under 71 while Crowe, who was right in the middle of the Tigers’ scintillating run to the NCAA semifinals last spring, fired a 5-under 67 in the final round.

   Finishing a shot behind Oklahoma State’s Hovland in ninth at 10-under 206 was Hammer’s Texas teammate Steven Chervony, a senior from Boca Raton, Fla. Chervony, a holdover from the Texas team that lost in the 2016 NCAA Final Match to Oregon on the Ducks’ home course, contributed a 6-under 66 to the Longhorns’ sizzling second-round team performance and closed with a solid 4-under 68.

   Auburn’s Jacob Solomon, a senior from Dublin, Calif., rounded out the top 10 as he closed with a 3-under 69 for a 9-under 207 total.

   Jovan Rebula, a junior from South Africa and No. 36 in the WAGR, gave Auburn three players in the top 11 as he finished a shot behind his teammate Solomon in 11^th at 8-under 68. Rebula, the nephew of Ernie Els and winner of The Amateur Championship at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland last summer, finished up with a 4-under 68.