Oklahoma State beats back a host of challengers to capture title in Big 12 Championship

   The Big 12 has produced the last two national champions and half of the eight teams that qualified for match play in last spring’s NCAA Championship, so when it plays its conference championship, you can’t help but pay close attention.

   Reigning national champion Oklahoma State, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings, claimed its first Big 12 championship since 2011 and its 10^th overall with an 11-shot victory over No. 33 Texas Christian University at The Greenbrier in West Sulphur Springs, W.Va. It was the 55^th conference championship in one of the most storied golf programs in the country.

   Oklahoma State did not win the Big 12 title a year ago at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Oklahoma claimed that honor. But the Cowboys went on to capture the national championship on their home course at Karsten Creek.

   Oklahoma was the national champion two years ago, but it was Texas that captured the Big 12 crown in some wild weather at the challenging Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.

   The Greenbrier might not be in the class with Southern Hills and Prairie Dunes, but the 7,201-yard, par-70 layout does play host to a PGA Tour stop and offered just the type of challenge for a Big 12 Championship that keeps producing national champions.

   Bad weather hit The Greenbrier and forced the tournament to be scaled back to a 54-hole event. Teams were originally scheduled to play 36 holes Friday and then single rounds Saturday and Sunday. But with Friday a washout, teams played 36 holes Saturday and 18 Sunday.

   Of course, with an Oklahoma State lineup that features three players in the top 15 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), the Cowboys might have been tough to deny, no matter how many holes were played.

   Oklahoma State has been considered a favorite to become the first repeat national champion since Alabama accomplished the feat in 2013 and 2014 ever since the wraparound 2018-’19 season started late last summer. At The Greenbrier, the Cowboys were facing some of the biggest challengers to their repeat bid.

   Oklahoma State took control of the team chase at The Greenbrier with a sparkling 12-under 268 in Saturday afternoon’s second round. The Cowboys had opened with a 2-under 278, which left them five shots behind TCU, which carded a 7-under 273 in Saturday morning’s opening round.

   Its 12-under round Saturday afternoon enabled Oklahoma State to carry an eight-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. The Cowboys closed with a 1-over 281 that left them with a 13-under 827 total.

   The Horned Frogs, behind individual champion Hayden Springer, a senior from Trophy Club, Texas, carded a 4-over 284 in Sunday’s final round to hold onto second place with a 2-under 838 total. TCU was the only other team beside Oklahoma State to finish under par for three rounds.

   No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 6 Texas were four shots behind TCU in a tie for third at 2-over 842, four shots behind TCU. The Sooners had posted a 4-under 276 in Saturday afternoon’s second round and the Longhorns had fired a 3-under 277 to land in a tie for third. They each closed with a 4-over 284 to remain tied for third.

   No. 10 Texas Tech closed with a 2-under 278 to finish fifth, two shots behind Oklahoma and Texas, at 4-over 844. No. 25 Baylor struggled in the opening round with a 293, but came on strong with a 6-under 274 in Saturday afternoon’s second round and a 1-under 279 in Sunday’s final round to finish sixth, two shots behind Texas Tech at 6-over 846.

   No. 64 Kansas State closed with a solid 6-under 274 to finish seventh at 7-over 847, a shot behind Baylor.

   Oklahoma State was led by Viktor Hovland, a junior from Norway and the No. 1 player in the WAGR. Fresh off earning low-amateur honors at the Masters, Hovland battled Springer right to the finish before settling for second place in the individual standings at 7-under 203.

   Hovland, who captured the U.S. Amateur last summer at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links, fired a 6-under 64 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to catch Springer, but a final round of 1-over 71 left him one shot short of an individual conference crown.

   Matthew Wolff, a sophomore from Agoura Hills, Calif. and No. 3 in the WAGR, finished alone in seventh place for the Cowboys at 2-under 208. Wolff contributed a 3-under 67 to Oklahoma State’s strong team effort in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Zach Bauchou, a senior from Forest, Va. and No. 15 in the WAGR, and Austin Eckroat, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla. and No. 43 in the WAGR, both landed in the group tied for 14^th at 1-over 211. Bauchou added a 2-under 68 to his opening-round 73 before closing with an even-par 70. Eckroat fired a pair of 1-under 69s in Saturday’s double-round before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Rounding out the Oklahoma State lineup was Hayden Wood, a senior from Edmond, Okla. who finished in the group tied for 31^st at 7-over 217. Wood’s final round of 1-under 69 was the low round of the day for the Cowboys.

   All Springer had to do to win the Big 12 individual title was stare down the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and No. 1 amateur player in the world. Springer opened with a sizzling 6-under 64 and added a 2-under 68 Saturday afternoon, but still couldn’t shake Oklahoma State’s Hovland.

   In the final round, Hovland finally blinked on the 16^th hole with a bogey that gave Springer a one-shot lead. Springer and Hovland both drained long birdie putts on the 17^th hole before Springer found the green on the par-3 finishing hole and two-putted for a par that gave him the edge on Hovland.

Springer matched par in the final round with a 70 for an 8-under 202 total.

   Oh yeah, Springer also had to hold off the best freshman in the country, Texas’ Cole Hammer of Houston and No. 5 in the WAGR. Hammer, who lost to Hovland in the U.S. Amateur semifinals at Pebble Beach, struggled a little in the opening round with a 73.

   But then he ripped off a 5-under 65 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 4-under 66 to finish in a tie for third with TCU’s David Ravetto, a senior from France, at 6-under 204. Ravetto was under par in all three rounds at The Greenbrier, opening with a 68 and adding a 67 Saturday afternoon before closing with a 1-under 69 to join Hammer at 204.

   Baylor’s Garrett May, a senior from Hope, Ark., and Texas Tech’s Sandy Scott, a junior from Scotland, both got it going in Sunday’s final round, firing matching 4-under 66s to share fifth place at 5-under 205.

   Five players finished a shot behind Oklahoma State’s Wolff in a tie for eighth at 1-under 209, led by Kansas State senior Roland Massimino, the PIAA Class AA runnerup as a senior at New Hope Solebury and, yes, Rollie’s grandson. After opening with a 74, Massimino ripped off a 2-under 68 in Saturday afternoon’s second round and closed with a 3-under 67.

   Massimino’s Kansas State teammate Jeremy Gandon, a senior from France, joined him at 1-under as Gandon added a pair of 1-under 69s to his opening-round 71.

   Oklahoma also had two players in the quintet tied for eighth at 209, Garett Reband, a junior from Fort Worth, Texas, and Patrick Welch, a freshman from Providence, R.I. Reband and Welch each sandwiched a 1-under 69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 70s.

   Rounding out the group at 1-under was Iowa State’s Trip Kinney, a junior from Waukee, Iowa who, like Reband and Welch, bracketed a 1-under 69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 70s.