The question remains after the opening round of the NCAA
Championship Friday at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. as it has
since the first shot of the wraparound 2018-’19 season was struck last August:
Can anyone stop Oklahoma State?
The top-ranked Cowboys, who captured the team title on their
home course at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. a year ago, have
been so tough all season long. After they carded a 2-over 290 over the
7,550-yard, par-72 Blessings layout, the Big 12 champion Cowboys were right
where they have been all year long, at the top of the heap.
Pac-12 champion Stanford, ranked 10th, was a shot
behind Oklahoma State in second at 3-over 291. No. 11 Auburn, the Southeastern
Conference runnerup which fell to the Cowboys in the semifinals a year ago at
Karsten Creek, was tied for third with Stanford’s Pac-12 rival California at
4-over 292.
Auburn chased Oklahoma State before ending up as the
runnerup to the Cowboys in the Louisville Regional. Stanford rolled to the team
title in the Stanford Regional on the Cardinal’s home course.
No. 17 Texas A&M, which lost to Oklahoma State in the
quarterfinals a year ago at Karsten Creek, shared fifth place with No. 3 Wake
Forest at 8-over 296, four shots behind Auburn and Cal. The Aggies are coming
off a team title in the Pullman Regional.
No. 42 Ohio State, coming off a gritty runnerup finish in
the Myrtle Beach Regional, was seventh at 9-over 297. Oklahoma State’s Big 12
rival Texas, ranked fifth, was eighth at 10-over 298. The Longhorns are coming
off a team title in the Austin Regional on their home course. No. 14 Georgia,
coming off a team title in the Athens Regional on its home course, was a shot
behind the Longhorns in ninth at 11-over 299.
Rounding out the top 10 was Wake Forest’s Atlantic Coast
Conference rival Clemson, ranked 13th. The Tigers posted a 12-over
300.
The 30-team field will be cut to 15 teams following Sunday’s
third round. The top eight teams following Monday’s final round will advance to
match play beginning Tuesday. The Golf Channel will join the tournament in time
for Monday’s final round of qualifying for match play as well as the final
round of individual competition. Think of it as a little Memorial Day holiday
treat.
Oklahoma State was led by the least highly-rated of the four
players in its starting lineup ranked among the top 50 in the World Amateur
Golf Ranking (WAGR). That would be Austin Eckroat, a sophomore from Edmond,
Okla. and the No. 45 player in the WAGR. Eckroat carded a 3-under 69 to share
second place with two other players, two shots behind individual leader Collin
Morikawa, a senior from La Canada Flintridge, Calif. and No. 3 in the WAGR.
Backing up Eckroat were Matthew Wolff, a sophomore from
Agoura Hills, Calif. and No. 4 in the WAGR, and Zach Bauchou, a senior from
Forest, Va. and No. 19 in the WAGR, who landed among the group tied for 21st
at 1-over 73.
Viktor Hovland, a junior from Norway and No. 1 in the WAGR,
was in the group tied for 36th at 3-over 75. Hovland is the reigning
U.S. Amateur champion and the low amateur in the Masters last month at Augusta
National Golf Club. So yeah, he’s pretty good.
Rounding out the Oklahoma State lineup was Hayden Wood, a
senior from Edmond, Okla. who was among
the group tied for 87th with a 6-over 78.
Morikawa posted a 4-0 mark in an impressive 19-7 victory for
the United States in the 2017 Walker Cup Match at Los Angeles Country Club. He
has been one of the best players in college golf for the last three years.
He put together a wild nine-birdie, four-bogey round to grab
the individual lead Friday. He rattled off four straight birdies at 14, 15, 16
and 17 to finish his round with a flourish.
Sharing second place with Oklahoma State’s Eckroat at
3-under 69 were Arizona State’s Chun An Yu, a junior from Taiwan, and Utah’s
Kyler Dunkle, a senior from Larkspur, Colo.
Stanford’s Isaiah Salinda, a senior from South San
Francisco, Calif. and No. 14 in the WAGR, was alone in fifth place at 2-under
70. Salinda was a semifinalist in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at the Pebble
Beach Golf Links.
Heading a group of six players tied for sixth at 1-under 71
was Southern California’s Justin Suh, a senior for San Jose, Calif. and No. 2
in the WAGR.
Also in that group was the home-team hopeful, Arkansas’
Julien Perico, a freshman from Peru. Perico played a key role in Arkansas’
stunning run to an SEC title this spring. The Razorbacks came up just short of
sending their team in the Austin Regional, but Perico did advance in the
individual competition.
Rounding out the group at 1-under 71 were Ohio State’s
Daniel Wetterich, a senior from Cincinnati, Auburn’s Jacob Solomon, a senior
from Dublin, Calif., Texas A&M’s Walker Lee, a sophomore from Houston, and
Western Kentucky’s Billy Tom Sargent, a redshirt senior from Georgetown, Ky.
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