Wolff claims individual title, leads Oklahoma State to top seed in match play in NCAA Championship

   It was a pretty memorable Memorial Day Monday for the Oklahoma State program at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. The real work of trying to repeat as the national champion begins Tuesday.

   It was pretty much of a victory lap for the Cowboys, the Big 12 champions and No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings. Matthew Wolff, a sophomore from Agoura Hills, Calif. and the No. 4 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), led the way for Oklahoma State by cruising to the individual championship by five shots.

   While teammate Viktor Hovland, a junior from Norway, might be No. 1 in the WAGR, might be the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and might have a silver medal as the low amateur in last month’s Masters, but Wolff capped one of the great individual college seasons with his performance at The Blessings.

   Wolff fired a 3-under-par 69 over the 7,550-yard, par-72 Blessings layout for a 10-under 278 total that was five shots better than runnerup Steven Fisk, a senior at Georgia Southern from Stockbridge, Ga. and No. 24 in the WAGR.

   It was the sixth tournament victory of the wraparound 2018-’19 season for Wolff, who also played the weekend in the Waste Management Phoenix Open after making the cut in his PGA Tour debut in February.

   Wolff’s individual excellence just highlighted Oklahoma State’s domination of the 72 holes of qualifying for the main event, three rounds of match play that will determine the national champion.

   For the fourth straight day, Oklahoma State had the low team round of the day, this time a 4-under 284. It gave the Cowboys a 16-under 1,136 total. Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt, ranked fourth, was a distant second, the Commodores finishing up with a solid 3-under 285 for a 15-over 1,167 total that was 31 shots behind Oklahoma State.

   The only real drama of the day came in the race for the eighth and final spot in match play and for the right to take on the powerful Cowboys in Tuesday morning’s quarterfinals.

   No. 13 Clemson out of the Atlantic Coast Conference and No. 53 SMU out of the American Athletic Conference, traded the eighth spot all day and ultimately both landed on 44-over 1,196 and tied for eighth. Pretty amazing that two teams can take nearly 1,200 shots each and finish tied, but that’s how it fell. The Tigers posted a final round of 16-over 304 while the Mustangs needed a 15-over 303 to catch Clemson.

   A young, but talented SMU team then got four pars and one bogey to Clemson’s two pars and three bogeys on holes one, 15, 16, 17 and 18, giving the Mustangs the spot in match play. Pretty nice effort by an AAC team to be one of the last eight standing for match play at the NCAA Championship.

   Looks like there’s going to be a pretty juicy match between individual champion Wolff and SMU’s Noah Goodwin, a sophomore from Corinth, Texas. It’s a rematch of the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur final at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan. in which Goodwin rallied for a 1-up victory.

   The only team leaving The Blessings more frustrated than Clemson was No. 12 California, which carded a final round of 10-over 298 to come up a shot short of joining the playoff with a 45-over 1,197 total.

   The ACC will be represented in match play by No. 3 Wake Forest, which carded a 3-over 291 to finish third at 20-over 1,172, five shots behind Vanderbilt.

   Two of Oklahoma State’s Big 12 rivals, No. 5 Texas and No. 6 Oklahoma, finished tied for fourth at 28-over 1,180, eight shots behind Wake Forest. The Longhorns closed with a 15-over 303 while the Sooners posted a 12-over 300.

   That means those two ancient rivals will tee it up in the quarterfinals Tuesday morning. Pretty sure if Oklahoma State gets by SMU, the Cowboys would get the winner of Texas and Oklahoma. Sounds like a pretty interesting day for followers of Big 12 golf, no matter how it shakes out.

   Pac-12 champion Stanford, ranked 10^th, was another nine shots behind Texas and Oklahoma in sixth place at 37-over 1,189 after struggling to a final-round 312. The Cardinal will get Wake Forest in the quarterfinals.

   It will be an all-SEC matchup in the fourth quarterfinal as No. 17 Texas A&M finished up with a 20-over 308 to end up in seventh place at 40-over 1,192, three shots behind Stanford. That earned the Aggies a meeting with Vanderbilt Tuesday morning.

   Backing up Wolff for Oklahoma State were Zach Bauchou, a senior from Forest, Va. and No. 19 in the WAGR, and Austin Eckroat, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla. and No. 45 in the WAGR, both of whom finished among a trio of players tied for eighth in the individual standings at 1-over 289.

   Bauchou closed with a 3-over 75 while Eckroat, who was in second place, just two shots behind Wolff after three rounds, struggled to a 78 in the final round, a score the Cowboys were able to throw out.

   Hovland finished up with a solid 1-under 71 to join the group tied for 15^th at 4-over 292. Sharing Oklahoma State medalist honors for the day was Hayden Wood, a senior from Edmond, Okla. who matched Wolff’s 3-under 69. Wood’s strong finish left him in the group tied for 30^th at 9-over 297.

   Wolff made back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes to quickly get it to 9-under before giving those two shots back with back-to-back bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes. But he closed strong with birdies at the 10^th, 15^th and 17^th holes on the incoming nine to finish at 10-under.

   Fisk closed with a solid 1-under 71 for an impressive runnerup finish at 5-under 283. Arizona State’s Chun An Yu, a junior from Taiwan, matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish alone in third place at 3-under 285.

   Southern California’s Justin Suh, a senior from San Jose, Calif. and No. 2 in the WAGR, closed out his brilliant college career by matching par with a 72 that left him in a tie for fourth with Wake Forest’s Lee Detmer, a senior from Washington, at 2-under 286. Detmer closed strongly with a 3-under 69.

   It was the end of another brilliant college career for Suh’s playing partner and Pac-12 rival Collin Morikawa, a senior at California from La Canada Flintridge, Calif. and No. 3 in the WAGR. Morikawa posted a 1-over 73 to share sixth place with another Pac-12 rival, Isaiah Salinda, a senior at Stanford from South San Francisco, Calif. and No. 14 in the WAGR, at even-par 288. Salinda finished up with a 2-over 74.

   Sharing eighth place with Oklahoma State’s Bauchou and Eckroat at 1-over 289 was Georgia’s Trent Phillips, a freshman from Inman, S.C. and No. 46 in the WAGR who closed with one of the best rounds of the day, a 4-under 68.

   Give The Blessings layout a little credit, too. It’s a tough golf course, but the top five finishers in the team standings are Nos. 1, 4, 3, 5 and 6 in the Golfstat rankings and eight of the top-10 finishers in the individual standings are in the top 50 in the WAGR. A good golf course brings out the best from the best and that’s exactly what happened the last four days.

   Let the matches begin. If you like your drama live, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be aired on The Golf Channel Tuesday.