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Sunday, April 29, 2018

Oklahoma comes out on top in contentious Big 12 Championship at Southern Hills


   It’s tough to review the results of the Big 12 Championship, which wrapped up Wednesday at major-championship worthy Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., and not believe that a national championship team is going to emerge from the field.
   Last year’s national champion, Oklahoma, No. 3 in the latest Golfstat rankings, captured the title by eight shots over No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 16 Texas, which put up a spirited defense of the title the Longhorns won a year ago. It was the Sooners’ first Big 12 team title since 2006.
   Texas outlasted Oklahoma State in spectacularly bad weather on the really difficult Prairie Dunes Country Club layout last spring. At the time I posted that there can be no better preparation for the postseason than to take on a tough golf course with some challenging conditions. Turned out I was right. Oklahoma, which finished fifth at Prairie Dunes, showed all kinds of grit in taking it to the house a few weeks later at a tough Rich Harvest Farms in mostly lousy weather.
   This time the Sooners had the right answers on the 7,084-yard, par-70 Southern Hills layout that has hosted three U.S. Opens and four PGA Championships, the last of which was the 2007 edition that was won by that Tiger fella.
   After opening with a so-so 14-over 294, Oklahoma ripped off a 3-under 277 in the back end of Monday’s double-round when the course appeared to have been at its most vulnerable. The Sooners added a 1-over 281 in Tuesday’s third round before finishing up with a 7-over 287 in some rainy, chilly weather for a 19-over 1,139 total.
   Four grueling rounds on a tough golf course against some of the best amateur players in the world. You can’t ask for more out of your conference championship. And the Big 12 got itself a worthy champion.
   The Oklahoma website brags that the Sooners can repeat as national champions without leaving the state. They captured the title Wednesday in Tulsa, they’ll play host to an NCAA regional in a couple of weeks and if they can get through that, they’ll head for Stillwater and Oklahoma State’s home course of Karsten Creek Golf Club for the NCAA Championship. Of course, the Cowboys might have something to say about who wins the national championship on their home course.
   Oklahoma led upstart Iowa State, obviously underrated at No. 55, by just two heading into the final round with Oklahoma State and Texas lurking six shots out of the lead. But neither the Cowboys nor the Longhorns were able to make a big move, both carding a 9-over 289 to share runnerup honors at 27-over 1,147.
   Oklahoma State couldn’t quite recover from a 15-over 295 in the second round. And Texas, even with a pretty solid 8-over 288 in the second round, lost ground to the Sooners’ 3-under 277.
   Iowa State fell back in the final round with a 16-over 296, but still had a solid fourth-place finish at 30-over 1,150. No. 11 Baylor also struggled in the final round, matching the Cyclones’ 296 to finish fifth at 1,157, seven shots behind Iowa State.
   Oklahoma was led by Grant Hirschman, a senior from Collierville, Tenn. who was one of four players who claimed medalist honors as the Big 12 didn’t break the logjam at 3-over 283. Hirchschman surged into contention with a 3-under 67 in the second round and a 2-under 68 in the third round. He closed with a 3-over 73.
   The Sooners had two players among the group of four players tied for seventh at 6-over 286.
   One was Brad Dalke, a junior from Norman, Okla. and the runnerup in the 2016 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club. The ever-steady Dalke finished up with a 1-over 71. The other was Quade Cummins, a redshirt sophomore from Weatherford, Okla. who took advantage of the more tranquil Round 2 conditions to card a 3-under 67, matching Hirschman for the low round of the afternoon for the Sooners. Cummins finished up with a 3-over 73.
   Blaine Hale, a junior from Dallas, came up big in the final round with an even-par 70 that left him among the group tied for 14th at 9-over 289. Rounding out the Oklahoma lineup was Rylee Robertson, a senior from Gibbon, Neb. who finished in the group tied for 26th at 293 after a final-round 75 that was his highest round of the week.
    All three of the top teams had a player in the foursome that earned medalist honors.
   For Texas it was senior Doug Ghim, whom you might remember seeing in Butler Cabin earlier this month accepting the award for low amateur in The Masters right before Patrick Reed slipped on the green jacket. Ghim of Arlington Heights, Ill. was a game runnerup to Clemson’s Doc Redman in 37 holes in last summer’s U.S. Amateur and went 4-0 in helping the United States roll to a 19-7 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup Match at Los Angeles Country Club.
   Ghim, No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), finished up with a 3-over 73 to get his piece of the top spot at 3-over 283.
   Oklahoma State was represented in the top four by Kristoffer Ventura, a senior from Norway who became the 10th Cowboy to win a Big 12 individual title, joining the likes of Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler. Ventura had the best final-round score of the four co-medalists, a 1-under 69.
   Crashing the party as the fourth co-medalist was Kansas State’s Jeremy Gandon, a junior from France who finished up with a 2-over 72. Gandon is the first Kansas State player to claim medalist honors in a conference championship since the Wildcats were playing in the Big Seven in 19 and 51.
   The top four were chased home by Texas’ Scottie Scheffler, a senior from Dallas, and Oklahoma State’s Matthew Wolff, a freshman from Agoura Hills, Calif., both of whom finished two shots behind the co-medalists at 5-over 285.
   Scheffler was also a teammate of Ghim’s on the winning U.S. side in the Walker Cup Match. And oh yeah, he was the low amateur in last summer’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills. And has any college team ever had the reigning low amateurs from both the Open and The Masters on its roster at the same time? Just wondering. Ghim and Scheffler finished tied for second in leading the Longhorns to the title a year ago at Prairie Dunes.
   Scheffler, who was the Big 12 individual champion as a freshman at Southern Hills in 2015, finished strong with a 1-under 69 in Tuesday’s third round and even-par 70 in Wednesday’s final round.
   The Cowboys’ Wolff opened with a 6-over 76, but bounced back with a 1-under 69 in the second round Monday afternoon before finishing up with a pair of even-par 70s.
   Oklahoma State’s Viktor Hovland, a sophomore from Norway and No. 7 in the WAGR, joined Dalke and Cummins in the group tied for seventh at 6-over 286. A brilliant 4-under 66 in Monday afternoon’s second round sent Hovland to the top of the leaderboard at 1-under 139. He finished up with respective rounds of 73 and 74 Tuesday and Wednesday.
   Rounding out the foursome at 6-over 286 was Iowa State’s Sam Vincent, a sophomore from New Zealand. Vincent capped a solid week with a final round of 3-over 73.
   There was a familiar name in the Kansas State lineup as junior Roland Massimino, who led New Hope to the 2014 PIAA Class AA championship as a senior, finished in the group tied for 30th at 15-over 295. Massimino had three straight 3-over 73s before finishing up with a 76.



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