Reigning NCAA champion Oklahoma State always seems to be
tough early in the spring when the Cowboys head south of the border for the
Querencia Cabo Collegiate at Querencia Golf Club in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.
This week Oklahoma State was missing its best player, junior
Viktor Hovland, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion from Norway who is teeing it
up in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the PGA Tour stop at Arnold Palmer’s Bay
Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. Hovland, No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf
Ranking (WAGR), will also play in the Masters later this spring.
But Oklahoma State, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings, didn’t skip a beat, despite Hovland’s absence.
Cowboys Austin Eckroat, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla. and
No. 39 in the WAGR, and Matthew Wolff, a sophomore from Agoura Hills, Calif.
and No. 4 in the WAGR, finished 1-2 in the individual standings and Oklahoma
State cruised to the team title for the third straight year in San Jose del
Cabo with a remarkable 32-under-par 820 total.
The 6,924-yard, par-71 Querencia layout has proven to be a
place where birdies can be made in bunches. And I’m sure a trip to warmer
climes – and winter has more than overstayed its welcome again – brings out the
best in a field filled with some of the top college players in the country.
It’s really hard to repeat as the national champion in
Division I men’s golf, but this Oklahoma State team certainly seems equipped to
do so, a point the Cowboys hammered home with their fourth tournament title of
the 2018-’19 season.
Oklahoma State opened with a 7-under 277 and actually
trailed Arizona State, which carded a sizzling 15-under 269 in Sunday’s opening
round.
But the Cowboys matched the Sun Devils’ first-round total in
Monday’s second round with a 15-under 269 of their own. Oklahoma State then
closed the deal with a 10-under 274 in Tuesday’s final round to finish with
that 32-under 820 total.
Arizona State backed off in the second round with a 3-over
287 before rallying with another strong showing in the final round, a 12-under
272 that was the low round of the day. It added up to a stellar 24-under 828
total that left the Sun Devils eight shots behind Oklahoma State. It was a
performance that actually boosted Arizona State from No. 9 to No. 5 in the
latest Golfstat rankings.
Baylor was the only other team to break par for the
tournament as the Bears opened with a 6-under 278 and added a 7-under 277
before cooling off in the final round with a 4-over 288 for a 9-under 843 total.
Baylor was No. 36 when it arrived in San Jose del Cabo, but its strong showing
moved it all the way up to No. 21.
The golf course played a little tougher for the rest of the
field. Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt, ranked third, finished fourth
at 6-over 858, 15 shots behind Baylor. The Commodores were right around par all
three days, opening with a 1-over 285 and adding a 3-over 287 before finishing
up with a 2-over 286.
Arizona, which saw its ranking improve from No. 50 to No.
46, was another four shots behind Vanderbilt in fifth at 10-over 862 after a
final round of 9-over 293 and No. 12 LSU, another entry out of the powerful
SEC, was a shot behind the Wildcats in sixth in the loaded 13-team field at
11-over 863 after a final round of 4-over 288.
You don’t get to 32-under without some spectacular
individual performances and Eckroat and Wolff provided them for Oklahoma State.
After opening with a 2-under 69, Eckroat lit up the
Guerencia layout to the tune of a brilliant eight-birdie, no-bogey, 8-under 63
that gave him a five-shot lead in the individual chase heading into the final
round.
His teammate Wolff, the runnerup in the 2017 U.S. Junior
Amateur Championship at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan., was
one of those trailing Eckroat by five and he fired a sparkling 7-under 64 in
the final round. But he could get no closer than two shots to Eckroat, who
closed with a solid 4-under 67 for a 14-under 199 total. Wolff’s 64 gave him
runnerup honors at 12-under 201.
Backing up the top two for Oklahoma State was Hayden Wood, a
senior from Edmond, Okla., who matched par in the final round with a 71 to
finish alone in sixth at 5-under 208. Wood contributed a 4-under 68 to the
Cowboys’ scintillating second-round surge.
Zach Bauchou, a senior from Forest, Va. and No. 12 in the
WAGR, also had a 4-under 68 in the second round, bracketing it with a pair of
1-over 72s that left him among the group tied for 15th at 1-under
212.
Rounding out the Oklahoma State lineup was Aman Gupta, a
freshman from Concord, N.C. who finished in the group tied for 45th
at 223 with his best round of the week, a 1-over 72, in the final round.
The Cowboys took along Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, a freshman
from Denmark, to compete as an individual and Neergaard-Petersen finished in
the group tied for 40th at 4-over 217 after adding a final-round 72
to the pair of 2-over 73s he carded in the first two rounds.
Arizona State’s Chun An Yu, a junior from Taiwan and No. 16
in the WAGR, closed with a 6-under 65 to finish a shot behind Wolff in third at
11-under 202. An Yu had grabbed the lead with an opening-round 66 before
cooling off a little with an even-par 71 in the second round.
Arizona’s Trevor Werbylo, a senior from Tucson, Ariz., was
another three shots behind An Yu in fourth at 8-under 205 as he added a pair of
3-under 68s to an opening round of 2-under 69. Baylor’s Colin Kober, a junior
from Southlake, Texas, sandwiched an even-par 71 with a pair of 3-under 68s to
finish fifth at 6-under 207, two shots behind Werbylo.
Heading a trio of players tied for seventh at 4-under 290
was LSU’s Luis Gagne, a senior from Orlando, Fla. and No. 25 in the WAGR.
Gagne, who shared low-amateur honors in last summer’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock
Hills, closed with a solid 4-under 68.
Gagne was joined at 4-under by Florida State’s John Pak, a
sophomore from Scotch Plains, N.J. and No. 34 in the WAGR, and An Yu’s Arizona
State teammate Alex del Rey, a junior from Spain. After opening with a pair of
1-under 70s, Pak finished up with a 2-under 69. A 5-under 67 in the final round
enabled del Rey to move into the group tied for seventh.
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