Pettit delivers an individual title to his Clemson head coach; Arizona State grabs top seed in NCAA Championship

    Clemson couldn’t quite deliver a match-play berth to Larry Penley as the veteran head coach was closing out his brilliant career after 38 years, but the Tigers’ Turk Pettit came through with a pretty nice parting gift, Penley’s second NCAA individual champion.

   Petti, a fifth-year senior from Auburn, Ala. and No. 33 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), matched par with a gritty 70 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. to post a 7-under 273 total and Oklahoma State’s Bo Jin, a freshman from China and No. 56 in the WAGR, bogeyed the final hole to come up a shot short.

   Jin had led Pettit by two shots heading into Monday’s final round, but struggled a little with a 1-over 73 over the 7,389-yard, par-70 Grayhawk layout to finish with a 6-under 274 total.

   Of course, Pettit would love to have Jin’s starting time Tuesday morning for Oklahoma State’s quarterfinal match with Vanderbilt, but he’ll take an NCAA Championship gold medal.

   Pettit decided to return to Clemson for a fifth season after the NCAA offered an extra year of eligibility to make up for the spring of his senior season stolen by the coronavirus pandemic. The extra year gained an extra measure of urgency when Penley announced in January that this would be his final year of his wildly successful tenure at Clemson.

   Starting off the 10^th tee, Pettit made birdies at the 12^th and 17^th holes on Grayhawk’s incoming nine to get it to 9-under for the championship. He fell back to 7-under with bogeys at the first and third holes, but grinded out six straight pars to get in at 7-under.

   Jin made bogeys at the first, seventh and 10^th holes to fall back to 6-under for the championship, but got it back to 7-under with a birdie at the 11^th. Jin proceeded to grind out six straight pars until a wayward drive led to a bogey at the 18^th hole as he came up just short of an NCAA individual title.

   It was a struggle for Jin and the rest of his Oklahoma State teammates as the Big 12 champion Cowboys lost their grip on the top seed for match play, registering a 12-over 292 in the final round that enabled Arizona State, No. 10 in the latest Golfstat rankings, to overtake them for the top seed.

   The Sun Devils, out of the Pac-12, closed with a solid 5-under 275 behind Ryggs Johnston, a senior from Libby, Mont. and No. 91 in the WAGR who finished a shot behind Jin in third place in the individual standings, to finish with a 3-under 1,117 total.

   The final-round 292 left the No. 3 Cowboys in second place, three shots behind Arizona State with an even-par 1,120 total. Still, Oklahoma State achieved the ultimate goal Monday, it earned a berth in the match-play bracket. The reality is match play is an entirely different animal than stroke play and there are no weak teams among the eight teams in the bracket.

   In the last NCAA Championship contested two years ago at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., Oklahoma State had a lineup that included Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland, both of whom have won on the PGA Tour since then, won the top seed in match play by a whopping 31 shots and lost in the semifinals to Texas.

   Jin’s teammate Austin Eckroat, a junior from Edmond, Okla. and No. 12 in the WAGR, was there. He’ll let his fellow Cowboys know that the only thing that matters now is the next hole in your match.

   West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine, ranked ninth, closed with the best team round of the weekend, a sparkling 9-under 271, to finish in third place with a 5-over 1,125 total, five shots behind Oklahoma State.

   Oklahoma State’s in-state and Big 12 rival Oklahoma, the No. 1 team in the country, finished up with a 9-over 289 to end up five shots behind Pepperdine in fourth place with a 10-over 1,130 total. The Sooners’ quarterfinal opponent Tuesday morning will be Big Ten champion Illinois, which closed with a 10-over 290 to finish in fifth place with a 14-over 1,134 total. The Fighting Illini are ranked eighth.

   Atlantic Coast Conference runnerup Florida State, ranked second, finished two shots behind Illinois in sixth place as the Seminoles closed with a 7-over 287 for a 16-over 1,136 total. Florida State will get Pepperdine in the quarterfinals.

   No. 11 Vanderbilt had to survive a gauntlet of Southeastern Conference rivals in match play to claim the conference championship in April. The Commodores finished up with an 11-over 291 to take seventh place with a 24-over 1,144 total, eight shots behind Florida State. Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State will meet in a heavyweight showdown in the quarterfinals.

   The ACC got a second entry into the final eight as No. 6 North Carolina, solid all spring after the conference wouldn’t let the Tar Heels compete in the fall, closed with a 12-over 292 to finish a shot behind Vanderbilt in eighth place with a 25-over 1,145 total. North Carolina will battle top-seeded Arizona State in the quarterfinals.

   The final eight in the match-play bracket counts four conference champions (Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Illinois and Vanderbilt) among its members and three regional champions, the Cowboys on their home course in the Stillwater Regional, Florida State on its home course in the Tallahassee Regional and Vanderbilt not far from home in the Kingston Springs Regional.

   Johnston led the way for Arizona State as he got into contention for the individual title with a 1-under 69 that left him alone in third place, a shot behind Jin at 5-under 275 total.

   Cameron Sisk, a junior from San Diego and No. 52 in the WAGR, matched Johnston’s 1-under 69 and landed in a group of four players tied for eighth place at 1-under 279.

   The best round of the day among the Sun Devils belonged to Chun An Yu, a fifth-year player from Taiwan and No. 15 in the WAGR who fired a 3-under 67 to end up in the group tied for 13^th place at 2-over 282. Mason Anderson, a senior from Chandler, Ariz., was the final counter for Arizona State as he matched par with a 70 to finish among the group tied for 22^nd place at 4-over 284.

   Rounding out the Arizona State lineup was David Puig, a sophomore from Spain and No. 17 in the WAGR who closed with a 2-over 72 to finish among the group tied for 54^th place at 12-over 292.

   There was no hotter player in the country when the Sun Devils finally got a chance to compete early in 2021 than Puig as he claimed back-to-back individual titles in the Southwestern Invitational at North Beach Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif. and The Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii.

   Illinois’ Michael Feagles, a graduate student from Scottsdale, Ariz. and No. 89 in the WAGR, is another player who returned for a fifth year. Feagles matched par in the final round with a 70 to finish alone in fourth place with a 4-under 226 total. And he and the Fighting Illini are in with a chance in the match-play bracket.

   Florida State’s run to the match-play bracket was led by John Pak, a senior from Scotch Plains, N.J. and No. 4 in the WAGR. Pak has played on the last two winning U.S. Walker Cup teams, including the most recent one three weeks ago at Seminole. He closed with a 1-under 69 at Grayhawk Monday and finished alone in fifth place with a 2-under 277 total.

   Top-ranked Oklahoma accounted for both players who finished in a tie for sixth place at 2-under 278 in Jonathan Brightwell, a redshirt senior from Charlotte, N.C. and No. 42 in the WAGR, and Quade Cummins, a redshirt senior from Weatherford, Okla. and No. 16 in the WAGR.

   Brightwell, who has been a steady force in the postseason for the Sooners, closed with a 2-over 72. Cummins, another member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup side at Seminole, finished up with a 3-over 73.

   Joining Arizona State’s Sisk in the foursome tied for eighth place at 1-under 279 were Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 5 in the WAGR, Jin’s Oklahoma State teammate, Eugenio Chacarra, a sophomore from Spain and No. 29 in the WAGR, and Sam Houston’s William Holcomb, a senior from Crockett, Texas and No. 83 in the WAGR.

   Aberg roared up the leaderboard with the best round of the day Monday, a sparkling 4-under 66. Chacarra closed with a 2-over 72. Holcomb, who made a spirited run to the semifinals of the 2019 U.S. Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, also finished up with a 2-over 72.

   Florida’s Ricky Castillo, a sophomore from Yorba Linda, Calif. and No. 10 in the WAGR, finished alone in 12^th place as he ended up with an even-par 280 total. Castillo, who went 4-0 for the United States in its victory over Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup at Seminole, finished up with a 1-under 69.