University of Oregon
NCAA Championships (Rich Harvest Farms Golf Club)
Ducks Rally Eight Spots to Reach NCAA Match Play
05/29/17 | Men's Golf
Photo Credit: Tim Cowie Photography
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. - The University of Oregon men's golf team rallied eight spots to officially punch their ticket into the NCAA championships match play quarterfinals to be played on Tuesday at the par-72, 7,300-yard Rich Harvest Farms course. Oregon earned the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 seed Oklahoma State at 5:50 a.m. PT (7:50 a.m. CT).
The Ducks (T5) are joined by (in order of Monday's finish): Vanderbilt (1), Oklahoma (2), Illinois (3), Oklahoma State (4), USC (T5), Baylor (T7), and UNLV (T7).
Oregon's appearance in the NCAA championships match play marks the program's fourth of all time.
Quarterfinals Matchups (Numbers indicate seeding)
No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. No. 8 UNLV (Hole 1) 5:50 a.m. PT (7:50 a.m. CT)
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Baylor (Hole 1) 5 a.m. PT (7 a.m. CT)
No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 6 USC (Hole 10) 5 a.m. PT (7 a.m. CT)
No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Oklahoma State (Hole 10) 5:50 a.m. PT (7:50 a.m. CT)
The Golf Channel will provide pre-game coverage from 7-8:30 a.m. PT (9-10:30 a.m. CT), followed by live coverage of the quarterfinals from 8:30-10:30 a.m. PT (10:30-12:30 p.m. CT).
The team match play semifinals will be played following the quarterfinals with the winner of Vanderbilt-UNLV and Oregon-Oklahoma State beginning at 11:30 a.m. PT (1:30 p.m. CT) and the winner of Oklahoma-Baylor and Illinois-USC to follow at 12:20 p.m. PT (2:20 p.m. CT). The NCAA championship match play round will take place on Wednesday.
Pre-game coverage on the Golf Channel will be from 1-1:30 p.m. PT (3-3:30 p.m. CT), while live coverage of semifinals will be from 1:30-5 p.m. PT (3:30-7 p.m. CT).
After four rounds of stroke play, Oregon finished with a total of 1158 (+6) (294-282-289-293). UO and first-place Vanderbilt both shot a field best of +5 on Monday. Oklahoma State and LSU had the second best rounds, 10 strokes behind the Ducks and Commodores.
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Gronlund was the definition of clutch for the reigning champion Ducks, as he birdied his last four holes on Monday and has notched the best round for the Oregon lineup the last three days of competition (78-68-70-70--286,-2). The Pleasanton, Calif., native tied for 11th in stroke play and was the only Duck to finish under par.
Freshman Norman Xiong had the second-best finish for the Ducks in stroke play, and tied for 35th at 4-over. Sophomore Edwin Yi and redshirt senior Wyndham Clark both finished at 8-over tied for 51st. Redshirt senior Sulman Raza closed out the Oregon lineup at 13-over T72.
Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss was crowned the 72-hole champion after carding an 11-under 277 (66-71-69-71). He is the first player in Ole Miss history to win the national championship. Mason Overstreet (Arkansas) finished runner-up with a 7-under 281 (70-68-72-71). In a three-way tie, Matthias Schwab (Vanderbilt), Scottie Scheffler (Texas) and Theo Humphrey (Vanderbilt) all came in at 6-under for third.
In the team race, Vanderbilt finished first overall with an impressive 13-under four-round total of 1139 (278-288-280-293). The Oklahoma Sooners were second at 1-under (284-279-284-304--1151). Illinois (282-283-285-304--1154) and Oklahoma State (282-287-283-303--1155) finished third and fourth at 2-over and 3-over, respectively.
To view the full results from the first four days of the NCAA championships, visit Golfstat here - http://bit.ly/2r1XHQ1
How it Happened: The Ducks were paired with UCF and Pepperdine to begin the fourth and final round of NCAA stroke play off the 10th hole. Starting the day at 13th, the Ducks knew they needed to finish within the top-8, or else the season, and chance to defend their title, would officially be over.
Conditions, though 76 degrees and sunny, turned out to be brutal with winds clocking in at 23 MPH coming in from the west, and signs on the radar of picking up throughout the afternoon.
Clark, Xiong, Yi and Gronlund all opened up with a bogey on the 10th hole. They all made up for it however, meeting par on 11.
Raza had a great start to his round opening with par-birdie-birdie-par-par, but had a tough bogey shot on 15. He was +9 T73, while Yi was one stroke behind at +8 T71. He opened with two bogeys and a birdie through his first six holes of the day.
To close out the back nine, Oregon tallied six birdies, 12 tough bogeys and one triple bogey by Raza on 16.
Knowing they needed to make up ground, Gronlund started to make some moves and opened the front nine with two birdies. Through 13 holes, he was T36 and +2. Xiong followed as the second highest in the Duck lineup at T45 +4.
As the Ducks' approached their final holes, the wind remained a factor and reached up to 29 MPH.
Though modest, Oregon made some moves up to 11th at +9, surpassing Texas at +13 and three shots behind Auburn at +6. Virginia and LSU were both bubble teams, as they stood at +1 and +2, respectively.
Through 16-18 holes, the Ducks made up ground by jumping up one more spot to 10th (+8), just one shot off of LSU (+7), proving they would fight to the very end.
Clark, Yi and Gronlund all birdied the 6th hole, starting a catalyst for Gronlund, which gave the boost the Ducks desperately needed. He went on to make four miraculous birdies in a row to close out his round, while Xiong also birdied the 18th. That push boosted Oregon up to 9th (+6) , three strokes behind Illinois (+3).
Virginia was still on holes 10-13 at +2, while USC was +1 (+18 on the day) on holes 15-18 - giving a glimpse that the Ducks just might make the cut after moving four spots.
USC closed their round at +23, +6 overall, tying them with Oregon at T7.
Following their round, the Ducks all gathered in the Rich Harvest Farms clubhouse to watch the Golf Channel coverage of their season's fate.
With all teams in, LSU (+9), Virginia (+10), Auburn (+12), Texas (+14), Pepperdine (+28), Florida State (+29) and UCF (+29) would officially be eliminated, leaving the top eight to advance to match play with the Ducks officially making the cut.
What it Means: Oregon's appearance in the NCAA championships match play marks the program's fourth of all time.
Clark, a year after transferring from Oklahoma State, will face his former Cowboy teammates during Tuesday's NCAA championship match play quarterfinals.
Clark and Gronlund are the only Ducks to have shot a round in the 60's during the NCAA championships stroke play competition - both during the second round on Saturday (68, Gronlund. 69, Clark).
Gronlund was the only Duck to close out stroke play under par (-2).
With Friday through Sunday's finishes of T11, T12 and 13th, the Ducks have never finished lower than 13th (after a round) during the entire 2016-17 season.
With Monday's finish of stroke play in a tie for 5th, Oregon officially finished within the top five of every stroke play event this season of what was supposed to be a "rebuilding year."
Oregon Lineup
T11. Ryan Gronlund (RSO) 78-68-70-70--286 (-2)
T35. Norman Xiong (FR) 73-71-73-75--292 (+4)
T51. Wyndham Clark (RSR) 74-69-72-81--296 (+8)
T51. Edwin Yi (SO) 75-74-74-73--296 (+8)
T72. Sulman Raza (RSR) 72-77-77-75--301 (+13)
Top NCAA Championship Stroke Play Individuals
1. Braden Thornberry (Ole Miss) 66-71-69-71--277 (-11)
2. Mason Overstreet (Arkansas) 70-68-72-71--281 (-7)
T3. Matthias Schwab (Vanderbilt) 67-70-70-75--282 (-6)
T3. Scottie Scheffler (Texas) 68-68-68-78--282 (-6)
T3. Theo Humphrey (Vanderbilt) 71-72-69-70--282 (-6)
T6. Rico Hoey (USC) 74-68-66-76--284 (-4)
T6. Dylan Meyer (Illinois) 71-67-69-77--284 (-4)
Top NCAA Championships Stroke Play Team Results
1. Vanderbilt 278-288-280-293--1139 (-13)
2. Oklahoma 284-279-284-304--1151 (-1)
3. Illinois 282-283-285-304--1154 (+2)
4. Oklahoma State 282-287-283-303--1155 (+3)
T5. Oregon 294-282-289-293--1158 (+6)
T5. USC 284-283-280-311--1158 (+6)
T7. Baylor 288-280-287-304--1159 (+7)
T7. UNLV 283-279-285-312--1159 (+7)
Quotes: Head coach Casey Martin -
On how the team turned things around from the first nine holes...
"The conditions were just so brutal. We talked last night about the forecast and what that could mean for us, and that was going to provide the help we needed and we just needed to play our best round. We really played awesome, I mean we just battled, even without the top player in the country playing well. To have those guys do what they did and the way they finished with Gronlund getting a birdie on his final four holes...it was just incredibly clutch, and it was a joy to watch them compete. Regardless of what happens, as a coach, I'm just so proud of them."
On if it's characteristic of the team to respond with their backs against the wall...
"It's hard to say. These are unique situations - we don't get this kind of situation much where you're in a 72-hole event with crowds and TV and the national championship on the line - you only get that once a year. It's hard to say that we do this all the time, because you just don't know...but, we did it last year and had a little magic out there this afternoon too. I'm just so excited for them, because they were so pumped."
On the how the team compensated with the windy conditions...
"When you're leading or trying to protect something, wind is really difficult, because it's "the enemy," but for us it was our friend. It was what we needed. We needed something to happen to create the differential to make up all that ground. When conditions are perfect, it's hard to catch guys who shoot 25-under, but when the conditions are tough there is not telling. That was definitely a big catalyst for us today."
On Ryan Gronlund's performance...
"He's a bulldog. He spoke last night in the meeting on how the Golf Channel was kind of overlooking us and he overheard some people say, 'oh, they're out of it.'" He uses that underdog mentality a lot, and he's a fighter. I'm really grateful that he finished the way he did, because he put the team on his back."
"Having Ryan really show up is awesome, because we needed it. You can't just rely on one or two guys all the time. Everyone needs to show up, and he has all year, but the way he finished the day was incredible and I'm really excited for him. He's coming into his own."
On Wyndham Clark's performance...
"Golf is a hard game. He's got a lot of pressure on himself playing to be the Player of the Year and all that, and it just went south for him. However, he'll be fine."
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Gronlund -
On his overall thoughts of his round today...
"We talked last night and obviously we want to repeat, but we didn't want Wyndham and Sulman to end their seasons today; we just wanted a chance. We told them that we were going to go out and do everything we could to ensure their collegiate careers didn't end quite yet and I'm proud that we fulfilled that promise to them."
On how the team handled the windy conditions of Monday's round...
"I was three-over after five, so I mean, I definitely struggled with it. We were sitting in a position where I honestly just thought, "screw it," I mean we were either going to do it or not. Thankfully, we did something."
On how he felt being "overlooked" with majority believing they were out of it...
"I saw something up last night with the Golf Channel guys where they were filming a lot of flags and they kind of passed over ours. I told the guys that I didn't like that...I was raised that if you have a chip on your shoulder, you better go prove someone wrong. Seeing that, that was all the motivation I needed."
Looking Ahead: Oregon will face Oklahoma State in the NCAA match play quarterfinals on Tuesday beginning at the 10th hole at 5:50 a.m. PT (7:50 a.m. CT)
Follow the Ducks: Follow all of the University of Oregon men's golf action both on and off the greens. Make sure to follow @OregonMGolf on Twitter. Also follow the team on Facebook by "liking" Oregon Men's Golf Team and following Oregon Men's Golf on Instagram.
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