Defending National Champs to Face Oklahoma in NCAA Title Match

Tuesday, May 30

Sugar Grove, Ill.

12:20 PM

University of Oregon

Vanderbilt

Defending National Champs to Face Oklahoma in NCAA Title Match

05/30/17 | Men's Golf

2017 MGO match play bracket%2c May 30 (1)2017 NCAA Men's Golf Bracket National Championship Pairings National Championship Pairings NCAA DI Championship Semifinal Match Results%2c May 30 Semifinal Results Quarterfinal Results NCAA DI MGolf Championship Quarterfinal Matches

Photo Credit: Tim Cowie Photography

By: Erin Kunesh

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. - The defending national champion Oregon Ducks will face the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championship on Wednesday at the par-72, 7,300-yard Rich Harvest Farms course.

To get to the semifinals where No. 5 seed Oregon bested No. 1 seed Vanderbilt 3-2, Oregon defeated No. 4 Oklahoma State on Wednesday morning 3-2 in match play.

It was a case of deja vu as Eugene native Sulman Raza, who famously sunk the winning putt at last year's national championship at the Eugene Country Club, was responsible for both winning putts in the quarter and semifinal wins.

The Ducks are now 7-2 all-time in NCAA championship match play in their fourth appearance in the semifinals.

Oregon and Oklahoma will tee off from No. 1 beginning at 12:10 p.m. PT (2:10 p.m. CT).

Golf Channel NCAA Championship Schedule (all times CT)
Golf Channel Pre-Game 12:30-3 p.m.
Championship Match 3-7 p.m.
Golf Central 7-8 p.m.

Team Match Play Semifinal Results
Oregon defeated Vanderbilt 3-2
Oklahoma defeated Illinois 3-1-1

Team Match Play Quarterfinal Results
No. 1 Vanderbilt def. No. 8 UNLV 3-2
No. 2 Oklahoma def. No. 7 Baylor 3-2
No. 3 Illinois def. No. 6 USC 3-1-1
No. 5 Oregon def. No. 4 Oklahoma State 3-2

2017 NCAA National Championship Pairings (Oregon vs Oklahoma)
Norman Xiong vs Blain Hale
Edwin Yi vs Max McGreevy
Wyndham Clark vs Rylee Reinertson
Ryan Gronlund vs Grant Hirschman
Sulman Raza vs Brad Dalke

How it Happened: Freshman Norman Xiong, Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, got things going for the Ducks with a 3&2 win over Patrick Martin.

Redshirt sophomore Ryan Gronlund, who was the definition of clutch during the final round of stroke play on Monday that moved Oregon up from 13th to T5, had a down day on Tuesday and fell to Theo Humphrey 5&4.

Redshirt senior Wyndham Clark, Pac-12 Player of the Year, redeemed his loss to Oklahoma State's Viktor Hovland in the morning and defeated Will Gordon 4&3.

With Oregon up 2-1, John Augenstein even things up through 19-holes against sophomore Edwin Yi, with the advancement all landing on the shoulder of Raza yet again.

With it being his third time in high pressure situations at the NCAA championships, the third time was truly the charm, as Raza took down Matthias Schwab with a birdie on 18 for the 2-up win.

What it Means: The Ducks are now 7-2 all-time in NCAA championship match play in their fourth appearance in the semifinals.

Raza is 5-0 all-time in NCAA championship match play.

The Ducks have just two returnees from last year's NCAA championship squad - Raza and Yi.

The last team to win back-to-back national titles was Alabama in 2013-14. Augusta State completed the feat in 2010-11.

On Monday, Oregon began the final round of stroke play at 13th. The team skyrocketed up eight positions to qualify for match play, where they took down Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt to face Oklahoma in the national championship.

In addition to his win in the semifinals today, Clark was named a Division I PING First-Team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Division I PING First-Team All-Americans
Sam Burns, LSU
Wyndham Clark, Oregon
Patrick Martin, Vanderbilt
Maverick McNealy, Stanford,
Dylan Meyer, Illinois
Collin Morikawa, California
John Oda, UNLV
Jimmy Stranger, Virginia
Braden Thornberry, Ole Miss
Will Zalatoris, Wake Forest

Quotes -

On Oregon defeating Vanderbilt 3-2
Bob Papa (Golf Channel) – "Last year it was the home course advantage in Eugene. Sulman Raza has taken that match play game on the road to Rich Harvest Farms."
Lanny Wadkins (Golf Channel) – "You get him in these matches and he becomes superman. I have not seen him miss a shot. He drives it like a machine, straight and long, and his iron play has been spectacular and he's putting solid. I don't see any flaws in his game. It's like where has this guy been since last year's NCAA?"
Wadkins – "Some performance today by Sulman Raza."
Wadkins – "He [Sulman Raza] has got some incredible intestinal fortitude. He stood up last year in the final and against the fifth ranked amateur in the world today."
Curt Byrum (Golf Channel) – "From what I've seen, he [Sulman Raza] has nerves of steel today."
Papa – "Sulman Raza hasn't been in the lineup all year for Oregon, but when gets into to match play, after last years' experience he becomes a different player."

Oregon coach Casey Martin speaking with Golf Channel's Billy Ray Brown on advancing to Wednesday's championship match
Casey Martin - ""Wow, it's an incredible feeling to be back here and to do it last year at the home course was amazing, at our home course," said Oregon head coach
Casey Martin. "But then to do it here in Chicago and trying to back it up, it's hard to put into words, and I'm proud of the guys and how they've played all year, and then in
particular how they battled to get here because we were way on the outs, and here we are. So it's pretty cool."
Martin – "I guess there is something to never quitting. I told the guys that, and they bought in. I kept telling them the weather is tough, but never quit. Hang in there somehow. And we got it done in match play. It will be a great match tomorrow and I'm really stoked that we get a chance to defend."

Oregon's Sulman Raza speaking with Golf Channel's Curt Byrum after winning the deciding point to send Oregon to the championship match
Raza – "I've always enjoyed playing against the competitor himself. In match play, you can be a lot more aggressive time to time, honestly. I think that is why I'm a lot better in match play. I can plot my way how I want to go about a hole depending on how my competitor is playing the hole. There are a lot of different ways to win in match play and it suits my game."

Oregon's Wyndham Clark speaking with Golf Channel's Billy Ray Brown after his match
Wyndham Clark – "The wind was tough at the beginning and at the end. The middle part, you had to take advantage of it. I just didn't want to make mistakes and I didn't want him [Will Gordon] to have to beat me."

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