Oklahoma golf: Sooners tie for 1st, earn No. 2 seed in 8-team NCAA match play
By Chip Rouse
Men’s Oklahoma golf struggled in the fourth round of the NCAA Golf Championship but still finished in a three-way tie for first after 72 holes and now move to the 8-team match-play portion of the championship.
The Sooners battled the gusty winds at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Memorial Day Monday and grinded through their worst 18 holes in the four rounds of stroke play. Still, despite OU’s 15-over-par score of 295 on Sunday, the Sooners were able to forge a three–way tie with Vanderbilt and North Carolina. It was the highest-scoring round of the four for OU.
Oklahoma led by one shot after 36 holes and lengthened its first-place advantage to four shots heading into the fourth round on Monday.
No Sooner finished under par on Monday. True freshman Drew Goodman led OU with a three-over score of 73. Rutgers transfer Chris Gotterup tied for fifth in the individual championship, shooting one-over 281 for 72 holes. Goodman tied for 20th with a seven-over 287.
By virtue of a tiebreaker with Vanderbilt, the Sooners earned the No. 2 seed for the match-play portion of the championship, which begins on Tuesday at par-70 Grayhawk Golf Club. OU will be matched against No. 7 Arizona State in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round on Tuesday morning.
If the Sooners get by Arizona State in the quarterfinals, they will be paired with the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and reigning national champion Pepperdine in a semifinals match Tuesday afternoon.
This is the second straight year the men’s Oklahoma golf team has advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Golf Championship. The Sooners finished runner-up to Pepperdine a year ago. OU won the national championship in 1989 and 2017.