Oklahoma as of Saturday afternoon is tied for 15th after the opening round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Golf Championships being played the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa's Championship North Course in Carlsbad, California. It's the Sooners' last competition with Ryan Hybl leading the program.
The 16th-ranked Sooners, winners of the Corvallis Regional by an NCAA Regional program record score of 34 under par, are tied with fellow SEC schools Georgia and Tennessee at 4 over par after 18 holes in the 54-hole stroke play portion of the championship.
Oklahoma in middle of pack at NCAA Men's Golf Championships for Ryan Hybl's final outing
Participating in the NCAA Golf Championships for the 15th consecutive season, Oklahoma finds itself on the cut line with 36 holes remaining to be played on Saturday and Sunday before the 30-team field will be cut down to 15 teams.
The 15 teams that make the cut after Sunday's round will play an additional 18-hole round of stroke play on Monday, at which time eight teams with the best scores in Monday's round will advance to match play to determine this year's national champion.
Despite their so-so opening-round performance, the Sooners currently trail the projected top-eight cut for match play by just five strokes so they remain well in contention.
"We played well on the first nine today but would have liked to put together a more competitive round," Hybl said. "We know we've got to go out with an attack mindset in the morning and put together the round we know we can."
Hybl announced this past week that he was leaving Oklahoma after 17 seasons to take the job at Georgia Tech back in his home state. Hybl played golf at Georgia. His brother Nate was the starting quarterback for Oklahoma in 2001-02.
OU already announced that associate head coach Jonathan Moore will be promoted to replace Hybl once the season concludes.
The Sooners were led in the opening round by Clark Van Gaalen and Ryder Cowan, each of whom shot scores of even-par 72. Matthew Troutman was at one-over 73, Jase Summy 3-over-par 75 and PJ Maybank III shot 4-over 76.
UCLA led the field after the opening 18 holes at 8-under par. Top-ranked Auburn was right behind at 4-under, followed by Pepperdine at 3-under and Duke and San Diego at 2-under.
Oklahoma was eliminated in the quarterfinal round of match play last season by Bedlam rival Oklahoma State. The Sooners were national champions in 1989 and 2017 and runners-up in 2021.
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