Oklahoma State still on top; first cut falls at NCAA Championship

May 26, 2019 | by

Walt Beazley, Razorbacks Athletics Communications

Teams were not only trying to make sure they stayed inside the top 15, but also stayed near the top 8 as the first cut fell Sunday

It was moving day at the NCAA Championship on Sunday at Blessings Golf Club. While teams were vying for a spot in the top-15, which is the amount of schools along with the top-nine individuals not on an advancing squad that will play in tomorrow’s fourth and final stroke-play round, Oklahoma State remained constant atop the leaderboard expanding its lead to 25 shots.

Led by sophomore Matthew Wolff at 7-under for the tournament, the Cowboys have three individuals at or near the top of the leaderboard. Austin Eckroat sits in second place at 5-under for the championship while Zach Bauchou has moved into the top-five thanks to a 2-under 70 round Sunday morning.

“I actually didn’t know that I was leading but it feels really nice,” said Wolff. “When you’re leading, you’re obviously doing something right. We’ve got a lot of great players out here, some of the top amateurs in the world, and it’s a really hard course. I think being consistent, putting myself in the right places, and learning the course each day is helping. We’ve still got one more round so we’ll see how it goes.”

Sandwiched in between the trio of Cowboys is Georgia Southern’s Steven Fisk at 4 under and Arizona State’s Chun An Yu, who sits at 3-under par. Yu is looking to become the first Sun Devil to win the individual championship since Alejandro Canizares in 2003.

“I’m four shots back so tomorrow I’m just going to give it all I’ve got and hopefully, I can win it,” said Yu. “I just want to keep doing the things I’ve been doing. I played great today, the only bad thing that happened was missing the tee shot on hole 16 so I’m going to keep the same game plan.”

Texas moved into a tie for second place with Stanford after firing a 1-over-par team total in round three. Oklahoma and Wake Forest each jumped up two spots after carding even-par team totals respectively. The only team other than Oklahoma State to shoot under par for the day was Vanderbilt, which vaulted up into sixth place after posting a 1-under 287 total.

Monday’s final stroke play round will decide the NCAA individual medalist as well as the “Race To Eight” teams that will advance to the quarterfinals and semifinals match-play format on Tuesday, May 28, followed by the match-play finals on Wednesday, May 29 that will decide the team national champion.

The original field of 30 teams and six individuals was trimmed to 15 teams on Sunday, along with the top nine individuals not on those teams. Teams advancing and still in contention for the 2019 national championship include Oklahoma State, Texas, Stanford, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Clemson, SMU, TCU, Ohio State, Pepperdine, Auburn, California and Southern California.

The ninth and final individual position will be decided in a three-person playoff that will take place prior to the start of Monday’s final round, as South Carolina’s Will Miles, UNLV’s Justin Kim and Georgia’s Trent Phillips will be involved in a sudden death playoff that will start at 9:15 a.m. (CST) off of hole No. 1 at the Blessings.

Results: NCAA Division I Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Matthew Wolff	Agoura Hills, CA	1500	73-66-70-69=278
2	Steven Fisk	Stockbridge, GA	1200	76-68-68-71=283
3	Chun An Yu	, Chinese Taipei	900	69-74-70-72=285
T4	Lee Detmer	Washington, DC	900	72-74-71-69=286
T4	Justin Suh	San Jose, CA	900	71-75-68-72=286

View full results for NCAA Division I Championship

About the NCAA Division I Championship

Oklahoma State still on top; first cut falls at NCAA Championship

The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship is the pinnacle of collegiate golf in the United States, held annually in late May or early June. The event brings together the nation's top 30 teams and six individual qualifiers, all of whom have advanced...