Hiroshi Tai (Georgia Tech Athletics Photo)
The top four seeds are all heading home from match play at the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Championship at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
And No. 8 seeded Georgia Tech is making a statement this week.
First, Hiroshi Tai of Georgia Tech won the individual title after shooting three rounds of 67-77-70-71 to finish 3-under, one shot better than six golfers, including Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt, the No. 1 ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
Tai was the first-round leader after posting a 5-under 67. He started his first round on the back nine and birdied the par-5 10th. He turned to the front nine at 2-under and birdied holes No. 1, 2, 4, and 9 with a bogey on No. 5 to get into the clubhouse at 5-under.
Then, without star Christo Lamprecht, who had to be pulled from the lineup after round one of stroke play, the No. 8 seeded Georgia Tech defeated No. 1 seed Illinois 3-1 to advance to the semifinals.
Illinois earned the top seed in the match play portion after putting on a clinic over the 72 holes of stroke play, shooting 6-under with rounds of 293-287-282-284 and winning by 16 shots.
Tai, Aidan Tran, and Bartley Forrester all secured wins for Georgia Tech.
In the Ohio State and Vanderbilt match, Adam Wallin was all but done against Gordon Sargent after going two down with two holes left, but he made a 30-foot par putt on No. 17 and made a par on No. 18 to extend the match to 19 holes. On the 19th hole, both Wallin and Sargent went into the front greenside bunker on the par-3 No. 16, and Wallin got up and down for par. Sargent missed his par putt, giving Wallin and Ohio State the win.
For Ohio State, Neal Shipley and Jackson Chandler won their matches to get the Buckeyes to three points.
Tyler Sabo also recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 No. 8.
In a rematch of the ACC championship match, Florida State defeated North Carolina 3-2 after falling to the Tar Heels 3-2 at the ACC's. Brett Roberts, Tyler Weaver, and Luke Clanton won the three matches for the Seminoles.
No. 6 seed Auburn defeated No. 3 Virginia 3-1 behind wins from Jackson Koivun, Carson Bacha, and Josiah Gilbert.
ABOUT THE NCAA Division I Championship
30 teams and 6 individuals not on a qualifying
team make up the field for the championship of
NCAA
Division I women's golf.
After 72 holes of stroke play, the individual
champion is crowned, and the low 8 teams advance
to
match play to determine the team champion.
View Complete Tournament Information