Cowboys Rally to Win 12th National Title in Men's Golf
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) - Eric Lee beat Josh Duangmanee 2 up to give Oklahoma State its 12th NCAA men’s golf title and first in eight years, with the Cowboys beating Virginia 4-1 on Wednesday at La Costa.
Lee, a sophomore who played at California as a freshman, took the lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th, then chipped to 5 feet on the par-5 18th and finished off Duangmanee with a conceded birdie after the Virginia player missed a 15-foot birdie try.
Lee scored for the winning point a day after making a 6-foot par putt on the 19th hole to lift fourth-seeded Oklahoma State past Mississippi in the semifinals. The Cowboys beat Bedlam rival Oklahoma in the quarterfinals.
“It's such a great feeling,” Lee said. “I've gotten so close with these guys.”
On a cloudy afternoon with the temperature in the mid-60s, Swedish freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson, Gaven Lane and Ethan Fang also won matches for Oklahoma State.
“Fortunately, we have all these guys back, and we'll go to work on the next one starting tomorrow,” coach Alan Bratton said after his second title in 12 seasons.
Fahlberg-Johnsson won the opening match, beating Maxi Puregger 3 and 1. Lane, in the fourth match, gave the Cowboys their second point with a 4-and-3 victory over Paul Chang. With the championship decided with Lee's victory, Fang's match against Bryan Lee ended after 15 holes with Fang 1 up.
Ben James, the No. 4 player in the amateur world ranking, won the lone match for Virginia, topping Preston Stout 3 and 2. The Cavaliers were trying to win their first team title.
“We are ACC champions and national runner-up, so that’s a heck of a year but a little bit short of our goal,” Virginia coach Bowen Sargent said. "Most of our guys will be back and I’m looking forward to next year.”
Oklahoma State won its final five tournaments and finished the season with seven team titles.
“They are just tough and have confidence,” Bratton said. “They’ve been resilient all year. We played a poor first round at the (NCAA) regional, and they didn’t bat an eye. We didn’t get off to the best start here in the first round of stroke play, but they just kept inching up the board and ultimately won the three matches like you need to.”