Cowboys finish seventh in Las Vegas Regional, rare miss of NCAA Championship
LAS VEGAS – Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team closed play at the NCAA Las Vegas Regional with a 10-under 278 on Wednesday to finish in seventh place at Bear’s Best, making it just the second time in the past 75 years that OSU failed to advance to the NCAA Championship.
The Cowboys finished at 35-under 829 and eight shots behind Northwestern and East Tennessee State for fifth place. ETSU won in a playoff over the Wildcats to claim the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship. Arizona State, Stanford, Virginia and San Francisco grabbed the other four advancing spots.
Virginia’s Ben James and USF’s Matthew Anderson tied for first place in the individual race at 20-under 196.
OSU’s Jonas Baumgartner fired the low round of the day with a bogey-free 63 to climb 19 spots into a tie for fifth place at 15-under 201. The junior got off to a birdie-birdie-eagle start and added birdies at the eighth and ninth for an outward nine of 30.
Baumgartner moved to 8-under for the day with birdies at the 12th and 13th before carding his final birdie of the day at the 17th. His 63 surpassed his 64 at last month’s Big 12 Championship as his low round as a Cowboy and was just one stroke shy of matching the school mark held by five players.
Additionally, Baumgartner’s finish marked his third consecutive top-five showing after winning the Mountaineer Invitational and finishing as the Big 12’s runner-up.
He earned the regional’s individual advancing spot after emerging victorious in a playoff over Northwestern’s Daniel Svard in a playoff.
Fifth year Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen tied for 22nd place at 9-under par 207 after closing with a 2-under 70.
Fifth year Leo Oyo moved into a tie for 44th place at 213 after signing for a 70 on Wednesday.
Junior Bo Jin carded a 75 to finish in a tie for 49th place at 215, while senior Hazen Newman shared 61st place at 219 after wrapping up play with a 77.
Baumgartner’s playoff with Northwestern University’s Daniel Svard was dramatic.
Starting on the 18th hole, Baumgartner won the toss for honors and teed off with an iron safely finding the fairway while Svard’s iron landed in a bunker right of the fairway. Baumgartner hit his second shot to 15 feet from the hole. Svard’s second shot landed on the front of the green and spun back into the fringe just over a penalty area. Facing a difficult up and down for a par 4, Svard hit a 102-foot chip into the hole for 3. Baumgartner countered by rolling in his 15 footer to tie.
Baumgartner pulled his tee shot on the par 5 17th hole into a fairway bunker while Svard’s tee ball was long in the fairway. Baumgartner was forced to hit a short iron from the bunker to the fairway. Svard hit a towering iron to the green about 30 feet beyond the hole. Baumgartner hit his 3rd shot inside two feet and putted out for birdie 4. Svard’s putt for eagle 3 just missed and the pair returned again to the 18th hole.
Again, both players teed off with irons and again Svard was in the bunker right with Baumgartner in the fairway. Both players had birdie opportunities, but neither converted and returned to the 17th hole.
Baumgartner hit a driver in the middle of the fairway and Svard hit a long drive in the left rough. Baumgartner hit a fantastic second shot to 15 feet from the hole. Svard pulled his iron into the greenside bunker just left of the hole. Svard’s bunker shot checked up just inside Baumgartner’s. Baumgartner’s putt for eagle broke just out of the hole. Svard’s birdie putt looked in the hole but found the lip and failed to drop.
Team Scores
1. Arizona State—262-276-267=805
2. Stanford—268-266-273=807
3. Virginia—269-274-272=815
4. San Francisco—277-268-274=819
T5. Northwestern—278-268-275=821
T5. East Tennessee State—272-275-274=821
7. Oklahoma State—276-275-278=829
Individual Scores
T1. Ben James, Virginia—65-66-65=196
T1. Matthew Anderson, San Francisco—66-64-66=196
T5. Jonas Baumgartner, OSU—70-68-63=201
T22. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, OSU—68-69-70=207
T44. Leo Oyo, OSU—74-69-70=213
T49. Bo Jin, OSU—71-69-75=215
T61. Hazen Newman, OSU—67-75-77=219