Sides wins Stephens Cup in playoff over OSU’s Fahlberg-Johnsson, match play today
Pairings and times for match play
NICHOLS HILLS, OKLAHOMA (October 22, 2024) – Tulsan William Sides of Southern Methodist won the men’s individual title in a playoff, and Carolina Chacarra of Wake Forest secured the women’s individual crown Tuesday in the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club.
Named in honor of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, the former Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, The Jackson T. Stephens Cup has hosted one the strongest fields in NCAA Division I golf annually since 2021.
Individual champions were crowned following 54 holes of stroke play, with four men’s and four women’s teams advancing based on their team scores to an 18-hole match play tournament Wednesday to determine the team champions. Oklahoma State and SMU will battle for the men’s championship, with San Diego State and Oklahoma playing for third place. Oregon and Arkansas will compete for the women’s championship, with Wake Forest and South Carolina playing for bronze.
Live television coverage of the team championships will air on GOLF Channel from 3-6 p.m. CT Wednesday.
Sides finished the third round tied with Oklahoma State’s Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson at 1-under par 209, then needed just one hole to emerge victorious in a sudden-death playoff. The junior from Tulsa hit his driver on the first playoff hole – the par-4, 482-yard 18th – down the middle of the fairway, stuck his 150-yard uphill approach shot within five feet and converted the birdie putt to seal the victory.
“I was hitting it really well today and giving myself some chances,” Sides said. “I got a couple putts to go in on the back nine, had a lot of two-putt pars and was fortunate enough to make that eight-footer on the last to get myself in a playoff.”
Sides shot 69-71-70 in difficult conditions Monday and Tuesday on a par-70 course that played 6,964 yards for the men, and he was remarkably steady in the final round, carding just one bogey. He made a 25-footer on the fourth hole to get to 1-under par, giving him some momentum for the rest of the round. The Jackson T. Stephens Cup marked his first collegiate tournament victory.
“It feels great. I have been working really hard and feel great about my game, so it’s nice to see the results come through,” said Sides, who has a number of family members from Tulsa in the gallery. “I’m thankful for the opportunity. This event amazing – I felt like I was playing in a PGA TOUR event with the people following us. This is one of the best tournaments I’ve ever played in, if not the best, and it’s pretty special to get to play in it every year.”
Chacarra was the only women’s player under par during a windy and dry two days in Oklahoma City that resulted in firm and fast golf course conditions. The Deamon Deacons senior and native of Spain played steady golf throughout the three rounds, shooting 66-70-70. During Monday’s first round, she surged to the top of the leaderboard with a string of four straight birdies (and five in six holes) on the back nine.
“It means a lot to win the Jackson T. Stephens Cup,” Chacarra said. “I had a tough summer playing golf and just wasn’t finding my swing. But I came back to school and got to be with my teammates and work with my coaches, and I’ve been really happy with my play so far this fall.”
Last season, she finished third while helping Wake Forest to the women’s team title. She played in the Stephens Cup for the third time this fall.
“The Stephens Cup has been great, and every single venue we have played has been amazing and have provided a real test of golf,” Chacarra said. “It has been awesome to see that I can play well and shoot good rounds on tough courses.”
Chacarra led wire to wire, and missed just four fairways over 54 holes on the par-70 layout that played 6,218 yards for the women. She said she drove the ball well and was consistently good with her approach shots.
“I gave myself a lot of easy pars and some easy birdies too,” she explained. “On this course, making birdies is hard because the pins are tucked, the greens are firm and fast, and it was windy yesterday.”
Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team fired a 273 on Tuesday during the third round of action at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup to finish atop the leaderboard at Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.
The 14th-ranked Cowboys finished at 846, 6-over par, and four shots clear of SMU at the par-70, 6,964-yard layout. The 7-under day was the low round of the tournament by six shots and propelled head coach Alan Bratton’s squad into the top spot after 54 holes.
OSU will face the Mustangs in tomorrow’s match play championship tilt at 12:20 p.m. San Diego State finished third at 852, while Oklahoma was fourth at 855. Those two teams will square off in the consolation match.
Fahlberg-Johnsson fired a closing 66 to climb the leaderboard. His outward nine featured three birdies against no bogeys for a 3-under 32. His lone bogey of the day came at the 11th before he bounced back with birdies at the 13th and 17th holes to get to his 4-under total for the day.
Sophomore Ethan Fang joined his teammate in the top five, sharing fourth place at 212 after closing with a 71. The finish was the third consecutive top 10 to start Fang’s career as a Cowboy. He tied for eighth place at the Sahalee Players Championship in his debut before a fifth-place showing at the Fighting Illini Invitational.
Sophomore Preston Stout signed for a 69 on Tuesday to finish at 216 and tied for 14th place. Sophomore Eric Lee fired a closing 67 to vault up the board 13 spots into the group tied for 14th as well. Sophomore Gaven Lane closed with a 73 to finish in a tie for 19th place at 217.
Oklahoma finished fourth in the stroke-play portion oand will play San Diego State in the third-place match. Three Sooners finished inside the top 20, including Ryder Cowan and Matthew Troutman, who shared fourth.
No. 1 Oklahoma (4, +15) fired rounds of 283-293-279 to finish its week 15-over at the par-70 course. The Sooners led early in the event, sitting at 1-under as they made the turn in the first round Monday, but as the winds picked up, OU’s scores rose, finishing the opening round at 3-over. On Tuesday morning, they completed the second round at 13-over. The Sooners got within two shots of the championship match cut Tuesday afternoon but struggled down the stretch, finishing fourth.
Cowan (T4, +2) closed his week in a tie for fourth, matching his career-best finish set previously at the 2024 Big 12 Championships. The sophomore carded rounds of 73-70-68 to get in contention and was the solo leader with four to play, but a double-bogey on the 16th was costly.
Matthew Troutman (T4, +2) secured his fifth top-20 finish in six career events, finishing in a career-best tie for fourth. He entered Tuesday’s final round at 6-over and outside the top 20 but tallied a 4-under 66 in the final round to move into the top 10.
Cowan and Troutman’s 11 birdies paced the field.
Sophomore PJ Maybank III (T15, +6) signed for rounds of 69-77-70 and grabbed a share of 15th for his third straight top-20 finish to open the season.
Jase Summy (T23, +10) and Drew Goodman (T27, +12) both finished outside of the top 20 in the 36-player field.
As a team, Oklahoma led the field with 46 birdies, but 62 bogeys ranked second in the field and set the Crimson and Cream back. OU also finished with the fewest pars (154) among the six teams playing.
The Sooners will play the Aztecs on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. CT. Golf Channel will broadcast the match live from 3 to 6 p.m., and Clippd will provide live scoring.
The Oklahoma State women’s golf team closed out theJackson T. Stephens Cup on Tuesday afternoon with a fourth-place finish. After 54 holes of stroke play, the Cowgirls found themselves in a three-way tie with No. 2 South Carolina and ninth-ranked Florida State for the final spot in Wednesday’s match play semifinals, but South Carolina advanced by having the best non-counting score among the three teams.
A stacked tournament field included golfers from six of the nation’s top 30 teams, but the majority of them struggled Tuesday as temperatures climbed into the upper 80s. Just two individuals finished the round under par and only one reached the 54-hole mark still in the red.
Junior Grace Kilcrease, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the nation, fired a 1-over, 71 on Tuesday to end the week in a tie for eighth. It was her fourth consecutive top-10 finish.
Ellie Bushnell matched Kilcrease’s 71 with help from three birdies and a 1-under performance on the back nine.
Women’s Team Leaderboard:
1. No. 13 Oregon (+27) – 296-290-281= 867
2. No. 1 Arkansas (+41) – 297-296-288= 881
3. No. 17 Wake Forest (+50) – 306-300-284= 890
T4. No. 2 South Carolina (+53) – 297-290-306= 893
T4. No. 9 Florida State (+53) – 297-307-289= 893
T4. No. 30 Oklahoma State (+53) – 296-307-290= 893
Live scoring is available at: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/233394/scoring/player?displayMode=stroke
Men’s Team Scores
- Oklahoma State—282-291-273—846
- SMU—284-285-281—850
- San Diego State—292-280-280—852
- Oklahoma—283-293-279—855
- Florida State—290-299-282—871
- Arkansas—296-301-284—881