Sooners, Cowboys have ground to make up in NCAA Championship

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Oklahoma opened the 2024 NCAA Championship by signing for a 13-over 301 to stand tied for 19th after round one at the North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. Oklahoma State shot 303 and is a tie for 21st

The Sooners were led by Jase Summy, who shares 13th after day one. After 54 holes at the championship, the field is cut from 30 to 15 teams, followed by another cut to eight after Monday’s round — Oklahoma is three back of 15th and six back of eighth after Friday’s opening round.

The field is crowded at the championship, with 17 of the field’s 30 teams within 10 shots of eighth place, the pivotal cut line to qualify for match play after Monday’s round.

Summy (T13, E) was sensational for the Sooners in round one and opened with four birdies and no bogeys across his first nine holes after starting on No. 10. His 4-under 32 on the back surged him into first place, but a 4-over 40 on the back (Nos. 1-9) dropped him back to even and in a tie for 13th. His four birdies were the 12th most in the field.

On Friday, true freshman Ryder Cowan (T25, +1) logged the most pars of any golfer (15) at the par-72, 7,358-yard track. His 1-over 73 was highlighted by his lone birdie, buried on the par-5 sixth hole.

Ben Lorenz and Drew Goodman shared 112th at 6-over par, while Luke Kluver (+14) sits in 151st.

No teams posted even-par rounds as Virginia and Arizona share the team lead at 2-over par, while Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai sits atop the leaderboard after carding a 5-under 67.

The Sooners tee off at 9:55 a.m. CT with Virginia and Texas Tech on Saturday.