Oklahoma State Rolls Past Alabama to Win 11th NCAA Golf Championship

Oklahoma State hammered Alabama into submission on Wednesday to win its 11th national championship in men’s golf with ease in front of a crowd totaling more than 3,000 fans.

The Cowboys jumped on the Crimson Tide early and often, and did not let up. Zach Bauchou was the embodiment of their day; he crushed Alabama’s Jonathan Hardee 8 and 7 with a near-perfect round, and had such a cush lead he was able to skip out early by getting OSU on the board first.

“I played really well today,” Bauchou said. “All aspects of my game. I struggled with my driving throughout the week. Today I came out and was hitting nice fades off the tee so I was putting the ball in play, and my iron play was really good. The strength of my game is my putting. I got a little heat with my putter. I made a bunch of one-putts in a row and that sets the pace for the day, which is really nice.”

Viktor Hovland followed closely behind Bauchou, defeating Alabama’s Lee Hodges 4 and 3 to give OSU its second score of the afternoon. Fittingly, Matthew Wolff, the breakout star of the NCAAs, held the dagger and slammed it into Alabama’s chest with a clinching birdie to end the day.

Here she was — with Holder looking on and Wolff fist-pumping Oklahoma State to the natty behind a huge roar of the OSU faithful.

No. 11. What a scene. pic.twitter.com/IJVYZsnGSZ

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) May 30, 2018

“I have never seen an atmosphere like this,” coach Alan Bratton said after the win. “I am so proud again for our Oklahoma State family and Cowboy golf. This is bigger than just Cowboy golf. Our fans, they turn out. They did that in a big way. I’m glad the world got to see it, and I’m glad these guys got to live it. It is certainly not about me, it is about all of those players and all of the former players we had. I can’t tell you how many former players we had in the crowd this week. All of us were standing on their shoulders this week.”

OSU put Alabama on the ropes early in the match and never let it get off. It caps an historically dominant season for Oklahoma State in equally dominant fashion, too, as OSU is the first team to sweep the NCAA men’s finals since the switch to match play was made in 2009, according to Justin Ray of the Golf Channel.

Oklahoma State: 1st team to sweep NCAA men's finals since switch to match play in 2009; 1st team to sweep any NCAA Championship session without having a single match reach 17

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) May 30, 2018

Including its first place finish in the regional and the NCAA championship, Oklahoma State placed No. 1 in 10 of its 14 events this season. Fittingly, its final win of the season is payback to Alabama, the school that handed OSU a crushing second place finish at the NCAA championships in 2014.