Oklahoma State Falls to Oregon at NCAAs

Oklahoma State made it to the match play portion of the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2014, and just like every year they’ve advanced since 2009 when the tournament implemented an eight-team match play portion, they fell short.

Defending national champion Oregon clipped the Cowboys 3-2 on Tuesday even though No. 1-ranked Wyndham Clark was defeated by Viktor Hovland 2 and 1 to get the first point of the match for the Pokes.

OSU actually got the first two points as Zach Olsen won his match 3 and 1 over No. 14-ranked Norman Xiong. These were Oregon’s only two players ranked in the top 100 of the Sagarin individual rankings (all of OSU’s players are in the top 65).

However, Oregon took the next three matches and moved on to face Vanderbilt in the semifinals.

“Unbelievable experience for these guys,” said Oregon head coach Casey Martin. “I’m so thankful. To beat a storied program like Oklahoma State, what an honor to play them in match play, let alone beat them. Just incredible for Oregon golf. We’ve got a good thing going and it has been a magical ride.”

This. #NCAAGolf #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cDzNrIxx3m

— Oregon Men's Golf (@OregonMGolf) May 30, 2017

OSU and Illinois have now combined for 11 appearances in the match play portion of the event and have come away with zero national championships between them. The Illini face OU on the other side of the semifinals.

Most appearances in match play@IlliniMGolf =6@OSUCowboyGolf =5@OregonMGolf =4@UTexasGolf =4@USCMensGolf =4@GT_GOLF =4@uclamensgolf =4

— Lance Ringler (@GolfweekRingler) May 30, 2017

Still, this marked OSU’s 53rd top five finish at the NCAAs in its storied history.

Today marked the 10th fifth-place finish for the Pokes at #NCAAGolf. #okstate's Top-Five Finishes
1st—10
2nd—17
3rd—4
4th—12
5th—10

— Oklahoma State Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) May 30, 2017