The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championship
Men’s Golf drops 3-2 heartbreaker to Oregon in NCAA Championship match
06.01.2016 | Men's Golf
Oregon’s Sulman Raza makes birdie on third extra playoff hole to win deciding match against UT sophomore Taylor Funk.
EUGENE, Oregon — Despite playing a man down, The University of Texas Men's Golf team gave a supreme effort before falling 3-2 to the host University of Oregon in the NCAA Championship match at Eugene Country Club on Wednesday evening. Oregon's Sulman Raza birdied the third playoff hole, the par-4 10th, to edge UT sophomore Taylor Funk in 21 holes and clinch the deciding match and national title for the Ducks.
Both players made par on the first hole of sudden death, the par-4 10th, and did the same on the second hole, the par-4 18th. Playing the 10th again, Funk hit his second shot to within 20-feet of the hole, while Raza played his second ball to within four feet. Funk missed his birdie attempt, before Raza sunk his putt to close out the match.
UT was attempting to win its fourth men's golf national crown in program history (1971, 1972 and 2012). The runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship concludes an outstanding 2015-16 campaign for the Longhorns, which saw the team win seven tournament titles during the season including a fourth consecutive Big 12 Conference championship.
Oregon took a 1-0 lead when UT junior All-American Beau Hossler was forced to conceded his match against Oregon's senior Zach Foushee. Hossler suffered a shoulder injury during UT's semifinal win against USC on Tuesday and was not able to play in Wednesday's championship match.
The Ducks increased their lead to 2-0 when Edwin Yi defeated junior Gavin Hall 4&3. Yi was in command of the match from the start, winning the first hole and jumping ahead 3-up at the turn. Yi then won back-to-back holes at 12 and 13 to go 5-up, before Hall won his first hole of the day at 14. Yi then closed out the match by halving the par-5 15th hole.
Junior Scottie Scheffler put the Longhorns on the board with an impressive 4&3 victory against NCAA individual medalist Aaron Wise. After dropping the first hole to Wise, Scheffler responded by winning back-to-back holes at 2 and 3 and never let up the pressure. He moved to 2-up on the 7th hole, but Wise answered back with a win at the 8th hole. Leading 1-up at the turn, Scheffler won back-to-back holes at 10 and 11 to go 3-up and closed out the match with a par on 15 to win the hole. Scheffler tallied six birdies in his 15 holes played on the day.
Junior Doug Ghim evened the match with a 2&1 victory against Thomas Lim. Ghim won two of the first three holes to go 2-up, before Lim ran off wins on four straight holes to go 2-up through the 7th hole. Trailing 1-down through 11 holes, Ghim rattled off wins at 12, 13, 14 and 15 to gain a 3-up lead. Lim won the 16th hole, but Ghim closed out the match with a par on the 17th to halve the hole.
Funk and Raza waged a back-and-forth battle all day, trading the lead four times through the first 16 holes with neither player leading by more than a 1-up advantage. With Funk holding a 1-up lead on the 17th hole, Raza pulled even with a par on the 17th. Both players made par on the par-4 18th hole to force sudden death.
Final Results – 2016 NCAA Championship Match (order of finish)
Edwin Yi (Oregon) defeats Gavin Hall (Texas), 4&3
Scottie Scheffler (Texas) defeats Aaron Wise (Oregon), 4&3
Zach Foushee (Oregon) defeats Beau Hossler (Texas), concession
Doug Ghim (Texas) defeats Thomas Lim (Oregon), 2&1
Sulman Raza (Oregon) defeats Taylor Funk (Texas), 21 holes
Players Mentioned
