Sooners capture title
Oklahoma won the Big 12 title Wednesday in Tulsa after tying the third-lowest 72-hole score in event history.
For defending national champion Oklahoma, winning the Big 12 title Wednesday provided more validation of its status as a legitimate contender in men’s college golf.
“This is huge for our program,” ninth-year coach Ryan Hybl said. “I feel like we have the best conference in college golf with the best coaches in the country.
“This is a really big deal for us (to win against) a very strong field on a championship golf course. This is a phenomenal win for us.”
At 19-over par for the three-day tournament at Southern Hills Country Club, the secondseeded Sooners won by eight strokes and tied for the third-lowest 72-hole score in event history. Top-ranked Oklahoma State tied with Texas for second.
While OU ended the Longhorns’ five-year reign and secured its first conference championship since 2006, senior Grant Hirschman finished in a four-way tie for first individually at 3 over with Kristoffer Ventura of OSU, Doug Ghim of Texas and Jeremy Gandon of Kansas State.
Hirschman shot a 3-over 73 on a cold and rainy Wednesday, narrowly missing on a handful of birdie putts, including on the final hole. He joins Anthony Kim (2005) and John Kidwell (2002) as the only Sooners to win the individual title at the Big 12 championship.
“He’s played in every golf tournament for us in four years,” Hybl said about Hirschman. “There’s not too many guys in college golf that have ever done that. It’s hard to do. Every week, he brings it.”
Teammates Brad Dalke and Quade Cummins also made the all-tournament team, having tied for seventh. Blaine Hale had OU’s lowest score of the day with an even-par 70, opening the round with 11 pars and producing three birdies on the back nine.
“We’ve kind of been peaking the last month or so,” Hybl said. “Our guys have been working really hard. It’s all their work ethic and their preparation that we’re doing back home. You can’t just all the sudden turn it on in a golf tournament.”
The conference championship was an excellent start to a postseason that could feature three instate tournament appearances. The Sooners host an NCAA regional May 14-16 at the Jimmie Austin Golf Club, and the NCAA championships will be May 25-30 in Stillwater at OSU’s Karsten Creek.
“We’ve been building along, kind of getting some good momentum all springtime,” Hirschman said. “This definitely adds to it. We’ll be feeling good going into regionals back in Norman.”
For a third year in a row, OSU was the tournament runner-up, matching Texas with a 27-over total and a 9-over final round. Since recording seven consecutive wins, the Cowboys have come up short in back-to-back tournaments.
“We’ve made a good habit of winning … but you can take that for granted, too,” coach Alan Bratton said. “This is two times in a row and we had guys that had their game this week, so hopefully it puts some urgency in our preparation before we go into regionals so we can finish the year off the way we want.”
The highlight for OSU was Ventura’s final round in which he was the lone player in the field to break 70 — a 1-under 69 while carding three consecutive pars on the back nine and following with an eagle on No. 17. He became the 10th Big 12 medalist in program history.
“It’s nice to get a win individually, but we didn’t come here for that,” Ventura said. “We came here for the big trophy.”
Also in the top 10 were Cowboys underclassmen Matthew Wolff, who shot 70 for a second day in a row and tied for fifth place, and Viktor Hovland, who closed with a 74 to tie for seventh.