CORVALLIS, Ore. – All five Oklahoma golfers fired par-or-better rounds Monday as the Sooners surged into a tie for second in the opening round of the NCAA Corvallis Regional at Trysting Tree Golf Club.
No. 17 Oklahoma carded a 9-under 275 in the first round of the 54-hole regional, positioning itself well above the projected cut line as the Sooners chase a 15th straight NCAA Championships appearance, which would continue the second longest active streak in the nation and the second longest in program history.
The Sooners, the No. 3 seed in the field and winners of back-to-back regionals, sit tied with top-seeded No. 6 Arkansas at 9-under. Purdue grabbed the 18-hole lead at 12-under, while host Oregon State is fourth at 8-under. No. 19 Charlotte and San Diego round out the top five at 4-under.
Haskins Award candidate
Ryder Cowan paced OU with a bogey-free 4-under 67, placing the junior All-American alone in second entering Tuesday. Cowan, who is chasing the third victory of his career, trails only Washington's Emil Borrestuen Herstad, who opened with a 5-under 66.
Sophomore
Clark Van Gaalen opened postseason play with a 3-under 68 to move into a tie for seventh. The former freshman All-American is seeking his first top-five finish of the season.
Jase Summy and
PJ Maybank III each posted 1-under 70s and are tied for 22nd after the opening round. Summy mixed in five birdies on the day, while Maybank relied on steady play and 13 pars to finish in red figures. With Monday's under-par round, Summy moved within two par-or-better rounds of
Drew Goodman's program record of 96.
Senior
Matthew Troutman closed strong, birdieing the par-4 18th to finish even-par 71 and tied for 33rd.
The 13-team NCAA Regional serves as one of six qualifying sites for the NCAA Championship, scheduled for May 29-June 3 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. The top five teams and the top individual on a non-advancing team will earn their spot at nationals.
Second-round tee times will be announced Monday evening, and live scoring will be available via Scoreboard powered by Clippd.