Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
NCAA Championship
Cowboys, Howell Win NCAA Men's Golf
June 03, 2000 | Cowboy Golf
June 3, 2000
OPELIKA, Ala. - Oklahoma State defeated Georgia Tech in a playoff to win the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship on Saturday, and Charles Howell became the first player in 10 years to win NCAA medalist honors and a team title in the same tournament.
Howell's up-and-down for par on the 72nd hole set the stage for the playoff, and freshman J.C. DeLeon gave OSU a boost when his approach from the 18th fairway spun back to within three feet of the flag to begin the extra hole. While Georgia Tech was carding two bogeys, DeLeon birdied and the rest of the Cowboys made par to give OSU the trophy.
The Cowboys, who shot 4-under Saturday, and Yellowjackets finished the tournament with a 72-hole score of 1,116 (36-under-par), a new NCAA record. UNLV shot 1,118 in winning the title in 1994. Arizona, which played the final two days in 33-under-par, finished third at 34-under, Houston was fourth at 30-under, and Texas was fifth at 27-under.
Howell closed his phenomenal tournament with a 3-under-par 69, his highest score of the week, and won by eight strokes while shattering the NCAA scoring record. With a final score of 23-under-par (265), he bested the previous record of 17-under, set by North Carolina's John Inman (1984), Arizona State's Phil Mickelson (1992), Texas' Justin Leonard (1994) and Minnesota's James McLean (1998). After he started the tournament with bogeys on his first two holes Wednesday, Howell played the last 50 holes of the tournament 19-under with no bogeys.
Senior Landry Mahan closed out his OSU career with the finest tournament of his career, shooting 71 Saturday to finish 13th overall at 7-under and guarantee him All-America status for the first time in his career. Fellow senior Edward Loar, who finished the tournament with three birdies in the final five holes Saturday to end up even par and in 41st place.
Sophomore Anders Hultman, on Saturday celebrating his 21st birthday, joined Loar in finishing strong to wind up even par, he birdied Nos. 16 and 18 after a double-bogey on 15 to tie Loar for 41st, and it was that birdie on 18 that pulled OSU even with Georgia Tech. DeLeon, made his NCAA debut with a 7-over-par performance, he saved OSU six strokes with a round of 70 on Thursday and then made the key shot of the playoff.
After OSU had held a three-stroke lead heading into the final round this year, the Cowboys slipped in the fourth round, trailing Georgia Tech by five strokes at one point late in the round. As the Cowboys came back to the field, several teams made a run at the title. At one point, in fact, OSU, Georgia Tech, Texas and Arizona were tied for first place, with Houston close behind.
The title is OSU's ninth and the eighth during Mike Holder's 27 years as coach. Howell is the school's seventh NCAA medalist and the first since E.J. Pfister won the 1988 championship. The last player to win both the individual and team championships was Mickelson in 1990.
The playoff is the second in NCAA Division I Men's Golf history, ironically, the Cowboys have won both. In 1995, OSU defeated Stanford despite playing without Leif Westerberg, who, thinking the Cowboys were out of the team race, left early to catch a plane to Europe. In that tourney, Oklahoma State overcame a seven-stroke deficit late to force the playoff.
Oklahoma State has won 43 NCAA championships in all men's sports, ranked fourth in Division I history. In addition to the nine men's golf titles, OSU has won 30 championships in wrestling, two in basketball, one in baseball and one in cross country. Howell's individual title is the school's 143rd national individual championship in men's sports. OSU student-athletes have won 120 wrestling titles, 10 outdoor track championships, six indoor track titles and the seven men's golf medals.
Oklahoma State has won three national men's golf championships in the past 10 years. In that span, no other school has won more than once. OSU has finished first or second at the NCAA Tournament 23 times in their 54 appearances and have finished in the top five 45 times. This year's championship ends the longest men's golf title drought (five years, 1995-2000) since 1963 to 1976.
Howell finishes the season with a 69.57 stroke average, a new school record. Lindy Miller (1977-78) and Bob Tway (1980-81) held the previous record at 70.7. With one season left in his career, Howell has a career average of 71.14, ahead of Scott Verplank's school record of 71.62.
Howell also set a school record for consecutive rounds at even par or better (14), he shot a combined 39-under during that stretch. Loar held the previous record of 13.
OSU's previous individual scoring record for 72 holes was 276 by Alan Bratton in the 1994 NCAA tournament, Howell shot 265 this week. The team's previous record was 1,127, set two years ago as OSU finished fourth in Albuquerque.
Oklahoma State, which also won a national championship in equestrian (which is an emerging sport in the NCAA, it is sanctioned by the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) has won national titles in two sports in the same year for the first time since 1959 (wrestling and baseball). The school also accomplished the feat in 1954 (cross country, wrestling) and 1946 (men's basketball, wrestling).
NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
at Grand National's Lake Course
Opelika, Ala.
Par 72, 7,003 Yards
(final scores through 72 holes)
Team Scores
1. Oklahoma State* 281-276-275-284--1116 -36
2. Georgia Tech 280-282-278-276--1116 -36
3. Arizona 286-289-269-274--1118 -34
4. Houston 284-289-277-272--1122 -30
5. Texas 272-286-277-290--1125 -27
6. UNLV 286-287-277-281--1131 -21
7. Clemson 291-287-277-278--1133 -19
8. Northwestern 287-293-279-280--1139 -13
9. Kent State 288-283-279-291--1141 -11
10. North Carolina 288-282-278-295--1143 -9
11. TCU 289-289-281-287--1146 -6
12. Minnesota 290-290-282-287--1149 -3
13. Fresno State 293-285-279-297--1154 +2
14. Auburn 290-288-288-295--1161 +9
15. Wake Forest 292-290-295-292--1169 +17
The following teams missed the second-round cut:
16. Georgia (lost playoff 292-290--582 +6
17. California 300-283--583 +7
East Tennessee State 286-297--583 +7
19. Mississippi State 288-296--584 +8
New Mexico 286-298--584 +8
21. Kansas 291-294--585 +9
22. Georgia State 295-292--587 +11
23. Oklahoma 294-294--588 +12
Pepperdine 295-293--588 +12
25. Arizona State 299-290--589 +13
Virginia 299-290--589 +13
27. North Florida 294-296--590 +14
28. BYU 299-294--593 +17
29. Southern California 299-300--599 +23
30. Washington 301-312--613 +37
* -- defeated Georgia Tech in playoff for championship
Individual Leaders and OSU Scores
1. Charles Howell, OSU 67-66-63-69--265 -23
2. Chris Morris, Houston 71-69-67-66--273 -15
3. Ricky Barnes, Arizona 70-68-68-69--275 -13
Jess Daley, Northwestern 69-70-69-67--275 -13
David Gossett, Texas 63-70-66-76--275 -13
6. Matt Weibring, Georgia Tech 71-71-67-67--276 -12
Andy Sanders, Houston 74-70-67-66--277 -11
7. Luke Donald, Northwestern 70-72-68-67--277 -11
9. James Driscoll, Virginia 68-71-71-68--278 -10
10. Jeremy Anderson, UNLV 69-68-69-73--279 -9
Michael Kirk, UNLV 70-72-68-69--279 -9
T13. Landry Mahan, OSU 70-68-72-71--281 -7
T41. Anders Hultman, OSU 72-76-68-72--288 E
T41. Edward Loar, OSU 72-72-72-72--288 E
T58. J.C. DeLeon, OSU 74-70-75-76--295 +7
