CARLSBAD, Calif. — After 54 holes of stroke play, the field of 30 teams at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course is now 15 after Sunday evening’s cut.
Illinois is the leader in the clubhouse with 18 holes to go following a 6-under performance Sunday. The Fighting Illini lead Virginia by six shots and are the only team under par (2 under) after three rounds. Vanderbilt is third at 9 over and five behind Virginia.
Ohio State’s Adam Wallin is at 5 under and leads by two in the individual competition, but Virginia sophomore Ben James and Stanford’s Karl Vilips are at 3 under. Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent is three back.
Come Monday, the top eight teams after the final round of stroke play will make match play, which begins Tuesday morning.
NCAA: Team scores | Individual scores | Photos
Meet the 15 teams who made the first cut at Omni La Costa:
Mike Small’s bunch conquered the difficult back nine on Sunday, shooting 6 under during the closing stretch to take the outright lead going into Monday’s final round of stroke play. The Fighting Illini made match play last year, and they’re seemingly a lock this year with plenty of shots between them and the top eight. Max Herendeen (2 under) and Tyler Goecke (1 under) are pacing Illinois.
Virginia is also looking to punch its tickets back into match play. The 36-hole leader struggled a bit on the back nine but remains solo second and well positioned. Ben James is solo third at 3 under, two back of the individual lead.
The Commodores came into the week as one of the favorites, and they’re doing their best to make up for missing match play last year. Junior Gordon Sargent, the 2021 individual champion, is three back of the lead after a 2-under 70 on Sunday.
The Seminoles reached the semifinals last year and came up short against their in-state rivals, but they are in a great position after posting 2 under on Sunday, their lowest round in the NCAA Championship this year. Luke Clanton is 1 under for the tournament and shot 70 in the third round.
The Buckeyes have been one of the surprise teams of the NCAA Championship, but if you keep up with Golfweek‘s college coverage, we told you last week to watch out for Ohio State. However, it has been individual leader Adam Wallin leading the way for the Buckeyes heading into the final day of stroke play.
The other national semifinalist from 2023, the Tar Heels won the stroke-play portion of the championship in 2023, and they’re in a good position to make it back into match play this year. Peter Fountain is leading the way at 1 over.
The top-ranked team in the country has been consistent through three rounds at Omni La Costa, shooting 5 over every round thus far. Auburn isn’t in a bad position to make match play, but considering the Tigers have lost to only four teams in stroke play all year, they’ll want to have their best round yet on Monday.
The defending national champions put together a solid 1-under round Sunday, moving four spots up the leaderboard and into the last spot for match play. Another strong round will be needed on Monday to have a chance to defend.
Here’s where things get interesting. There are six shots between the seventh team and those vying for the eight spots, but there are plenty of teams in contention, including Arizona. The Wildcats struggled on the easiest scoring day thus far, putting them in an interesting position.
Georgia Tech finished runner-up in 2023, so the Yellow Jackets know how to succeed at the NCAA Championship. However, Christo Lamprecht, the top-ranked amateur in the world, has missed the last two days with a back injury. His health may determine whether Georgia Tech advances past Monday.
The hosts has their best round of the week Sunday, as the Longhorns were 2 over and remained in contention for the final match-play spot. The 2022 champions have work to do to make that happen, however.
Johnny Kiefer is 1 under after 54 holes and a big reason why the Bears are well in contention to make match play. However, there remains a substantial hill to climb, so a strong round Monday is needed.
Earlier this week, the Sooners counted scores of 78, 78 and 81. Now, Oklahoma is the only team from the afternoon wave to advance into the top 15, and it did so with a blitzkrieg of birdies on their final nine holes, the front nine at Omni La Costa. Ben Lorenz had five, Drew Goodman added four, and Oklahoma is on to Monday.
East Tennessee State has gotten one shot worse each day at Omni La Costa. No player shot under par on Sunday, but ETSU is still in a spot where a strong performance Sunday could be enough to nab the final spot.
Also tied with ETSU, Tennessee shot 6 over on Sunday but fell down the leaderboard. The Volunteers will make Monday, but a big challenge awaits if they want to make match play.
California
Clemson
LSU
New Mexico
North Florida
Notre Dame
Oklahoma State
Purdue
SMU
Stanford
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Utah
Wake Forest
West Virginia