Oklahoma State’s Matthew Wolff charges to NCAA title with five shot win

Matthew Wolff can now add another milestone to his young golf career: NCAA champion.

The Oklahoma State sophomore captured the men’s individual NCAA Championship on Monday at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas by five shots, becoming the first Cowboy to hoist the trophy since 2006.

Wolff finished the tournament at 10 under, with Georgia Southern’s Steven Fisk finishing second at five under. After shooting even par on the first nine holes on Monday, which included a pair of consecutive birdies and bogeys, Wolff closed strong on the back, going three under to finish with a 69 and the victory.

After shooting one-over 73 during the first round, Wolff rebounded with an impressive six-under 66 in the second round. Wolff, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, built upon his great second round with a solid two-under 70 showing in the third round, giving him a two-shot lead with 18 holes to play. Wolff now has the Oklahoma State school record with six victories this year.

“These are the best amateurs of the world,” Wolff said after his win. “And to come out on top is really something special because most college events, you get five or six really good teams, but this has all of the best players and all of the best teams. So it really does mean a lot.”

With Wolff’s victory, Oklahoma State now has the top seed heading into the match play portion of the team NCAA Championship. The Cowboys, who won their first title in school history last year, are now looking to become the first back-to-back champion since Alabama in 2013-14. This is the fourth time that the school has earned the No. 1 spot for the match play competition, which begins on Tuesday.

“The individual championship is really nice, and obviously this is the biggest tournament I’ve won thus far in my career,” Wolff said. “But it’s all about the team this week. I want to do all I can to help my team and get OSU another one.”

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