NCAA Men's Finals Set After Some Wild Hole-Outs
/The 2016 NCAA men's golf championship field is set for a little over a week from now as the women get ready to kick off their stroke play qualifying finals at Eugene Country Club.
As Ryan Lavner reports, former U.S. Amateur champ, former unofficial tour pro for a year, almost handshaker to a USGA president, and now sometimes-starter for San Diego State Gunn Yang holed a 7-iron on a par-5 to help his team advance.
“It was the best shot I have ever witnessed under the circumstances," San Diego State coach Ryan Donovan said Wednesday night. "He really wanted the team to qualify."
At No. 776 in the world, Yang was one of the most unlikely U.S. Amateur champions in history when he won in 2014. He took a year off from school to play amateur and pro events around the world, only to return to SDSU last fall. His sophomore season has been a struggle – he posted the fifth-best scoring average on the team (72.74), earned only two top-10s and was left on the bench for the Mountain West Championship.
Yang finished 10th at regionals after rounds of 73-75-75, but he birdied two of the last four holes to help the Aztecs get into the playoff with Texas A&M at 40-over 904.
In the play-five, count-four format, Yang holed out his 7-iron shot for an albatross on the first extra hole to give the Aztecs the early lead.
Wofford's Andrew Novak was trying to make it as an individual and just missed. But he has this epic putt to remember his effort by.