Pepperdine Wins The NCAA Men's Golf Championship!
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I wasn’t blogging back in 1997 when the Pepperdine Waves took the title in front of ESPN’s cameras, but the 2021 title win was no less stressful to watch knowing what was at stake.
Pepperdine edged Oklahoma 3-2 in one of those shame-someone-had-to-lose deals. But I’m glad Pepperdine hit just a few more clutch shots under the match play’s intense pressure.
The layers to this one run deep, from Coach Michael Beard and assistant Blaine Woodruff’s ability to pinpoint sometimes overlooked talent, to building a deep roster with nothing close to the facilities enjoyed at power conference schools, to bringing on former USC coach Chris Zambri this year and the tragic loss his family experienced mid-season.
Brentley Romine’s game story for GolfChannel.com with some great color on the final moments before Clay Feagler sealed the win at 18.
Adam Woodward’s Golfweek gamer recalls the lost opportunity last year when Pepperdine was the top team in the country before the NCAA’s were cancelled due to the pandemic.
Romine filed this sensational piece earlier in the week on Joey Vrzich, who was shaped by his dad’s near-death experience. While he lost his final match, Vrzich battled back from a huge deficit and then conceded to celebrate with his teammates:
Official NCAA highlights can be watched here.
GolfChannel.com’s video department shuts down when the printing presses start warming up, so some of their sensational coverage of the finale has yet to be posted online.
The final match play bracket:
