Trying to Go Out on Top

Wyndham Clark hadn’t yet transferred to the University of Oregon when the Ducks won the men’s NCAA Division I team title a year ago.

But the golfer from Highlands Ranch will get his chance for a team championship on Wednesday in Sugar Grove, Ill.

Clark, who transferred to Oregon from Oklahoma State, will close out his college career on Wednesday when the Ducks face the University of Oklahoma in match play for the 2017 national title. The action will be televised by the Golf Channel beginning at 2 p.m. (MT).

Clark, whose three individual wins this season include the Pac-12 title in Boulder a month ago, personally lost a match in the quarterfinals against his former school, Oklahoma State, on Tuesday. But in the afternoon semifinals, televised heavily by the Golf Channel, the senior from Colorado helped Oregon return to the national match-play final by defeating Vanderbilt’s Will Gordon, 4 and 3.

The Ducks, who barely qualified for the eight-team match play portion of the NCAA Finals, defeated Oklahoma State 3-2 in the quarters (Clark fell to Viktor Hovland 2 and 1 individually). Then they took down Vanderbilt, the team medalist in stroke play, 3-2 in the semifinals.

Clark, the 2014 Big 12 Player of the Year and 2017 Pac-12 Player of the Year, is the No. 1-ranked player in men’s college golf, according to Golfweek. But he struggled in the final round of the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Finals and finished 51st.

Earlier Tuesday, Clark was named a DI Ping First-Team All-American.

Men’s NCAA Division I Finals
May 26-31, 2017 in Sugar Grove, Ill.

MATCH PLAY SEMIFINALS
Team: Oregon def. Vanderbilt, 3-2
Individually: Coloradan Wyndham Clark, Oregon, def. Will Gordon, Vanderbilt, 4 and 3

MATCH PLAY QUARTERFINALS
Team: Oregon def. Oklahoma State, 3-2
Individually: Viktor Hovland, Oklahoma State, def. Coloradan Wyndham Clark, Oregon, 2 and 1

STROKE PLAY
51. Coloradan Wyndham Clark, Oregon 74-69-72-81–296
Missed 54-Hole Cut
138. Coloradan Josh Seiple, Mississippi 74-76-82–232

For complete results, CLICK HERE.