Bulls Book Return Trip to NCAA Championship Finals
May 18, 2016 | Men's Golf
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., MAY 18, 2016 – USF men's golf booked a return trip to the NCAA Championship finals with a fourth-place finish at the Albuquerque, N.M., Regional on Wednesday.
USF advanced to the NCAA Championship match play quarterfinals in head coach Steve Bradley's first season with the program in 2014-15 and the Bulls are excited about another shot at the national title. The top five teams from each of the six regionals will play for it all May 27-June 1 in Eugene, Ore.
“It's a grind out there, but we're extremely happy and looking forward to going to Oregon,” Bradley said. “At the beginning of the year, the goal is certainly to go compete for a national championship. Once you get here, you know you want to win, but you just want to advance. I think we're pretty relieved.”
No. 11 Arizona State (+12) captured the regional title and was followed in the top five by TCU (+24), No. 3 USC (+31), USF (+35) and San Diego State (+40). The Aztecs claimed the fifth spot by defeating Texas A&M in a playoff.
“I think this tournament, even more than the NCAAs, there is so much pressure on this tournament, especially when you're ranked in the top 15 like we were this year,” said Bradley of the No. 11/15 Bulls. “Hosting NCAAs last year, just the expectation is that you're going to advance and it's really hard to do.”
Claudio Correa led the Bulls with a fifth-place finish at 4-over after carding a 2-under 70, his best score of the tournament, at New Mexico's Championship Course (par-72, 7,555 yards). The sophomore from Chile led the 75-player field with 13 total birdies after collecting five in the final round. Arizona State's Jon Rahm captured the individual title at 4-under.
“He's playing well and to go out this last day and shoot 70, he carried us. We needed it and that was a good, little round for us,” Bradley said. “He's certainly capable of doing it and I think he's finally comfortable with where he is. He's been playing his best golf this last month and a half, and he showed it again today.”
Rigel Fernandes shared the lead after the first round and finished in a tie for 13th place at 9-over. The junior from Bradenton tied for third with 11 overall birdies and his par putt on No. 18 capped off the final round for the Bulls.
Seniors Chase Koepka (West Palm Beach) and Aksel Olsen (Norway) produced USF's second-best scores of the final round with 4-over 76's. Koepka tied for 17th place at 10-over, while Olsen tied for 28th place at 12-over.
Third-seeded USF secured its spot in the finals by shooting 1-under on the final four holes Wednesday afternoon. Once again, the Bulls had to battle strong wind gusts ranging from 15-20 mph, with rain falling for about half of the chilly round.
“The scoreboards weren't necessarily working out there, so I don't know if the guys really knew how we were doing. They'd ask us how we were doing and I said, 'We're playing fine,'” Bradley said. “I just think more than anything they played one shot at a time, played the hole they were on and didn't worry about what else was going on.”
Check out the teams set to compete in the NCAA Championships HERE.
|
4 |
South Florida |
289 |
311 |
299 |
899 |
|
T5 |
Claudio Correa (3) |
73 |
77 |
70 |
220 |
|
T13 |
Rigel Fernandes (4) |
69 |
79 |
77 |
225 |
|
T17 |
Chase Koepka (2) |
72 |
78 |
76 |
226 |
|
T28 |
Aksel Olsen (1) |
75 |
77 |
76 |
228 |
|
T65 |
Cristian DiMarco (5) |
80 |
85 |
78 |
243 |
