May 26, 2014

Photo Gallery | Results

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The South Carolina men’s golf team made an incredible run at securing a spot in match play in the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship on Monday but came up just short after shooting a 282 (+2) at Prairie Dunes Country Club.

The Gamecocks concluded the week with a 54-hole total of 846 (+6) to finish in ninth place, which is the second best finish in program history at the national championship. The total of 846 is also the best 54-hole NCAA Championship total in school history.

After falling down the leaderboard early in the round on Monday, South Carolina battled back to climb as high as tied for fifth on the back nine at 1-over par. However, the Gamecocks gave up five strokes down the stretch to finish one shot back of eighth place. The top eight teams advanced to match play on Tuesday.

Despite the outcome, South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald couldn’t have been more proud of his team’s effort in the final round and the successful season it had.

“I’m very proud,” McDonald said. “At one point today we were looking at about 15th place early on the front nine, and they fought back and got us inside the top eight. We just didn’t finish the round off. Hats off to the guys for fighting back and giving us a chance. It’s a really good group of kids. They fought hard today and represented our university really well.”

Junior Will Murphy helped lead the way as he made a run at the individual national title. A native of Columbia, S.C., Murphy posted a final-round 69 (-1) to finish tied for 15th with a total of 208 (-2), the lowest 54-hole NCAA Championship total in program history. With the top-15 finish, Murphy earns his first career All-America honor. He was within one stroke of first place at 5-under late in the round but made bogey and double bogey on his final two holes to fall out of contention and into a tie for 15th, the fourth highest finish by a Gamecock all-time at the national championship.

Junior Caleb Sturgeon was the next highest Gamecock on the leaderboard as he carded a final-round 73 (+3) to finish tied for 29th with a total of 210 (E). After playing his first four holes at 4-over, Sturgeon settled down and played his final 14 holes at 1-under without a bogey.

Sophomore Will Starke finished tied for 55th with a total of 214 (+4) after shooting a 72 (+2) on Monday. He played his first five holes at 4-over but birdied three of his next four holes to make the turn at 1-over. He was able to get to 1-under on the day by playing his first seven holes on the back nine at 2-under, but a double bogey and bogey on his final two holes dropped him back to 2-over heading into the clubhouse.

Freshman Ben Dietrich fired the low round of the day for the Gamecocks, shooting a 2-under 68 to finish tied for 109th with a total of 220 (+10). After turning in a 1-over 36 on the front nine, Dietrich was near flawless on the back side, recording two birdies, an eagle on the par-5 seventh and just one bogey.

Rounding out the lineup, sophomore Matt NeSmith posted a 77 (+7) to finish the week tied for 141st with a total of 228 (+18).

Stanford finished first with a total of 827 (-13), while Alabama (836), LSU (836), Oklahoma State (840), Georgia Tech (841), UCLA (844), SMU (845) and Illinois (845) all advanced to match play. Stanford’s Cameron Wilson defeated Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans in a playoff to win the individual national title.

The Gamecocks turned in one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2013-14. Carolina recorded three tournament wins and produced a school-record seven-straight top-three finishes during the regular season.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTST15. Will Murphy (5)     70-69-69=208 (-2)T29. Caleb Sturgeon (2)       66-71-73=210 (E)T55. Will Starke (1)     64-78-72=214 (+4)T109. Ben Dietrich (4)      72-80-68=220 (+10)T141. Matt NeSmith (3)          77-74-77=228 (+18)
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS1. Stanford             281-267-279=827 (-13)T2. Alabama             274-278-284=836 (-4)T2. LSU             279-278-279=836 (-4)T4. Oklahoma State      277-279-284=840 (E)5. Georgia Tech         277-282-282=841 (+1)6. UCLA             279-284-281=844 (+4)T7. SMU             275-285-285=845 (+5)T7. Illinois            285-280-280=845 (+5)9. South Carolina        272-292-282=846 (+6)10. Houston             284-285-279=848 (+8)T11. California         279-289-282=850 (+10)T11. Georgia            286-287-277=850 (+10)13. Texas           289-278-284=851 (+11)14. Oregon          284-297-271=852 (+12)15. Washington          279-287-287=853 (+13)T16. Vanderbilt         281-285-288=854 (+14)T16. Oklahoma           273-287-294=854 (+14)T18. Arkansas           292-286-279=857 (+17)T18. Kentucky           288-286-283=857 (+17)20. Missouri            283-289-287=859 (+19)21. UAB                 282-285-295=862 (+22)22. Georgia State       285-290-288=863 (+23)23. Auburn          274-292-300=866 (+26)24. Florida State       286-301-283=870 (+30)25. Iowa State          278-299-294=871 (+31)26. Kennesaw State      294-294-284=872 (+32)27. Purdue          286-289-298=873 (+33)28. Virginia Tech       294-301-281=876 (+36)29. Texas A&M           296-288-297=881 (+41)30. Southern California     296-298-295=889 (+49)