LSU men's golf to play Southern Cal for NCAA title - The Advocate

BRADENTON, Fla. â€" In his final competition as a member of the LSU golf team, Ben Taylor couldn’t have written a better script than the one he came up with on back-to-back days at the NCAA championships.

On Tuesday, Taylor closed out LSU’s 4-1 semifinal victory against Georgia with a tap-in birdie on the 18th hole after a pin-seeking approach shot wound up 3 feet from the cup.

In Wednesday’s match-play finals, he came from behind in the final five holes and slammed the door on Southern Cal with a 9-foot par putt on the 18th green to clinch LSU’s fifth NCAA golf title â€" and first in 60 years â€" at The Concession Golf Club.

The national title was the 43rd in all sports for LSU, which previously won men’s golf championships in 1940, 1942 and 1947 as well as 1955.

LSU, which lost to eventual national champion Alabama in the semifinals a year ago, became the third No. 7 seed to win it all the since the format was changed to a combination stroke-play, match-play event in 2009. USC was seeded fifth.

“It’s just amazing. … To win the national championship my senior year is something to remember the rest of your life,” said Taylor, who also made a clutch eagle at the par 5 17th to get in position for the win. “To hole that putt, it’s a memory I’ll have the rest of my life. I’m still on cloud nine.”

Taylor, who defeated USC’s Bobby Gojuangco 1-up, had the honor of finishing what his teammates started.

The native of London, England, put the third point on the scoreboard for the Tigers after Brandon Pierce and Zach Wright claimed their matches. Pierce beat Rico Hoey 2 and 1, while Wright bested Sean Crocker 3 and 2 to give fourth-ranked LSU a 2-0 advantage.

LSU’s Eric Ricard topped Jonah Texeira 1-up and Southern Cal’s Eric Sugimoto beat Tigers senior Stewart Jolly 1-up.

LSU coach Chuck Winstead was walking with Taylor, who had a two-hole advantage over Gojuangco after 10 holes before running into trouble. He lost three consecutive holes and halved another and trailed by one going to the 15th.

But Winstead sensed the match was turning when Taylor won that hole to tie the match even though Gojuangco dropped in a 30-foot birdie at No. 16 to go back on top by one.

“When Ben won the 15th hole to get back to all-square, you kind of felt like, ‘You know, we can flip this match again,’ ” Winstead said. “He was 2-up early and then lost several holes to go back to all square. When (Gojuangco) made that 30-footer at 16, he just had to keep playing and keep grinding.”

That’s when Taylor, who figured Gojuangco would do no worse than a birdie at No. 17, one-upped his opponent. With 258 yards to go the pin, Taylor struck a 4-iron to within 5 feet to set up the eagle putt.

“I knew the green was quite firm, so I had to land it on the front half and chase it back,” Taylor said. “I went with a 4-iron because I knew it would run up to the hole.

“It was like destiny. I didn’t want to be one down going to the last (hole) because I knew he would make birdie (at 17). It was just perfect.”

Taylor and Wright went 3-0 in LSU’s three wins in match play, while Pierce and Ricard were 2-0-1.

LSU, which was ranked fourth in the nation going into the NCAA championships, earned a spot in the finals Tuesday when Winstead’s team eliminated No. 2 seed Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals and came back to down third-seeded Georgia in the semis. The Tigers won both by a 3½-1½ margin.

“These five are great young men,” said Winstead, who completed his 10th season as Tigers coach. “We’re proud of them. … They worked hard, and they’re fun. Not always do you have a chance to have a day like this, obviously, but I’m proud of them, and I’m happy for them.”

NCAA men’s golf championship

Title match

Brandon Pierce (LSU) def. Rico Hoey, 2 and 1

Ben Taylor (LSU) def. Bobby Gojuangco, 1-up

Zach Wright (LSU) def. Sean Crocker, 3 and 2

Eric Ricard (LSU) def. Jonah Texeira, 1-up

Eric Sugimoto (USC) def. Stewart Jolly, 1-up