May 31, 2013
MILTON, Ga. - No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Cal advanced to the semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Championship after a 3-2 match-play victory Friday over No. 8 Arizona State. The match came down to the 18th hole of the final individual match on the course at the Capital City Club's par-70, 7,319-yard Crabapple Course. Cal will face No. 5 Illinois in Saturday's first semifinal beginning at 10 a.m. The Illini knocked off No. 4 seed and defending NCAA champion Texas in a quarterfinal on Friday.
Friday's Cal-ASU quarterfinal match was tied 2-2 with Brandon Hagy holding a slim one-hole lead when he hit his approach on his second shot into the 18th green within three feet of the cup and when ASU's Jon Rahm missed a 20-foot birdie putt moments later he conceded a birdie to Hagy to end the match.
"This was one hell of a match," head coach Steve Desimone said. "ASU came right out immediately and played great, and we had to meet the challenges. Those are the kinds of shots that experienced players that have won lots of times and been through stressful, pressure situations and have performed, those are the kinds of shots that great players hit."
"I just stepped up there and hit the shot," Hagy said. "That's why you practice that, to be in those situations. I just picked a good target and made a good swing. I would say my 30-footer to go into a playoff at Pac-12's last year on the last hole was my biggest shot. But today was right up there for sure. In the moment, when my team needed it, that was probably my second best shot."
Hagy, Max Homa and Joël Stalter all won their matches for the Bears on Friday.
Cal is in the NCAA Championship semifinals for the second year in a row and looking to advance to the match-play finals for the first time in school history. The Golden Bears have a lone NCAA title to their credit in 2004 when the crown was decided with 72 holes of stroke play. Cal is making its 12th appearances at the NCAA Championship, including a school-record fourth in a row in 2013.
Cal has been the nation's No. 1 ranked team for almost the entire year and has won 11 of its first 13 tournaments in 2012-13 to set a modern-era NCAA single-season win record previously established by Oklahoma State in 1985-86. Dating back to the beginning of the 2011-12 campaign Cal has won 17 of its last 27 events and finished in the top five in each of them.
"If you have the bulls-eye on your back that means you're out in front." Homa said. "Pressure is a privilege and you want people to be chasing you because it means you're doing something right."
Hagy had led by two holes before he made a bogey at the par-four 16th to allow Rahm to get within one. Hagy had an opportunity to clinch his match and the team victory on the 17th hole but lipped out an eight-foot par putt as both players made bogey. Hagy had taken his first lead with back-to-back birdies on the par-four ninth and 10th holes and extended his margin to two holes with another birdie on the par-three 13th, keeping it there until his bogey on 16.
Homa, who became the first Cal player to win individual medalist honors at the NCAA Championship on Thursday, wrapped up his 3 & 2 victory over Trey Ka'ahanui on the 16th hole in a match in which he never trailed but also did not lead until Ka'ahanui made back-to-back bogeys on the par-four eighth and ninth holes. Ka'ahanui won his lone hole when he birdied the -par-five 12th but gave it right back with a bogey on 13. Homa got to 3-up for the first time in the match with a birdie on the par-four 14th and Ka'ahanui ran out of holes after both players made par at the par-three 15th and par-four 16th.
Stalter's 1-up victory against Max Rotluff also came down to the 18th hole. He took his first lead with a birdie on 12 and then matched Rotluff's scores over the final six holes as both players started their final stretch with a birdie on 13 and then made par on each of the final five holes, all par-fours other than the par-three 15th.
Michael Kim and Michael Weaver were defeated in their matches.
Spencer Lawson defeated Kim 1-up in a match that Kim led only once after Spencer bogeyed the ninth hole. Lawson took advantage of a Kim bogey on the 10th and then regained the lead with a birdie on 13. Lawson extended his lead to two holes with another birdie on 14. Kim got one shot back when he birdied 16 but both players made par on the final two holes to give Lawson the win.
Weaver led for nearly his entire match against Austin Quick before he was eventually defeated in 19 holes. Before making birdie on the 19th hole of the match when the golfers played the first hole for the second time to win, the only time Quick had led was briefly by one shot when he birdied 13. Weaver would win the next two holes when Quick bogeyed both 14 and 15. Quick took advantage of a Weaver bogey on 17 to tie the score and the extra hole was needed after both players made par at 18. Weaver had taken his first lead when Quick bogeyed the par-four opening hole. Quick got back to all-square with a birdie on the par-four second, but after Weaver eagled the par-five fourth to go back in front he would stay there until a Quick birdie on 12 evened the match again. Weaver had a pair of two-hole leads during the match after Quick bogeys on the par-three sixth and par-fourth ninth but had both leads reduced back to one hole with bogeys on the par-four seventh and 11th.
The second semifinal match Saturday will begin at 10:45 a.m. and feature host and No. 2 seed Georgia Tech against No. 3 Alabama, who ended Cal's 2011-12 season in the NCAA's match-play semifinals and was the nation's runner up last season. Georgia Tech needed a 19-hole victory by Ollie Schniederjans to close out a 3-2 victory over No. 7 UNLV in quarterfinal action Friday, while 2012 NCAA runner-up Alabama was a 4-1 winner over No. 6 New Mexico.
The winners of Saturday's two semifinals will meet in the national championship match Sunday at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP (HOSTED BY GEORGIA TECH)
MILTON, GA - CAPITAL CITY CLUB, CRABAPPLE COURSE (PAR-70, 7,319 YARDS)
NCAA MATCH PLAY QUARTERFINAL
Cal d. Arizona State, 3-2
Austin Quick (Arizona State) d. Michael Weaver (Cal), 19 holes
Joël Stalter (Cal) d. Max Rottluff (Arizona State), 1 up
Max Homa (Cal) d. Ka'ahanui (Arizona State), 3 & 2
Spencer Lawson (Arizona State) d.>Michael Kim (Cal), 1 up
Brandon Hagy (Cal) d. Jon Rahm (Arizona State) 2 up
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS SATURDAY SCHEDULE
10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT (Semifinal 1) - No. 1 Cal vs. No. 5 Illinois
10:45 a.m. ET/7:15 a.m. PT (Semifinal 2) - No. 2 Georgia Tech vs. No. 3 Alabama
SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS
No. 1 Cal vs. No. 5 Illinois
Tee Time - Players (Cal Career/2012-13 Season Match-Play Record)
10:00 a.m. ET/7:00 a.m. PT - Michael Weaver (0-1, 0-1) vs. Thomas Detry
10:09 a.m. ET/7:09 a.m. PT - Joël Stalter (4-3, 1-0) vs. Charlie Danielson
10:18 a.m. ET/7:18 a.m. PT - Max Homa (7-3, 1-0) vs. Thomas Pieters
10:27 a.m. ET/7:27 a.m. PT ->Michael Kim (2.5-4.5, 0-1) vs. Brian Campbell
10:36 a.m. ET/7:36 a.m. PT - Brandon Hagy (7-3, 1-0) vs. Alex Burge
No. 2 Georgia Tech vs. No. 3 Alabama
Tee Time - Players
10:45 a.m. ET/7:45 a.m. PT - Anders Albertson vs. Bobby Wyatt
10:54 a.m. ET/7:54 a.m. PT - Shun Yat Hak vs. Trey Mullinax
11:03 a.m. ET/8:03 a.m. PT - Bo Andrews vs. Scott Strohmeyer
11:12 a.m. ET/8:12 a.m. PT - Seth Reeves vs. Justin Thomas
11:21 a.m. ET/8:21 a.m. PT - Ollie Schniederjans vs. Cory Whitsett
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH - SUNDAY, JUNE 2
10:00 a.m. ET/7:00 a.m. PT - Semifinal 1 & 2 winners
