The No. 2 men’s golf team is victorious once again. On Wednesday, the Longhorns claimed their third-straight Big 12 title at the Big 12 Conference Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The team won in landslide fashion, finishing 24 strokes ahead of runner-up Texas Tech with a four-round total of 1130 (+10). With this win, Texas set the Big 12 record for largest margin of victory at a championship, breaking Oklahoma State’s 20-stroke record set in 2008.
“To have a 20-shot lead going into the last day is different, and that doesn’t usually happen,” head coach John Fields said. “A 72-hole event is also different — we only have one other tournament in college golf that is 72 holes, and that is the national championship. This is great preparation for us.”
The magnitude of Texas’ win is especially notable considering the tough course conditions. The tournament took place at Southern Hills Country Club, a notoriously difficult course.
“Southern Hills is a great golf course; it’s extremely difficult,” Fields said. “It was prepared so that it was at championship caliber. The greens were running at 12.5-13, which made the premium on accuracy — from the tee and the fairway — exceptional.”
Perhaps even more exceptional was freshman Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler earned medalist honors at the championship, finishing in first place on the individual leaderboard with a four-round total at even par. Scheffler is only the fifth player in Texas men’s golf history to win a Big 12 Championship.
“It feels great,” Scheffler said. “I got off to a bad start but was able to turn it around and start hitting some better shots. I’m really glad that the team was able to get it done after having a nice lead going into today. We have a lot of momentum going into the next tournament.”
Other notable performances came from sophomore Gavin Hall and senior Kramer Hickok. Hall finished two strokes behind Scheffler to notch a career-best second-place ending. Hickok finished in a tie for fifth, his second top-five finish this season. Sophomore Beau Hossler rounded out the top-10 finishes for Texas in a tie for eighth.
Next up for the Longhorns is the NCAA Regional Championship. Since it won the conference championship, Texas automatically qualifies for a regional tournament. The regional selection show will be broadcast live at 9 a.m. next Monday on the Golf Channel.
