The Longhorns, led by freshman Cole Hammer, tie for third place at the Big 12 Championship in West Virginia over the weekend.
Texas tied Oklahoma and finished 15 shots behind the champions, top-ranked Oklahoma State. Hammer tied for third individually as well, bouncing back from an opening round 3-over par 73 with back-to-back rounds of 65 and 66 to close the tournament.
Hammer finished just two shots shy of eventual champion Hayden Springer of TCU and one shot behind Oklahoma State’s Viktor Hovland. Hovland also edged Hammer out of a spot in the final match at the 2018 U.S. Amateur Championship, beating him 3-2 in their semifinal match. Hovland went on to win low amateur honors at the 2019 Masters Championship earlier this month.
The Big 12 Championship marked Hammer’s seventh-straight top-10 finish and third straight top-five finish this season. He leads the Longhorns in scoring average and rounds at par or better.
Freshmen twins Parker and Pierceson Coody, both tied for 17th. Parker shot three rounds of one-over par 71 in a row. Pierceson started the final round at four-under par total, but shot a 7-over 77 to fall back to 3-over for the tournament. The tournament marked Parker’s fourth top-20 finish, and Pierceson’s sixth.
Meanwhile, senior Steven Chervony shot a final round even-par 70, notching himself a tie for 31st place. Junior Spencer Soosman finished in a tie for 45th with a final round of 9-over par 79, never fully recovering from a sextuple bogey on the third hole in the final round.
The Longhorns will find out if they can continue on to the NCAA Regional Championship on Wednesday, May 1 at 8 p.m. on Golf Channel, when selections will be made.
If Texas moves on, it will compete on home turf at the University of Texas Golf Club, its main practice facility. The last time the Longhorns competed in the Regional at the UT Golf Club in 2017, they finished in second place behind Oklahoma State. If the team is selected to compete this year, Oklahoma State will be the team to beat yet again. Play begins May 13, regardless of whether or not Texas will be there.
