Texas A&M
NCAA Championship
Aggies, Razorbacks to Battle for NCAA Golf Crown
May 29, 2009 | Men's Golf
May 29, 2009
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Championship Tee Times and Pairings 
Friday's Semifinal and Quarterfinal Results
TOLEDO, Ohio - Senior Matt Van Zandt won the 18th hole to capture his semifinal match against Michigan on Friday, helping No. 7 seed Texas A&M advance to Saturday's finals at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Inverness Golf Club.
Arkansas and A&M will meet for the title with 18 holes of match play starting at 9:30a.m. (Central). The Aggies held off the fourth-seeded Wolverines, 3-1-1, while the fourth-seeded Razorbacks downed No. 8 Georgia, 4-1. The Aggies have clinched the highest NCAA finish in school history and are reaching for their first national title in men's golf. A&M's previous best was fourth in 1982.
Live scoring and video are available at golfstat.com. The video link is http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/player/static/player_1495.html.
The A&M-Michigan semifinal was precisely why the NCAA changed formats this season - to create more drama thanks to head-to-head match play. This is the first year the tournament format has been 54 holes of medal play to determine the individual medalist and the seeding for the top eight teams, followed by two days of match play to determine the team champion.
"This was the most awesome day of college golf I've ever been a part of," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "Michigan was unbelievable and they wouldn't go away. We had a chance to close them out several times and they kept fighting and fighting. We played with a lot of heart and there was never an ounce of quit in us. We have great kids who deserve this success and the opportunity to play for a national championship."
A&M had won two matches, Michigan had won one and a fourth was all square as Van Zandt carried a 1-up lead to the 17th green. After Van Zandt, whose score had not been counted in each of the three medal-play rounds, barely missed a 12-foot birdie putt, Michigan's Bill Rankin calmly rolled in a 10-footer for birdie to square the match while a few hundred fans - most of them Michigan supporters - cheered.
Both hit driver on the par-4 18th, with Rankin's ball coming to rest a couple of feet above a deep fairway bunker set in the side of a hill. He had an awkward stance, and the ball was settled down in the deep rough at Inverness Club. Hitting first, he punched the ball out but it hit on the back of the green and took one bounce into a bunker.
Van Zandt was 20 yards in front of him, with a better lie but still in the deep rough. He slashed out a wedge that landed in the middle of the green and ended up 15-feet below the hole, which was located on a shelf on the back right portion of the green. He pumped his fist when the ball stayed on the putting surface.
Rankin blasted out of the bunker but his shot rolled past the pin and rolled off the severe side of the green and into deep rough. From there, he took another mighty swing, the ball catching the edge of the hole before running several feet past. Rankin then conceded Van Zandt's birdie putt, giving the Aggies the third point they needed to advance.
"I'm so happy for Matt as a senior to come up so big for his team," Higgins said. "He had a tough week but he never stopped battling. Although his scores didn't count for us in stroke play, they ended up being the difference in the tiebreaker between us and Georgia. He was outstanding all day today."
"I'm relieved more than anything else," Van Zandt said. "I played great today and it was a fun match. I tip my hat to Bill because he's one of the best putters I've ever played against -- at least he was today. This is like a dream. You practice for exactly what I just faced. To be able to pick your team up like that is tremendous. My team picked me up when I was down and this shows what a team game this is. It means the world to me."
In addition to Van Zandt's 1-up win, teammates Andrea Pavan beat Alexander Sitompul 8-and-7 and Bronson Burgoon topped Lion Kim 4-and-3. The Wolverines' lone point came from Nick Pumford's 2-and-1 victory over Conrad Shindler, with A&M's John Hurley and Michigan's Matt Thompson fighting to a draw.
Pavan, who lost by a large margin in the quarterfinals, vindicated himself with birdies on five of the first seven holes to bury Sitompul early.
"Andrea was struggling all week with his ball striking and we kept telling him you're one swing away from hitting it good," Higgins said. "In the morning match against Arizona State, he hit a weak drive and had a three-iron in on No. 14. He looked at me and said, 'I just figured out what I was doing wrong but it's too late.' I said 'what are you talking about? We have two matches left.' I knew by the way he looked back at me that he was ready to come back and play well. He had three tap-in birdies and played phenomenal golf."
Burgoon cruised to easy victories in both his matches, ending both on the 15th hole.
"Bronson is so good in match play," Higgins said. "He really likes going head-to-head and he played great today."
The top three seeds all lost in Friday mornings quarterfinals. The Aggies edged No. 2 Arizona State (3-1-1), Georgia beat No. 1 Oklahoma State (3-2) and Michigan upset No. 3 Southern California (3-2). Arkansas was the only higher seed to win, defeating No. 5 Washington (3-2).
Georgia's spirited match against Oklahoma State came down to the last hole. The Bulldogs prevailed when Brian Harman birdied the final hole to edge the Cowboys' Rickie Fowler.
Burgoon (4 and 3) and Hurley (3 and 2) easily won their matches against ASU. Shindler closed out a 2 and 1 victory with a birdie on the 17th hole.
Van Zandt also birdied the 17th to square his match, but the players settled for a draw after Burgoon's victory sealed the match. Pavan lost his match, 4 and 3.
"Bronson and John took it to Arizona State early and were never in danger of losing," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "It was fantastic to secure two wins early. Conrad and Matt played their hearts out, with Conrad winning the 15th and 17th holes to close out his match."
Shindler was a late addition to the lineup after losing a playoff two weeks ago for a spot in the PGA Tour's Byron Nelson Classic and firing a 68 in local qualifying for the U.S. Open. He had a hole-in-one in Tuesday's opening round and shot three-under on the back nine on Thursday to help the Aggies advance to match play by a narrow margin.
"That has to be the best coaching move I've ever made," Higgins said. "I added him to the lineup because he had been playing so well. He wanted to prove he belonged here and he did."
Note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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