CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Purdue men’s golf team shined brightest when it needed to late in the round, holding off charges by three different teams to advance to the NCAA National Championships next week in Carlsbad, California.
The Boilermakers didn’t play their best, but made enough shots down the stretch to advance to its third straight NCAA National Championships. It marks the first time since making 19 straight appearances from 1949 to 1967, that the Boilermaker golf program has made three straight National Championship showings.
“They don’t call it survive and advance for nothing. It was a really stressful day, but obviously the goal was to advance to the National Championships and we were able to accomplish that,” said head coach Andrew Sapp. “I’m just really proud of this team’s grit. We were able to get a great cushion after 36 holes and we needed all of it.”
The Boilermakers finished fourth after sitting in second place after 36 holes, 12 shots ahead of the cutline, posting a 54-hole tally of 10-under par 842 (272-276-294=842). Oklahoma won the Regional at 34-under par 818, while UCLA finished second at 14-under par 838. No. 6-ranked Arkansas was third at 11-under par 841 and San Diego defeated Liberty in a playoff for the fifth and final spot at 9-under par 843.
The Boilermakers were seeded eighth, but reached the National Championships for the sixth time since 2014. Only once during the six advancements, has Purdue been a top-five seed. The five “underdog” advancements to the National Championships are tied for the most in the country during that span (BYU – 5).
Purdue started off round three in decent shape, playing the first four combined holes in 1-under par. However, from holes five to 13, Purdue’s five players played the nine-hole stretch in a combined 17-over par to fall back to the pack and at one point, on the outside looking in.
However, Purdue counting team played the two par-5’s on the back nine in 7-under par, then got monster birdies from Will Harvey on 17 and 18 to hold off any threat.
Harvey was one of three players in round three to birdie both 17 and 18, and his birdie on 18 was as clutch as it gets. After Oregon State had cut the Purdue lead to one shot with a birdie of its own on the hole, Harvey rolled in a downhill 10-foot birdie putt, that if it slipped by the hole by 18 inches, rolls down the hill to 25 feet.
It ended an incredible stretch for the freshman from Westfield, Indiana, playing the last five holes in 3-under par with birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie.
“That finish by Will Harvey was so clutch. To birdie the last three holes as a freshman when advancing is on the line is very, very impressive,” said Sapp.
The Boilermakers then made clutch, testy par putts on 18 from Sam Easterbrook and Supapon Amornchaichan to lock up Purdue’s 32nd National Championship appearance.
Leading the way was junior Sam Easterbrook, who recorded yet another top-10 finish with a ninth-place placing at 5-under par 208 (67-69-72). It marked his seventh top-10 finish of the season, now just one shy of the school-record eight set by Lee Williamson in 2001-02.
Harvey had an outstanding week in his first NCAA competition, placing T-13 at 4-under par 209 (70-68-71), shooting even- or under-par in all three rounds. It marked his sixth top-20 finish of the season.
Supapon Amornchaichan was tied for 21st at 2-under par 211 (68-68-75). Kentaro Nanayama was tied for 40th at 1-over par 214 (67-71-76) and Jenson Forrester was 72nd at 12-over par 225 (75-74-76).
The NCAA National Championships will be May 29 to June 3, at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.