TOLEDO--With one swing, Texas A&M senior Bronson Burgoon ended the longest hour of his life ... and became a national champion.

Four up with five holes to play against Arkansas senior Andrew Landry in the match that would decide whether the Aggies or the Razorback would claim the 112th NCAA Championship, the 21-year-old All-American from The Woodlands, Texas, suddenly couldn't find a fairway at Inverness, dropping four straight holes to bring the match back to all square and then hitting his tee ball on the 18th at Inverness Club into the gnarly right rough just short of a fairway bunker

After watching Landry's approach shot from the fairway hit the green and come to rest 35 feet from the hole, Burgoon dramatically took fate into his own hands when he hit a gap wedge from 125 yards, the ball landing on the green and started rolling toward the hole.

And rolling. And rolling.

As his fellow Texas A&M players began jumping up and down along the fairway, the ball nearly fell into the cup, stopping just three inches away.

"I honestly just wanted to get it on the green with 20 feet and try to make the putt," said Burgoon, acknowledge the slide that he had been on the previous four holes.

As Burgoon walked toward the green, the 200 or so spectators applauding madly, all Landry could do was give Burgoon a congratulatory fist pump as he conceded the birdie.

Landry's attempt to top Burgoon's amazing shot with a miraculous putt missed to the left, giving Burgoon a 1-up win and Texas A&M a 3-2 victory to claim the title

"It was a phenomenal shot," Landry said. "There's no much you can do about it. He's a great player."

On the 18th tee, Texas A&M coach J.T. Higgins tried to get Burgoon refocused. "I just told him, 'I wouldn't rather have anybody else playing this hole than you right now, even after losing four straight.' I knew he was a clutch performer. I knew he'd come through and he did."

Still  Landry made a par on the 17th hole to square the match, it appeared like Arkansas had all the momentum.

"Honestly, when Landry was in the fairway on the 18th and Burgoon was in the rough, I thought we were going to win," said Arkansas coach Brad McMakin.

The national championship came down to the final match between the two schools' No. 1 players on sun-soaked but windy Saturday afternoon only after Texas A&M and Arkansas split the four preceding matches. The Razorbacks won the first two matches, Jamie Marshall and Jason Cuthbertson coming up victorious over Conrad Shindler (3 and 2) and Matt Van Zandt (3 and 1). But they had to as Texas A&M's John Hurley and Andrea Pavan won big over Ethan Tracy (6 and 4) and David Lingmerth (7 and 6).

Burgoon took a 1-up lead on Landry with a par on the fourth hole, only to drop the fifth hole to return to all square. A birdie on the seventh and par on the ninth then gave Burgoon a 2-up advantage at the turn, won that grew to 3-up with a birdie on the 11th and 4-up with a par on the 13th.

While it looked like the Aggies would walk away with a convincing win, Landry had other thoughts. "I knew I had to start trying to put some pressure on him," said Landry. "You have to make other people play bad."

Burgoon hit it into a bunker off the tee on the 14th and missed a 25-foot putt to save par to loss that hole, then missed the fairway and green on the 15th while Landry rolled in a 15-foot birdie.

On the 16th, Burgoon again hit it in the rough left, then into a bunker short left of the green. The frustration became obvious for Burgoon, as he just stopped short of slamming the club against his bag. His third shot only got within 25 feet of the hole, and he lipped out his par save to see his lead shrink to 1 up.

On the 17th, Burgoon switched sides, missing the fairway to the right this time and punching his approach shot just short of the green. His chip, however, raced eight feet by the hole and when he missed his par attempt to the left, the match was back to all square.

Then, just as out of nowhere as Burgoon losing four straight holes, he hit one of the most memorable shots in NCAA history.

"I couldn't have drawn it up any better. I love the team," Burgoon said. "They battled their butts off all day, and I just tried bringing it in. That was the hardest thing when it was slipping away. I was more discouraged for the guys on the team than for myself."

*****

Roughly 20 people associated with the Arkansas athletic department flew from Fayettville to Toledo Saturday morning to attend the match-play finals. Among those on the trip were current athletic director Jeff Long, former athletic director Frank Broyles, John Tyson (CEO of Tyson Foods and owner of Arkansas' home course), women's head coach Shauna Estes-Taylor and assistant Mike Adams.

TOLEDO--There were several factors that led the NCAA men's D-I golf committee to decide to change to a match-play format to crown a national champion, not the least of which was to try to drum up more interest from the mainsteam media who didn't cover college golf on a regular basis. You might recall one coach using the example of trying to get the golf's Elite Eight or Final Four on ESPN's crawl, not unlike other lower profile sports (i.e. softball).

Well, I didn't see a mention of Arkansas beating Georgia or Texas A&M beating Michigan from yesterday's semifinal matches during last night's coverage of the Lakers/Nuggets game on ESPN (give it time coaches, give it time), but I do think the golf committee will be pleased with the exposure they're getting as a result of the format change.

Take for example this morning's Detroit Free Press, which ran a story about the end of the unranked Wolverines' run at Inverness Club. Had it not been for the building momentum that Michigan generated by playing well in each round of stroke play earlier in the week, thus creating a storyline for how this underdog squad was vying to steal a spot in the Elite Eight, I don't think the media attention would have followed.

By the time U of M coach Andrew Sapp's squad had moved to the semifinals, there were TV crews coming down from Ann Arbor and Detroit (granted both cities are less than an hour from Toledo) to document Michigan's run.

Had the Wolverine been in sixth place entering a fourth day of stroke play competition--as would have been the case this week if the format hadn't changed--they would have been 19 strokes behind leader Oklahoma State with virtually no shot of winning the title ... and no accompanying press attention. (Definitely no TV crews.)

So now Sapp can use this week as a major stepping stone in building his program, as can both the Razorbacks and Aggies whether they win or lose this afternoon.

At the risk of sounding like the message from an after-school special, let me just say this: They'll crown a national champion later today, but with the implementation of match play I genuinely believe there will be more than one school that wins this week.

TOLEDO--Arkansas and Texas A&M.

They've become the answer to the trivia question "Which two teams faced each other in the first match-play final for the NCAA Championship?"

With senior Jason Cuthbertson and junior David Lingmerth winning for the second time on the day, the Razorbacks rolled to a 3-1-1 victory over No. 1 ranked Georgia in their Friday afternoon semifinal showdown at Inverness Club. Cuthbertson took down Georgia's Harris English, 2 and 1, while Lingmerth knocked off Hudson Swafford, 3 and 2.

"We just kind of caught fire the last couple of days," said third-year Arkansas coach Brad McMakin, whose squad, ranked ninth in the final Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll, had finished second in its last five tournaments, including the SEC Championship and the NCAA South Central Regional, prior to nationals. "We're a bunch of little guys that don't hit it very far off the tee, but don't make many mistakes."

Sophomore Jamie Marshall gave Arkansas its third point, beating Adam Mitchell, 1 up.

McMakin conceded that the Bulldogs' emotional victory over top-seed Oklahoma State in quarterfinals earlier in the day might have worked to his group's advantage. "Georgia had such a hard match this morning that we thought they might take us a little bit for granted," said McMakin, whose own team beat Arizona State, 3-1-1. "We were kind of hoping that would happen and overlook us. We wanted to jump on them early, get up on them and make them think about it."

Suffice it to say, the Razorbacks followed that plan, particularly Lingmerth. The 21-year-old from Sweden holed his tee shot with a 7-iron the 200-yard par-3 third hole and made an eagle on the par-5 eighth to take control of his match. "As soon as I hit the ball, it felt great," Lingmerth said of the ace. "I thought it was the best shot I ever hit right away."

"I think [beating Oklahoma State] took a little bit out of us," said Georgia coach Chris Haack. "I almost wish we had a night to sleep on that one but that's the way it goes. Arkansas played great. Those guys made a lot of birdies."

Just as Arkansas seemed in control of versus Georgia for most of the afternoon, so too did Texas A&M in its semifinal match with Michigan, the tournament's Cinderella story. The Aggies posted early wins from Andrea Pavan and Bronson Burgoon, offset by a Wolverine win from Nick Pumford, while A&M's Matt Van Zandt had a 2-up lead over Michigan's Bill Rankin with three holes left. Yet as quickly can happen in match play, momentum sudden shifted toward Michigan as Rankin won the 16th and 17th holes to square their match.

With both Van Zandt and Rankin in the right rough off the tee on the 18th hole, Rankin proceed to hit his approach shot over the green, into a bunker, giving Van Zandt an opening. The Aggie knocked his on the green to 18 feet, then watched as Rankin couldn't keep his third shot on the green.

Still away, Rankin nearly holed his chip for par, the ball rolling 10 feet past the cup. With that, he conceded Van Zandt's birdie and gave the overall match to Texas A&M 3-1-1.

"Michigan was unbelievable," said Aggie coach J.T. Higgins, whose team was 16th in the final Golf World poll, having won three tournaments in 2008-09. "They wouldn't go away. We had a chance to close them out several times and they kept fighting and fighting. I was so impressed with their team. It was a great match all the way around."

The final match-up will be a clash of similarly styled teams. Both the Razorbacks and Aggies are close knit groups that have showed their emotions at Inverness.

Whichever team claims the national title Saturday, it will be the first in their school's history. The Razorbacks best finish was fourth in 1994; the Aggies was fourth in 1982.

*****

NCAA Championship Match
No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Texas A&M
   Head-to-head record in 2008-09: Texas A&M, 2-1
      Baylor Intercollegiate, Oct. 27-28, 2008--A&M 1st; Arkansas 4th
      John Burns Intercollegiate, Feb. 18-20, 2009--A&M 1st, Arkansas 4th
      Morris Williams Invitational, March 30-31, 2009--Arkansas 2nd, A&M 10th

Match schedule
10:30 a.m.  Jamie Marshall (Ark.) vs. Conrad Shindler (Texas A&M)
10:39          Jason Cuthbertson (Ark.) vs. Matt Van Zandt (Texas A&M)
10:48          Ethan Tracy (Ark.) vs. John Hurley (Texas A&M)
10:57          David Lingmerth (Ark.) vs. Andrea Pavan (Texas A&M
11:06          Andrew Landry (Ark.) vs. Bronson Burgoon (Texas A&M)


*****

The most lopsided match of the semifinal round was an 8-and-7 victory by Texas A&M's Andrea Pavan over Michigan's Alexander Sitompul. For Pavan, it was a bit of a vindication after struggling during the stroke-play portion of the championship.

"He was struggling all week with his ball striking, and we kept telling him you're one swing away from hitting it good," said Aggie coach J.T. Higgins. "In the morning's match against Arizona State, he hit a weak drive and had a 3-iron in on No. 14 and 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? You've got the afternoon matches.' And he said 'I'm going to play good.' He had three tap-in birdies and was 6 up through seven holes. I think he played great."

Updated: 2:03 p.m.

TOLEDO--It would have been hard to find a more exciting way to christen the match-play format debuting at the 112th NCAA Championship Friday morning. A clash of the two best teams in the country, coming down to the final hole of the deciding fifth match to determine which team survives and which team goes home.

Granted, many had hoped Georgia, the No. 1 ranked team in the Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll who hung on to claim the eighth seed, and Oklahoma State, the No. 2 team who cruised to the top-seed, would be battling in the championship match rather than the quarterfinals. Still, the face-off between the college golf heavyweights had all the drama everyone had anticipated.

A five-foot birdie putt by Georgia's Brian Harman on the home hole at Inverness Club gave the senior a 1-up victory over Oklahoma State's Rickie Fowler and pushed the Bulldogs passed the Cowboys, 3-2.

"I'm just thrilled that the first time we had match play we had some excitement. That's what this is all about. There have been a couple of coaches that have been detractors of this format. If they had been here today they'd understand why this format is better."

And that was the quote from the losing coach, Oklahoma State's Mike McGraw, who might have earned the school's 11th NCAA title today had the format remained four rounds of stroke play, his Cowboys holding a 13-stroke lead after 54 holes, only to see the advantage wiped away when the match-play bracket got underway.

Harman's final-hole birdie elicited a giant roar from the roughly 100-plus fans surrounding the green, the other Georgia players rushing to congratulate him. It was his third birdie in a row, the lefty All-American making a 10 footer on the 16th hole (after Fowler, an All-American himself, already had birdied the hole), then rolling in a 10-footer on the 17th hole to square the match.

"Rickie played great today. I hung in there as best I could," Harman said. "I hit some really bad shots today. I was really struggling on the front nine. I made a few putts. And those last three holes, I don’t know, something just got into me and I said 'I'm ready to win this match right now.' "

It came down to the Harman/Fowler match after Georgia's Adam Mitchell and Russell Henley had pulled out victories over OSU's Kevin Tway and Trent Leon and OSU's Peter Uihlein and Morgan Hoffmann knocked of Harris English and Hudson Swafford.

For all the excitement of beating the Cowboys, Georgia coach Chris Haack now must regroup his squad as it heads out to its semifinal match in the afternoon against SEC rival Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated Washington, 3 and 2, David Lingmerth beating Richard Lee in the deciding match, 3 and 1.

In the other quarterfinal matches, seventh seeded Texas A&M defeated No. 2 seed Arizona State, 3-1-1, with Aggie senior Bronson Burgoon beating Knut Borsheim, 5 and 4, in the match-up of the two teams No. 1 players.

The Aggies will face sixth-seed Michigan, whose Cinderella run at nationals continued when the Wolverines knocked off third seed USC, 3 and 2. Sophomore Lion Kim hit a hybrid from 212 yards on the par-4 17th to a foot, his conceeded birdie beating Matt Giles 2 and 1 for the deciding point when Giles failed to make a 25-foot birdie try.

"I know they're playing with confidence," said Michigan coach Andrew Sapp. "We've been a grinding team the later part of the spring here. Hopefully we can keep it going."

******

Here's a look at how the semifinal teams have fared against each other:

No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 8 Georgia
     Head-to-head record in 2008-09: Georgia 1-0 (Bulldogs won SEC; Razorbacks finish 2nd)
No. 6 Michigan vs. No. 7 Texas A&M
     Head-to-head record in 2008-09: First meeting

******

The scoreboard says Georgia senior Adam Mitchell won his match over Oklahoma State's Kevin Tway, 5 and 3, but the opening match of the morning was not without it own subplot.

Mitchell had taken a commanding 5-up lead when on the eighth hole he noticed that he had a 15th club in his bag (an extra wedge). "I hadn't hit a wedge until then, and on the par 5 I hit a little shot in there. i reached to put my club back in and I was like 'Oh no.' "

The penalty in match play is loss of two holes, and when he made a bogey to drop the ninth hole, suddenly Mitchell's lead was only 2 up.

"I just had to refocus," Mitchell said. "I knew I was playing well. I just had to get back and keep hitting good shots."

TOLEDO--There are players that have gotten on a roll, and then there's what N.C. State sophomore Matt Hill has accomplished over the past 11 weeks. In eight tournament starts since early March the sophomore from Brights Grove, Ontario, has won seven times (finishing T-5 in his one other event) and compiled a 69.6 stroke average. In 22 rounds he had shot worse than 72 just once.

The only thing then that could put a stop to his run is the actual end of the 2008-09 college season, but not before Hill captured the biggest title of them: NCAA individual champion.

Starting Thursday's final round of the 112th NCAA Championship with a share of the lead at four under par, Hill posted his third straight 69 at Inverness Club to finish with a six-under 207 total, two strokes clear of Clemson's Kyle Stanley (final-round 66) and three ahead of USC's Tim Glissmeyer (66), Oklahoma State's Rickie Fowler (68) and TCU's Tom Hoge (70).

(Blogger's note: Thirty players from the afternoon wave failed to finish their third rounds before darkness fell Thursday night. They'll return to finish play Friday, although none of them are within nine strokes of Hill's winning score).

"The whole season has just been amazing. To win this is icing on the cake," said Hill, who also won once in the fall to give him nine victories for the season, shattering the Wolfpack's previous one-year best of three.

With the NCAA title, Hill is second player to be medalist at his conference championship, an NCAA Regional and nationals (Tiger Woods was the first in 1996). He also appears to be lock to claim the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins national player-of-the-year awards.

"I don't know how to describe it other than magical," said N.C. State coach Richard Sykes. "I'm not sure if at the start of the year you could have imagined anyone having a season like this. Really magical is the best term you can use for it."

Hill started on the 10th tee and made one birdie and one bogey over his first nine holes to turn at even for the day. A birdie on his 11th hole (No. 2) was followed by a clutch up and down for par on his 12th, the difficult par-3 third. "That really helped me keep my momentum going," Hill said, of particular importance given that he was entering Inverness' toughest stretch of holes

After a par on his 13th, Hill birdied his 14th, rolling in a 15-foot putt, that allowed him to take the lead at six under as Hoge, at one point up by two over Hill, bogeyed two straight holes while playing in the threesome just ahead.

A bogey on his 16th hole, when Hill couldn't get up and down from in front of the green after just missing the fairway off the tee, dropped Hill's lead back to one stroke, but when he reached the green in two on his 17th, the par-5 eighth hole, a two-putt birdie from 35 feet gave him a cushion.

After Hoge's bogey-bogey slip late in the round, it was Stanley, playing in the same group as Hill and competing in his final college event, who applied the most pressure on Hill. The 2007 NCAA runner-up also went for the green in two on the 17th, but left ball shot in the right greenside bunker and couldn't hole a 10-foot birdie try that would have put more pressure on his ACC rival.

"I knew I needed to make a couple of birdies down the stretch," Stanley said. "You've got to tip your hat to Matt. He played some incredible golf. He's used to winning and I think that showed in how he handled himself."

Hill agreed that the success earlier this spring made any pressure of trying to claim the national championship a little less daunting.

"I definitely felt a lot more comfortable than I might have say a year ago," Hill said. "The past experience was a huge benefit."

After a year in which he had done little else, Hill can profess to one simple truth.

Winning never gets old.

Matt Hill photo by J.D. Cuban

While the individual title was settled Thursday, N.C. State's Matt Hill walking off with medalist honors, the team tournament moves on to the next phase of the newly redesigned NCAA Championship with the low eight schools advancing into a match-play competition over the next two days that will determine the winner.

With a three-under 281 in the final round, Oklahoma State left little in the way of drama as to who would claim the No. 1 seed, finishing at three-under 849 for 54 holes, 12 strokes ahead of No. 2 seed Arizona State.

"I'm very happy with all of our rounds," said Cowboy coach Mike McGraw. "We were very consistent and steady and that is what you have to do out here. You have to be steady because this golf course is always pushing you."

Also advancing without much fuss was No. 4 Arkansas and No. 5 Washington

As for the other five teams, well each had a story to talk about over dinner tonight.

Texas A&M and Georgia, the No. 7 and 8 seeds, had to sweat things out after putting together rough performances in the final round (11 over and 12 over, respectively). When the two finished at 17-over overall, they were actually tied for the last spot, but watched as Tennessee slip out of the top eight to let both schools survive.

Missing 2007 NCAA champion and player of the year Jamie Lovemark, out of the line-up with a broken rib, USC shot the best round of the day Thursday, a five-under 279, to jump from T-12 to third place. Senior Ryan Linton, who replaced Lovemark in the lineup, shot closing 69.

"It was crazy," said USC coach Chris Zambri. "They just stayed patient and focused."

Then there was the day's Cinderella story, No. 6 seed Michigan. The unranked Wolverines, back in the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1997, put together a three-over 287 to finish 54 holes at 16-over 868. Sophomore Lion Kim made a eight-foot par putt on his last hole to help secure Michigan's spot in the Elite Eight.

"It kind of started with the last round at the regional in Austin, Texas," said Michigan coach Andrew Sapp, his team finishing fifth to grab the last spot to nationals. "We just built on that momentum this week and played really well.
 
"It is going to be a lot of fun. I told these guys before the regional that we can win the national championships. The hardest part is getting there. Now we are in the final eight and it's a whole new ballgame. Everyone starts at zero."

Indeed, one of the drawbacks of the new format (according to its critics) is that everyone is back to square one. In years past, Oklahoma State would have taken a comfortable 13-stroke lead into the final round, making an 11th NCAA title seem well within its reach. Now, they get to face the Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 1 in the final Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll.

"We knew that would be the case whether we finished first, second or eighth," McGraw said. "You just want to build confidence every day because that's the battle you have in golf. Finishing first gives us a lot of confidence because you always want to play well and feel good. We're going to have seven great teams left and you're going ot have to play someone good."

Friday's Quarterfinals
No. 1 Oklahoma State vs. No. 8 Georgia
    Head-to-head record in 2008-09: Georgia, 4-2

No. 2 Arizona State vs. No. 7 Texas A&M
    Head-to-head record in 2008-09: Texas A&M, 2-1

No. 3 USC vs. No. 5 Michigan
    Head-to-head record in 2008-09: First meeting

No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 5 Washington
    Head-to-head record in 2008-09: Washington, 2-0

TOLEDO--San Diego's Alex Ching said it felt like he was starting a brand new round when he resumed his second round at 6:45 a.m. Thursday morning at the 112th NCAA Championship. In fact, the freshman was really just hoping to pick up where he left off Wednesday night, having hit every green on the 11 holes he had completed and making three birdies and an eagle to get to six under par for the tournament.

Unfortunately for him, the momentum the 19-year-old from Honolulu built in the gloaming failed to return come dawn, as the freshman bogeyed three of his first four holes up on his return to Inverness Club. Still, a birdie on the 18th gave Ching a four-under 67 and a share of the 36-hole lead with Georgia's Russell Henley and N.C. State's Matt Hill at four-under 138.

"I have to go work on some things on the range," Ching after Thursday morning. "One thing I had going for me [yesterday], I was in a groove. My swing hasn't felt that great the past week, but I was getting it around [Wednesday]. When I got to my first tee shot on 12 [this morning], I was nervous."
 
As the second round finally came to an end Thursday morning, almost 27 hours after it began thanks to a 4 1/2 hour weather delay, any number of players are in position to win the individual title with 18 holes left to play. One stroke back of Ching, Henley and Hill is Texas A&M All-American candidate Bronson Burgoon. Five players--Washington's Nick Taylor, TCU's Tom Hoge, Arizona State's Scott Pinckney, Duke's Michael Quagliano and Michigan's Lion Kim--sit two strokes off the pace.

Just as the race for medalist honors looks as if it will be a shootout--a total of 15 players are within four shots of the leaders--the chase for the eight spots in the match-play portion of the team competition looks to be equally compelling. Seven schools are within four strokes of the 14-over mark that Duke is at as the Blue Devils hold down eighth place.

Atop the team leader board sits Oklahoma State at even-par 568, with Georgia trailing by five strokes and Texas A&M by six.

*****

While there's still 18 holes to play before the eight teams advancing to match play are decided, a few of the schools inside the cut line after two rounds would qualify as surprises.

Most notable is Michigan, which is in seventh place after finishing up its second round Thursday morning with a one-over 285. The Wolverines won their first two tournaments in 2008-09 but had just two other top-three finishes in their next nine starts.

"If there's an advantage, we've been on the golf course already," said Michigan coach Andrew Sapp. "We'll be used to the conditions of the course."

The same could be said for eighth-place Duke, which also completed a one-over 285 round Thursday morning. The Blue Devils, who went through a coaching change during the winter break, bringing in Jamie Green after O.D. Vincent left to take a job at Washington, had to rally toward the end of the spring to post a winning head-to-head record and be eligible for the postseason under the ".500 rule."

TOLEDO--Almost 4 1/2 hours.

That's how long the competitors were forced to sit around and entertain themselves as rain and lighting near Inverness Club made a mess of the second round of the 112th NCAA Championship.

In turn, it was the amount of time Georgia's Russell Henley had to contemplate an eight-foot birdie try on the seventh hole (his 16th of the day) that would give him sole possession of the individual lead at the most prestigious tournament in college golf.

Returning to the green at 4:05 p.m., the 20-year-old sophomore from Macon, Ga. proceeded to hole the putt before closing out a round of 67 and posting a four-under 140 total after 36 holes.

"I guess it was worth the wait," Henley joked afterward.

Before the sun set Wednesday, Henley had company for the title of "leader in the clubhouse" as N.C. State sophomore Matt Hill made an eagle on his second to last hole to close out a second-round 69 and leave him also a four under for the competition.

As for the overall leader, though, that title belonged to San Diego freshman Alex Ching, who made three of birdies and an eagle through 11 holes to get to five under on the day and six under overall when darkness finally put an end to a very long day at just before 9 p.m. (Also on the course at four under overall was Michigan's Alexander Sitompul, who had eight holes left on a round where he had made five birdies.)

When the weather delay did end in the late afternoon, conditions on the course were dramatically different than when the second round started at 7 a.m. The wind had calmed to almost nothing and the greens were considerably more receptive.

While the early groups eventually finished play--Oklahoma State posting a four-under 280 for an even-par 568 that gave them a five-stroke lead on Georgia in the team competition--none of the schools teeing off in the afternoon wave could get their rounds in by nightfall, forcing them to resume their second rounds at 6:45 a.m. Thursday morning. The third round was then expect to begin at 10 a.m. with the schools repaired to reflect 36-hole scores.  

"I was just trying to keep it in the fairways and play smart," Hill said. "I was hoping a few putts would drop."

Trailing Ching by three strokes is Texas A&M's Bronson Burgoon, the senior making two birdies after resuming play to post a four-under 67.

"It was hard coming back four hours later because you were on a roll," Burgoon said. "You had to approach it like it was a whole new round

Suffice it to say, the Donald Ross course had gained the respect of the 156 players in the field at Inverness during the course of the week. But the rains have changed the complexion of the course, making the strategy come Thursday an interesting part of the story line.

"I think the course is just going to play about the same distance but on the greens you’re going to be able to go after more flags," Henley said.

At stake Thursday, baring any more weather issues, will be the individual title, part of the revamped format of the championship where the medalist will be crowned after 54 holes. Simultaneously, the top eight schools will advance to a two-day match-play competition to determine the national champion.

"I just want the team to get in the final eight so we have a chance to win this, being a senior and all," Burgoon said. "It would be great to win as an individual but it would be even better to win as a team."

*****

If waiting over a birdie putt for 4 1/2 hours was tough for Henley to endure, you can imagine what it was like for Oklahoma State freshman Morgan Hoffmann, who shared the lead at three under with Henley but found himself in a bunker at the 17th hole, 40 yards from the hole  when the weather delay occurred.

Upon returning, the Big 12 player of the year left his third shot in the bunker, blasted his fourth out and two-putted for a double-bogey 6. After a par on the 18th, he finished with a 69 and a one-under 141 total. "I felt the sand was going to be more compact and it was really wet," Hoffmann said about his first sand shot.

It capped off an adventurous round for Hoffmann, who was co-medalist at Inverness at last September's NCAA Fall Preview. He made two eagles during the day but also had two double bogeys.

"It was a rough finish," Hoffmann said. "But I was hitting it good all day. I have a lot of confidence from this round."

*****

No school took better advantage of the change in playing conditions before and after the rain delay than Texas A&M, which posted the day's low score (eight-under 276) to jump from T-12 after the first round to a tie for third place, six strokes back of Oklahoma State

Getting back on the course after the delay, the Aggies still faced the toughest stretch at Inverness, holes No. 3-7, but wound up playing them in only three over par (they were 11 over on those holes during the first round). They then proceeded to make three birdies on the eighth hole

"I think it definitely worked to our advantage," said Texas A&M coach J.T. Higgins. "When we went in the wind on four and five was going to be dead into us and six would have been a cross wind. and when we went back out, there was no wind at all. it was as still as it could be. the balls were stopping in the fairway, they weren't running through. It ended up being a blessing. You never know how those are going to turn out. I'm really glad we took advantage of it."

Took advantage indeed. Texas A&M's improved 22 strokes on its first-round 298.

*****

Without his teammates in Ohio with him after N.C. State failed to advance to nationals out of the Central Regional two weeks ago, Wolfpack sophomore Matt Hill says that the NCAA Championship feels different than most other college events.

"It's probably a lot more like an amateur event, just getting to do what I want. Maybe there's a little bit less pressure. i don't have to worry about me and not have to try and grind as much."

The last individual to win the NCAA title was UNLV's Ryan Moore at The Homestead in 2004.

TOLEDO--NCAA officials luck ran out Wednesday.

A day after dodging predicted bad weather and playing the first round of the 112th NCAA Championship uninterrupted at Inverness Club, lightning forced a suspension of play at 11:40 a.m. local time with only three of the 78 competitors playing in the morning wave having completed their second rounds. (Play finally resumed at 4:05 p.m.)

Among the trio that wrapped up their second 18 holes was Oklahoma State freshman Peter Uihlein, who shot a one-over 72 to finish at three-over 145 overall.

That Uihlein, a two-time AJGA player of the year, would be a starter for the Cowboys at the national championship was hardly surprising. The way his first season in Stillwater played out, however, has been anything but predictable.

During the fall semester, the 19-year-old who played at the Florida's David Leadbetter Academy in high school qualified to compete in just one tournament, the acclimation process to college turning out to be trickier than he imagined.

"It was a little bit of everything," said Uihlein. "The transition was not easy. I was in a pretty bad place. And playing Karsten Creek is not much fun when you're not playing very good."

Indeed, the Cowboys' home golf course is one many an OSU rookie has had trouble developing an amiable relationship with upon arriving to school.

Arguably Uihlein's early struggles were the result of some hiccups with his swing. Eventually, though, they transformed into psychological issues with the course.

"He got it in his head that he just couldn't play the course," said OSU coach Mike McGraw, who at the end of the first semester had a meeting with Uihlein to talk things over.

"I told him, 'You better understand we're hosting a regional this spring, we're hosting a preview and a NCAA at the end of your college career. You're going to have to figure out how to play [here]. So when you come back in January, come back with the right attitude and come back I want you to play this course every day. I don't care. Play it every day.' "

Uihlein heeded McGraw's advice, but added a caveat. He asked coach to accompany him during the rounds to help he get through his crisis of confidence. McGraw agreed.

"I wound up playing a lot of golf," McGraw said. "He'd get out of class, we'd go eat lunch and before you know it we were on the first tee."

Suffice it to say, McGraw got to see Uihlein's troubles up close and personal. Just how bad was it? "Well, the 13th hole at Karsten," Uihlein said, "I hit the fairway on that hole maybe twice in seven months."

McGraw also enlisted the help of former Cowboy Jonathan Moore, who famously had trouble in the transition to the college game after a successful junior career before turning things around to help OSU win the 2006 NCAA title and win the individual title. Early in the spring, McGraw asked that he meet with Uihlein when Moore was in town to discuss his experience.

"It was nice to talk with him and get his perspective," Uihlein said.

Slowly in the spring, Uihlein's game started to come around. The turning point might have been in early April at the Gaillardia Intercollegiate, an NAIA event hosted by Oklahoma City University, where Uihlein played with four other Cowboys and earned medalist honors.

A week later he played sixth man at the Aggie invitational, finishing in a tie for eighth place.

Uihlein then finished even-par 144 in a two-round qualifier at Karsten Creek for a spot in the line-up at the Big 12 Conference Championship, where he again posted a top-10 finish (ninth). Two weeks ago at the regional at Karsten Creek, he finished in second place.

"When you're a little happier, golf seems more fun," Uihlein said, "I've got my swing fine-tuned. I've really got some confidence back."

So much so that Uihlein can even have fun with all he's been through.

"I’m kind of joking around now with the other guys on the team," Uihlein said. "I only show up for the postseason."

TOLEDO--When you're the second-ranked team in the country and none of your  five golfers competing at the 112th NCAA Championship has a scoring average worse than 73.66, it wouldn't seem necessary to have a secret weapon for the Inverness Club. Yet Oklahoma State has just that as it tries for an 11th national title.

Enter veteran tour pro Bob Tway.

The former Cowboy All-American in the early 1980s has been in attendance this week, watching his son, Kevin, compete for Oklahoma State. Inverness is the site of his ultimately glory on the PGA Tour, where Tway holed out a final-round bunker shot for birdie on the 18th hole to dramatically beat Greg Norman at the 1986 PGA Championship.

During Monday's practice round, Tway walked with the Oklahoma State team, offering them advice on how to play the venerable Donald Ross course.

"He was great," said OSU freshman Peter Uihlein. "He talked about where you want to hit the ball and how you might think your way around the course. To have a valuable asset like him is definitely good."

"Inverness is definitely a special place for me," Bob, who finished T-53 in his debut on the Champions Tour last week at Canterbury GC outside of Cleveland, told the Toledo Blade. "Every time I go back I have great memories."

The "inside" information looked as if it paid off as the Cowboys shared the lead after the first round with a four-over 288.

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OSU's connection to Inverness through Tway's amazing bunker shot was something the team had some fun with earlier this season. When the Cowboys were playing here last September at the NCAA Fall Preview, coach Mike McGraw noticed the hole location on the 18th during the practice round was not far from where it was that final round in 1986. Naturally, all the Cowboys tried to recreate the magic shot. When it was Kevin Tway's try, his shot actually lipped out of the hole.

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There's no bad time to make your first hole-in-one, but Texas A&M's Conrad Shindler picked a pretty memorable one to record his first ace. The Aggie sophomore holed his tee shot on the par-3 third hole with a 5-iron from 186 yards during the first round of the NCAA Championship Tuesday.

"The pin was up front," he said, "so there's no margin for error with the water [to the right of the green]. I took it left edge figuring the wind would bring it in. But the wind never touched it. Fortunately, it kicked just right, kept rolling and went in."

Shindler shot a four-over 75 for the round.