2018 U.S. Open

National Champions!

Tigers Tame Trojans for NCAA Championship

Just as he did in the national semifinal against Georgia, LSU’s senior All-American Ben Taylor scored the deciding point by rolling in a nine-foot par putt at the par-four 18th hole to claim a 1-up victory over USC’s Bobby Gojuangco and hand the Tigers their fifth national championship with a 4-1 victory over the Trojans.

With All-SEC standouts Zach Wright and Brandon Pierce already in the clubhouse with match wins of their own and watching nearby, Taylor made it 3-for-3 for the Tigers in the 2015 NCAA Championship Match by coming from behind on the back nine to defeat Gojuangco on the final hole and seal LSU’s victory.

Pierce put the first point on the board for the Tigers with a 2-and-1 win over Rico Hoey, while Wright followed with a 3-and-2 victory over Sean Crocker to push LSU’s advantage to 2-0 as Taylor played the 18th hole.

With All-SEC sophomore Eric Ricard defeating Jonah Texeira by a 1-up margin and senior All-American Stewart Jolly going 1-down to Eric Sugimoto, the Tigers were crowned national champions for the fifth time in team history with a 4-1 victory over the No. 5-seeded Trojans in the title match. They captured their first NCAA Championship in 60 years after also being crowned champions in 1940, 1942, 1947 and 1955.

“I’m just so proud of these guys,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead of his team winning the national championship for the 2015 season. “It’s hard to get into a position to even have a chance to win this tournament, and then when you show up out here today and you still have the resolve to play the way we did, I’m very proud of the guys on this team.

“There are a lot of people at LSU that care about men’s golf, and really the athletic department, so having graduated from LSU and being a Tiger, it’s very special. The supporters at LSU and the administration have very much supported us these 10 years. We didn’t do this by ourselves, so I think it means quite a lot. They’ve invested.”

Taylor scored the third and deciding point to send the Tigers into the NCAA Championship Match a day before when he defeated Georgia’s Zach Healy by a 2-up margin on the 18th green in their semifinal match.

The 18th hole was again the site of LSU’s match decider when Taylor rolled in his par putt from nine feet to close out his match with Gojuangco by a narrow 1-up scoreline and deliver the title to Baton Rouge for the first time in 60 years. But it was a match very much in the balance as Taylor found himself 1-down to his Trojan opponent after 16 holes and both players heading to the par-five 17th.

Taylor went up by as many as two holes early on the back nine as he opened the side with a par at the par-four 10th hole to extend his lead, then dropped three-straight at Nos. 11-13 to fall 1-down to Gojuangco late in the match. That’s where he remained as both players put their drives in good positions in the fairway on the reachable 17th.

Knowing that his opponent would likely make birdie, Taylor addressed his ball and fired a 4-iron from 258 yards to within five feet of the hole where he would knock down his putt for eagle and square the match.

“Surprisingly not too bad,” Taylor said of his nerves as he prepared to hit his second shot into the 17th green. “Before I hit my shot Coach (Chuck Win