Heading into the final round of stroke play on Thursday, the No. 1 men’s golf team was in danger of being eliminated for the NCAA Championships much earlier than expected.
The Ducks were stuck in a tie for ninth place after a rough second round on Wednesday, and they would have to move up at least one place in the standings to earn a spot in match play over the weekend.
As they have done throughout the season, the Ducks came through when it counted, finishing the third round in fifth place overall and moving on to match play (which will ultimately determine the national champion).
Oregon’s score of 283 (5 under par) on Thursday was markedly improved from Wednesday’s 294 (6 over par), and brought the team to a total score of 861 (3 under par).
Sophomore Eugene Wong ended stroke play in a tie for ninth place overall, his total score of 212 good for 4 under par. Junior Jack Dukeminier soared up the rankings on Thursday and finished tied for 34th, while fellow junior Isaiah Telles ended up tied for 51th. Sophomore Andrew Vijarro tied for 72nd, and Daniel Miernicki capped a rough three days with a tie for 103rd.
Also moving on to match play will be No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Florida State, No. 15 Georgia Tech, No. 5 Washington, No. 9 Augusta State, No. 10 Texas Tech and No. 2 Stanford.
Oregon will dual Washington today in the 4/5 matchup, and the winner will face off with either Oklahoma State or Stanford.
Scott Langley of Illinois took home the individual national championship on Thursday.

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