MEN'S GOLF: Cowboys struggle for 5th Place at Big 12 Championship

After spending most of the first round in last place, OSU steadied the ship and watched as other teams went backwards over the next three rounds. Unfortunately the Cowboys were only able to make up so much ground after their rough start.

Jordan Niebrugge, improving on his score every day, posted -1 over his last 36 holes to move into a tie for 5th, the only Cowboy golfer in the top 10. Zach Olsen used a birdie-birdie finish to sneak into the top 20, with Brendon Jelley the only other OSU player in the top 25 (T24 at +18).

Conditions over the first three days were pretty tough, and the scores showed it, with at least half the teams averaging almost a bogey per hole. The final round improved dramatically, and OSU rallied, holding the low team score for most of the day, and it looked like they might catch TCU for 3rd place. Some late bogeys unfortunately ended the comeback.

Texas was in control from the start, finishing with all five players in the top 16 (4 in the top 10), including medalist Scottie Scheffler, as well as runner-up Gavin Hall. Scheffler was the only golfer not to finish over par (E), with Hall the only other player at less than 7 over par (+2). Hall's first round 65 and Scheffler's second round 67 were tremendous given the rest of the scores. You can see the full individual results here.

The Cowboys will now await their regional assignment for the NCAA Championship, which will be announced Monday, May 4. OSU came into the Big 12 Championship ranked 20th nationally. The Big 12 has 5 teams in the top 25 (Texas #2, OU T9, Tech #12, Baylor #17).

The Golf Channel will be expanding their coverage of the national tournament, now carrying the final round of stroke play (Mon, June 1), as well as all three rounds of match play (Tue-Wed, June 2-3).