UCLA
@ NCAA Championship (USC)
UCLA Edged by Oregon at NCAA Championship
June 01, 2012 | Men's Golf
June 1, 2012
Los Angeles, Calif. - In a tightly contested match from start to finish, the UCLA men's golf team fell to the Oregon Ducks 3-2 in the Match Play Quarterfinals at the NCAA Championship at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif.
It was the second consecutive year that the Bruins have fallen in the Match Play Quarterfinals, falling to Duke in the first round the previous year. Despite taking two of the first three matches, UCLA was unable to close out the Ducks as seventh-seeded Oregon moves on to the Semifinals to face third-seeded Texas.
Senior Alex Shi Yup Kim was the first to finish, falling 3&2 to Oregon's Andrew Vijarro. Despite never leading in the match, Kim did have a great eagle on the 10th hole after he drove the green and landed his ball about 15 feet from the hole.
Junior Pontus Widegren got the Bruins on the board with a victory over the Ducks' Robbie Ziegler 2&1. Widegren played the final four holes especially well, going from all square on the 13th hole to 2 up by the end of the 16th hole. 2012 Hogan Award winner Patrick Cantlay followed that up with an easy 5&3 win over Jonathan Woo. Cantlay went 3 up after the front nine and never looked back from there, increasing his lead to 4 up before closing out Woo on the 15th hole.
Junior Pedro Figueiredo lost to Oregon's Daniel Miernicki 2 up, which leveled the match at 2 wins apiece, leaving only Anton Arboleda and Eugene Wong's match to decide who moved on. Wong went into the 18th hole 1 up, but Arboleda played a great shot from the fairway to leave himself with a 15 foot birdie try to extend the match. After Wong made par, Arboleda just pushed his birdie try wide, giving Oregon a 3-2 win over the Bruins.
UCLA finishes their season with two wins on the year, one coming at the U.S. Collegiate in Atlanta, GA and one coming at the Del Walker Match Play Championship in Long Beach, CA.
For complete scores from the Match Play Quarterfinals, click here.
