Baylor Men's Golf Stuns No. 2 Arizona State at Big 12 Match Play

HOCKLEY, Texas – Baylor men’s golf downed second-ranked Arizona State on Tuesday afternoon with a thrilling 3-2 victory in the Big 12 Match Play Semifinals.

After a 3.5-1.5 morning win over the TCU Horned Frogs to make it to the semifinals, BU battled its way through a tight match with ASU, as freshman Vincent Stjernfeldt won four of his final five holes to flip his match and seal it for the Bears.

Zach Heffernan continued his match-play dominance with a pair of wins on Tuesday, helping the Bears reach the championship match for a fourth time and trying for a third match-play title. BYU won the other semifinal over Kansas 3-1-1 to earn the right to play Baylor for the crown on Wednesday.

THE RUNDOWN

Morning Session

Stjernfeldt dispatched TCU’s Toby Wilt in 16 holes with a 3&2 victory on Tuesday morning. The big freshman dropped his second hole of the day at No. 16 but won back-to-back holes at Nos. 17 and 18 to take the lead in the match. He added victories at Nos. 3, 5 and 10 to go 4-up before Wilt won a hole at No. 11, but he could draw no closer to Stjernfeldt.

Davis Ovard controlled his match for the majority of the session en route to a 3&1 victory over TCU’s Ethan Dial. The sophomore won his opening hole at No. 14 and made it 4-up through eight holes with back-to-back wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Dial would battle back to get as close as 2-down, but a win by Ovard on the 17th hole of the match iced it for the Frisco, Texas, native.

Zach Heffernan ground his way to a 1-up win in the morning against Joe Padgin of the Frogs. The TCU senior won each of the first two holes to take a quick 2-up lead, only to see Heffernan respond with victories at Nos. 17 and 18 to square the match. Heffernan took his first lead at No. 4, and after Padgin pulled even twice at Nos. 5 and 9, the Baylor senior took it back on the 13th hole of the match. One down with two holes to play, Padgin forced the match to the 18th hole with a par at No. 13, only to see Heffernan win it with a par at No. 14.

Drew Wrightson remained unbeaten in the event with a halved match against Scott Roden in the morning. The Baylor redshirt junior took control of the match from the jump with wins on his first two holes of the day at Nos. 13 and 14. The pair traded barbs to finish the back nine before Wrightson went to 3-up at No. 3. Roden would fight back, though, with wins at 6, 8 and 9 to pull even. Wrightson briefly took the lead back with a par at No. 10 before Roden birdied the penultimate hole of the match at No. 11 to end the session with a ½ point for each player.

Jonas Appel fell 4&2 against Charlie Wylie to close out the morning session. The BU junior won the first hole of the day at No. 14 but bogeyed No. 15 to fall back level. Wylie would win the 18th hole to take his first lead of the match and would stay there, building it to as many as 4-up through 14. Appel stayed alive with a win at No. 10 before Wylie closed him out on the following hole.

Afternoon Session

Stjernfeldt remained unbeaten in his short match-play career in what proved to be a pivotal 2&1 win over ASU’s Connor Williams. The Arizona State sophomore took 1-up leads at Nos. 1, 4, 8 and 10, with Stjernfeldt fighting back to level things on three occasions at Nos. 2, 7 and 9. Williams looked to be gaining control of the match when he went 2-up with back-to-back wins at Nos. 10 and 11. Two-down with six holes to play, Stjernfeldt changed the momentum quickly with two wins in three holes to square things up once again. All-square with three to play, Stjernfeldt picked up back-to-back wins at Nos. 16 and 17 to seal his match and lock up the win for BU.

Heffernan took on Preston Summerhays, the No. 1 ranked player in the PGA Tour University rankings entering the week. The senior from Boerne, Texas, would not back down, though, beating Summerhays 2&1. The pair traded 1-up leads throughout most of the front nine, Heffernan winning at No. 2, while Summerhays made the turn at 1-up thanks to wins at Nos. 3 and 6. Boasting an 8-1 mark in his last nine matches, Heffernan rattled off three straight birdies to take a 2-up lead in the match. The senior from Arizona State showed his mettle, trimming the lead to 1-up. Heffernan won his final hole of the day at No. 16 with a birdie, and after Summerhays made a birdie of his own at No. 17 to try and extend the match, Heffernan drained one of his own to end things on the 17th green.

Appel picked up his career-first match play win with a 3&2 victory over Peer Wernicke. Appel jumped on his opponent quickly with back-to-back wins at Nos. 2 and 3 to gain an early edge in the match. Wernicke would fight back to even the match through nine with wins at Nos. 4 and 8. The junior from Baylor would rebound nicely, though, with a win at No. 11, followed by two more at Nos. 14 and 15 to grab a firm hold on the match, which would end just two holes later.

Ovard battled Arizona State’s Michael Mjaaseth before ultimately taking the 3&2 loss. The junior from ASU picked up a win on his first two holes of the day at Nos. 2 and 3 before Ovard made a birdie at No. 5 to get one back. The BU sophomore dropped 2-down through seven and then again through 11, battling back each time. He would keep things 1-down through 14, but back-to-back losses at Nos. 16 and 17 would end the match in favor of Mjaaseth

Drawing the reigning US Amateur Champion, Josele Ballester, Wrightson battled his way to a 3&2 loss. Wrightson jumped out to a 2-up lead in just three holes before the Spaniard from Arizona State whittled it back to even after six, where it would stay through nine. Ballester picked up a win at No. 12, which Wrightson matched at No. 14 to pull back even. Wins by the Sun Devil at Nos. 16, 17 and 18, though, put an end to the match after 16 holes.

HIGHLIGHTS

• BU is appearing in the Match Play finals for the fourth time in the event's seven-year history.
• Zach Heffernan is now 8-1 in his last nine matches.
• Baylor has outscored TCU 8.5-1.5 in the last two matches between the teams at the Big 12 Match Play.
• Jonas Appel won his career-first match on Tuesday afternoon.
• Vincent Stjernfeldt remains unbeaten in match play, going 3-0-1.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Mike McGraw — "I'm so proud of our team and the way they played all day today. To scrap and fight in the morning to even earn a spot in the championship was impressive, and then to go out and beat the No. 2 team in the country, with some really clutch golf late, was a massive accomplishment. I think this team showed us today how good they can be, so we'll go out there and let it rip again tomorrow."

WHAT'S NEXT

Baylor will play against BYU in the championship match on Wednesday morning, beginning with a 7:45 a.m. shotgun start. Stats and live scoring can be found at Golfstat.com. For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.