Auburn ousts defending champ Oklahoma State in NCAA men's golf semifinals, will play UCLA for title

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Cayden Pope closed out Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson with a par on the 16th hole, and top-seeded Auburn didn't need a point from top-ranked amateur Jackson Koivun to rout defending champion Oklahoma State in the semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship on Tuesday.

Seeking their second national title in three years, the Tigers will face UCLA in Wednesday's finals at La Costa Resort. The seventh-seeded Bruins pulled off their second upset of the day, knocking off Arizona after ousting No. 2 seed Texas in the quarterfinals. Alex Papayoanou secured UCLA's spot by beating William Wistrand, 2 and 1, when each bogeyed the par-4 17th hole.

Koivun's match against NCAA champion Preston Stout proved anticlimactic. Koivun was 1 up through 17 holes in the meeting of the top two players in college golf when Pope secured the victory for Auburn, and the pair did not play the 18th.

“Preston’s an incredible player. He’s been playing so well, and it was kind of refreshing to go into the match feeling like somewhat of an underdog,” Koivun said. “I knew it was going to be fun, hard-fought match, and I kind of wish we saw how it played out.”

Auburn beat Florida State for the title in 2024, when Koivun was a freshman on a senior-laden squad. The Tigers have no seniors this year.

“I coach for the national championship. I don’t hide from that. I tell them that in the first team meeting,” Auburn coach Nick Clinard said. “That’s hopefully what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

In the leadoff match, Auburn's Logan Reilly played bogey-free through 13 holes for a 7-and-5 win over Oklahoma State's Eric Lee, who didn't make a birdie. Josiah Gilbert beat Ethan Fang 4 and 3, and Jake Albert was a 1-up winner over Gaven Lane.

Josh Kim beat Taishi Moto and Tyler Loree topped Tianyi Xiong to give UCLA a 2-0 lead over Arizona before Papayoanou sent the Bruins to the finals. Filip Jakubcik got the only win for Arizona, beating Kyle An in the last match.

Earlier Tuesday, Stout halved the par-5 18th hole with a bogey to hold on for a 1-up victory over Matthew Kress as Oklahoma State edged Florida. Koivun lost the leadoff match for Auburn, which otherwise had little trouble eliminating Stanford.

UCLA ousted Texas despite falling behind early in all but one of the matches. The Bruins won three matches on the 18th hole, while Texas won the other two matches that ended before the 17th hole.

Arizona, the No. 6 seed, squeaked by Vanderbilt in the decisive anchor match when Zach Pollo made birdie on the 20th hole against Wells Williams.