UK Advances to Match Play Behind Three Top-10 Finishes
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Despite facing 20-25 mile-per-hour wind gusts and a bunched up field, the Kentucky men’s golf team put together perhaps its most impressive performance of the season during Friday’s final round of stroke play at the Southeastern Conference Championship. Kentucky had the third-best team score on the course and finished in a tie for third to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals of match play.
Seniors Lukas Euler and Max Mehles and freshman Cullan Brown all hauled in their first career top-10 finishes at the league tournament to lead the way, but it was junior Matt Liston who was the difference maker during today’s round.
UK’s trio of top-10 finishers all had rounds of 72 during Friday’s blustery round and capped stroke play in ninth on the individual leaderboard. Liston matched the trio’s 72 for his best round of the week to help push the Wildcats into match play for the first time in program history.
“Today was a ridiculously difficult test of golf,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “The wind was howling and Seaside was super firm and fast. We played a terrific round today highlighted by Matt Liston.
“Lukas (Euler), Max (Mehles) and Cullan (Brown) had great weeks, but the key today was Matt. He played outstanding golf and led the way. That was fabulous to see.”
Kentucky earned the fourth seed in the quarterfinals of match play and will take on fifth-seeded Tennessee tomorrow. With Kentucky and Texas A&M tying for third, and Georgia and Tennessee tying for fifth, a tiebreaker determined the seeding. The tiebreaker was based on the cumulative total of non-counting scores for all three rounds of play.
UK and the 22nd-ranked Volunteers will open their quarterfinals match beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET off hole No. 1. The winner of that match will advance to the semifinals on Saturday afternoon, which can be seen live on SEC Network+ beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET. The championship match will take place on Sunday morning and will be televised live on the SEC Network.
Match play quarterfinals begin at 7:30 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, with four matches beginning off the first tee and four starting off the 10th hole. It’s the third season in which the SEC Championship has added three rounds of match play which mirrors the NCAA Championship format. This is the first season the Wildcats advanced to match play.
Kentucky’s combined score of 843 over the three days of match play marks a season-best score and is tied for the fourth lowest in the Craig era. It’s the lowest tournament tally since the Bearcat Invitational’s record-breaking 820 score during the fall schedule in 2017-18.
Brown endured some turbulence over his first 11 holes, playing at 5-over par. The freshman from Eddyville, Kentucky, birdied the par-four 11th to change the course of his round, however. Over his final eight holes, he played at 3-under par to get to 72 for the day. That included consecutive birdies at the 15th and 16th. A bogey at the 17th did not rattle the first-year player as he calmly chipped in for a birdie at the par-four 18th to cap his round in stylish fashion.
After putting together a bogey-free round on Thursday, Euler faced tough weather conditions on Friday and suffered bogeys at the fifth and 13th. He countered with a birdie at the par-five 15th before a bogey on 17 concluded his round at 2-over par.
Mehles had a birdie at the second to get his round started in the right direction. However, bogeys at the fourth and ninth had him at 1-over par at the turn. A double-bogey at the 10th did not phase the senior, however, as he picked up birdies on two of his final four holes including one on the 18th to finish his round at 72. His combined score of 208 is a career-best mark, bettering a 209 he produced a season ago.
Liston played admirably during the final round. He had a birdie at the par-four ninth to get to 1-under at the turn. A birdie at the 16th helped offset a few mistakes late in the round as he produced his lowest score of the week when it matter the most for the Wildcats in his first SEC Championship.
Liston and senior Fred Allen Meyer tied for 56th overall. Meyer shot a 76 during Friday’s final round.
Auburn finished the three rounds of stroke play in first at 24-under par. Vanderbilt was second at 8-under, followed by the Cats and Aggies in a tie for third at 3-over for the week. Georgia and Tennessee finished fifth with a 6-over score. Arkansas (+15) and South Carolina (+16) round out the field for Saturday’s match play.
This marks the 19th year for the SEC Championship to be contested on the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course. The SEC has conducted its annual championship on St. Simons Island since 2001. Since 1927, the Sea Island Golf Club has enjoyed a legacy as one of America’s premier golf clubs.
Rated No. 1 in the U.S. among the “World’s 50 Best Golf Hotels” by Golf Digest Index, Sea Island Golf Club offers three exceptional 18-hole championship courses. The Seaside Course, home to the PGA TOUR’s McGladrey Classic, is a links course graced by majestic ocean vistas in the tradition of St. Andrews.
Originally designed in 1929 by famed architects Harry S. Colt and Charles Alison, the Seaside Course was updated in 1999 by Tom Fazio – earning it a prominent place on Golf Digest’s list of “Top 100 Courses in the United States.”
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
