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No. 4 Maryland def. No. 5 Northwestern, 2-2-1 (2nd Tiebreak) B1G Match Play Quarterfinal Palm Coast, Fla. Conservatory Course AJGA Live Scores and Championship Bracket |
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PALM COAST, Fla. -- No. 5 seed Northwestern staged another monster comeback Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten Match Play Championship, tying No. 4 Maryland, 2-2-1, but failing to advance on the second tiebreaker.
NU won two matches (5 and 4, 4 and 2), Maryland won two matches (6 and 5, 3 and 2) and one match was halved. The first tiebreak is holes won, of which both teams compiled nine. The second tiebreak is holes remaining, which Maryland won 7-6 to advance.
The loss is just the fourth for Northwestern in its 23 all-time matches at the tournament. NU defeated No. 12 seed Indiana, 3-1-1, to get to this quarterfinal while Maryland topped No. 13 seed Rutgers 3-2 to move on. The Terrapins now advance to Monday morning's semifinal while the Wildcats drop to the consolation bracket where they will play No. 11 seed Minnesota at 7:25 a.m. CT Monday on Hammock Beach Resort's Ocean Course.
Three of the matches in this quarterfinal were decided early, with Maryland earning a big 6 and 5 victory in the third while Northwestern freshman Charles Wang (Beijing, China/Sarasota Christian School) capped off a 4 and 2 win in the first around the same time that his classmate Dylan Wu (Medford, Ore./St. Mary's School) was finishing off his opponent 5 and 4.
The final two matches on the course saw the Wildcats down, just as they did in NU's morning victory over Indiana. Once again, Northwestern went on a charge, with senior Matthew Negri (El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont) winning the final two holes of his match to pick up half a point. The final match turned on a missed three-foot par putt at No. 16 that led to the tiebreaker loss.
Below is a match-by-match account of Northwestern's Sunday afternoon quarterfinal:
MATCH 1: Charles Wang (NU) def. Joe Brooks (MD), 4 and 2
Wang responded to a pair of bogey losses at Nos. 3 and 4 early in his quarterfinal matchup by winning Nos. 5 and 6 to turn with a 1-up lead. He still held that advantage after the 13th hole, when he went on another late run reminiscent of his morning match against Indiana.
Against the Hoosiers, Wang turned a 2-hole deficit into a 1-up win by captured the final three holes of his match. Versus Brooks and Maryland, Wang won three straight to put Brooks away, 4 and 2. His match-ending birdie at No. 16 came after he rolled up his trousers, hit a shot out of the water to eight feet and drained the birdie putt.
MATCH 2: Tom Harris (MD) and Matthew Negri (NU) halved
Negri entered Northwestern's lineup after sitting out the morning match against Indiana. Trailing 2-up through seven holes, Negri made birdie at the 170-yard par-3 eighth to turn with a 1-up deficit. A bogey at No. 13 gave his Maryland opponent a 2-up lead once again, then both competitors made three-straight pars to give Harris dormie status at No. 17.
Negri did not go quietly into the Palm Coast sunset, draining a 40-foot birdie at No. 17 and then making another birdie at No. 18 to halve the match and keep Northwestern alive in the team race.
MATCH 3: Ben Warnquist (MD) def. Bennett Lavin (NU), 6 and 5
In his morning match against Indiana, Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) won two of his last three holes to earn half a point for the Wildcats. His afternoon in NU's quarterfinal against Maryland did not go quite so well. Warnquist was 2-up through five holes when Lavin took advantage of his opponent's double bogey at No. 6 to get one back. Warnquist, however, reeled off wins on five of the next seven holes while Lavin struggled to defeat the Wildcats, 6 and 5.
MATCH 4: Connor Tendall (MD) def. Josh Jamieson (NU), 3 and 2
Josh Jamieson (St. Andrews, Scotland/High School of Dundee) won the first hole of this match before Tendall took off, building a 3-up lead at the turn. Jamieson fought back to 2-down with a winning par at No. 13 and still was down by that tally at No. 16. There, Jamieson three-putted from 20-feet for bogey to drop the match.
MATCH 5: Dylan Wu (NU) def. David Kocher (MD), 5 and 4
Wu earned a commanding 4 and 2 victory against Indiana in the morning, but it seemed like a victory hangover was affecting the youngster when he quickly found himself 2-down to Kocher after three holes Sunday afternoon.
Nevermind. Wu won seven of the next 11 holes and halved the other four on the strength of three birdies, six pars and a couple of bogeys to race away from Kocher in a 5 and 4 win.
"Wu is one of those players that can really take momentum and run with it," NU Director of Golf and Player Development Pat Goss tweeted.
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