When Alabama coach Jay Seawell finally found junior Bobby Wyatt, he hugged Wyatt and paid him a high compliment.
“You were so hot today Tiger Woods would have had a tough time beating you,” Seawell said.
It was that type of dominant day for Wyatt and the Crimson Tide as the team won its first national championship in men’s golf on Sunday, routing Illinois 4-1 in the match play final and making up for a runner-up finish last year.
Alabama earned its spot in the finals by defeating second-seed host Georgia Tech 3-0-2 in the semifinals of match play on Saturday at Capital City Club-Crabapple. Illinois earned its way with an upset of top-seeded California 3-2 in extra holes. California had won 11 of its 13 tournaments going into the NCAA championships.
Alabama coach Jay Seawell said he feels winning the championship this season means more following last year’s finals defeat to Texas.
“You realize how awesome it is and how hard the struggle is. You get very few opportunities, so I think they appreciate it more,” Seawell said. “I think it’s what makes these guys special. They didn’t give in, and they allowed last year to only give them the thought that this year was to try and get it again.”
Wyatt led the Tide by winning the first seven holes on the way to a 6-and-5 blowout of Illinois’ Thomas Detry. He finished early enough to become a spectator and watch his other teammates wrap up their matches.
Thomas Pieters, the 2012 individual champion, earned the Fighting Illini’s lone point with a 1-up victory over Alabama’s top-ranked player, Justin Thomas.
In the final match, Alabama’s Cory Whitsett went 5-up by the turn and rode that to a 4-and-3 victory over Alex Burge.
In last year’s final, Alabama lost to Texas 3-2 on the final hole after Whitsett came up short of the green and missed a birdie chip, then had to watch while Dylan Frittelli rolled in a long birdie putt to give Texas the title. Whittsett said the Tide’s win made up for all of the pain he felt after last year’s match.
“Watching Texas do what they did last year, all storming the green, that was really hard,” Whittsett said. “I’ll never forget going down and kneeling by my bag with my head in my hands. That was the loneliest I’ve ever felt on a golf course.
“No one really wanted to talk to me because they didn’t know if they should hug me or talk to me. This year, everyone wanted to see me. It was awesome, I mean pure joy.”
The middle three matches were closer, with each all-square at one point coming down the stretch, and it looked like Illinois would be in position to upset the Tide.
But the Tide’s Trey Mullinax stepped up. Mullinax won the 18th hole for a 1-up victory over Illinois’ Charlie Danielson.
“He definitely made it exciting for us,” said Chip Mullinax, Trey’s father.
From there, Alabama had it in the bag.
The Tide’s Whitsett and Scott Strohmeyer’ 3-and-2 victory over Illinois’ Brian Campbell closed out their matches almost simultaneously.
As good as they were all week, Illinois’ magic finally ran out.
“Alabama had an edge to it today,” Illinois coach Mike Small said. “We were up against a buzz saw.”
Seawell noted that playing Illinois took the pressure off his team heading into the match because all every one talked about was how the Fighting Illini knocked off California on Saturday.
“We were under the radar,” Seawell said. “When you’re playing in something this big, anything you can do to get a little more relaxed it helps. It relaxed us. Everybody wanted to talk about that and not about us, which was good.”
Nearly 3,000 golfers set out to win an NCAA championship each year, but only 10 athletes get the opportunity to tee off on the final Sunday.
“Coach, this (trophy) is heavy,” Mullinax said.
“I know. You have to work hard to get that,” Seawell responded. “Not everyone gets to hold that.”
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