University of Missouri
SEC Championship
@MizzouMensGolf Bows Out After Quarterfinal Appearance at SEC Championship
4/23/2017 3:51:00 PM | Men's Golf
Tigers drop matchup against Texas A&M on Sunday, look forward to NCAA selections
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - After playing its way into match play on Saturday, No. 24 Mizzou Men's Golf could not withstand stellar play by No. 16 Texas A&M during the quarterfinal round of match play of the 2017 Southeastern Conference Championship at the Sea Island Golf Club. Texas A&M kept the Tigers off the board on Sunday, winning all five head-to-head matches during the round. The Tigers were seeded seventh entering the tournament, and Texas A&M was the SEC's No. 2 seed, ranking only behind Vanderbilt.
After a heroic effort during the tournament portion of the SEC Men's Golf Championship, freshman Rory Franssen (Inverness, Scotland) fell in his quarterfinal match to Texas A&M's Brandon Smith. In what was a battle of freshmen, Franssen got down early, but was able to cut the stroke lead to two on hole nine. However, the back nine belonged to Smith, who pushed his lead over Franssen to four where it would stay until the match concluded.
In the second pairing, senior Euan Walker (Troon, Scotland) battled Dan Erickson of Texas A&M in what turned out to be one the more competitive pairings of match play for Mizzou. Though Walker held a one stroke lead for most of the front nine, he eventually fell by a single stroke to Erickson.
Junior Hayden Buckley (Belden, Miss.) was in the third spot for head coach Mark Leroux's squad, where he was paired against Texas A&M's Andrew Paysse. Paysse's lead on Buckley was wire-to-wire, as Buckley never held an advantage during the match. Buckley, like Franssen, lost by four strokes.
Competing in the fourth match play pairing was junior Trevor Ullestad (Jewell, Iowa), who battled fellow junior Cameron Champ of Texas A&M. Like Walker, Ullestad got out to a single-stroke lead early on the front nine, but ended up ceding a one stroke lead down the stretch.
Senior Linus Lilliedahl (Sandviken, Sweden) hung tough on the front nine in his match against Texas A&M's Chandler Phillips. Lilliedahl came back from a stroke down to take a one stroke lead on hole six, but lost it right back on hole seven. Lilliedahl yielded the match to Phillips by four strokes, as the senior from Texas A&M turned it on after they made the turn.
The postseason is expected to continue for Leroux's squad despite the exit from the SEC tournament. Leroux's group anticipates its first NCAA Regional appearance since 2014 as a result of the excellent campaign it has put together on golf courses around the country. The Tigers have made 12 regional appearances since 1989, six of which have been engineered by Leroux, who was hired before the 2004-05 season.
For all the latest on Mizzou Men's Golf, stay tuned to MUTigers.com or follow the program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@MizzouMensGolf).
