All Scott Langley could do Thursday afternoon was wait. No easy task when a national championship is on the line.
As the sun set behind the trees at The Honors Course and the University of Illinois junior golfer’s three-round total was still the best of the tournament, the wait continued.
This morning, barring an epic comeback from one of the few players still mathematically alive, the left-handed Langley’s wait will be over and the national championship will be his.
Click here to view a hole by hole guide of The Honors Course
“It would mean a lot,” Langley said of winning a national title. “I’ve worked really hard for it.”
In the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship on Thursday, with the national title going to the low individual, Langley set the bar early. His 54-hole total of 10-under-par 206, posted early in the afternoon, was still the benchmark when play was halted because of darkness.
With his rivals coming up short late in the day, when the course showed more teeth than it had all week, the national championship was all but guaranteed to Langley, who left the course long before play was completed.
Asked after his round how he planned to spend the rest of his day, Langley’s response was as casual as his demeanor: “I don’t know –hopefully just chillin’.”
Langley’s 10 under is two shots better than the final totals of his nearest competitors, San Diego’s Alex Ching and Oklahoma State’s Peter Uihlein, who couldn’t close the gap down the stretch. Of the players who will complete their rounds early this morning, the lowest score belongs to UCLA’s Gregor Main at 5 under.
Ching, who had the lead after 36 holes at 9 under, was one shot back of Langley heading to the par-3 16th. Ching’s tee shot wound up in the bunker left of the green, and he couldn’t get up and down for par.
Ching reached the par-5 17th in two and narrowly missed a long eagle putt, settling for a birdie. That left him one back heading to the 470-yard par-4 18th. After missing the fairway with his drive, Ching was unable to land his second shot on the green and closed the round with a bogey, finishing at 208.
“I knew somebody was going to take it a little bit lower today,” Ching said. “I just try to go out and play the same aggressive golf that I always do.”
At the same time he was chasing Langley, Ching also was fighting to keep San Diego among the eight teams that qualified for match play. With his bogey on 18, the Toreros finished in a tie for eighth and will compete in a playoff this morning.
Oklahoma State’s Peter Uihlein also had a shot to tie in the closing holes, but he parred the final seven holes for a round of 71. Oregon State’s Diego Velasquez made a charge, tying the competitive course record with a round of 66 to move to 7 under for the tournament. He was in fourth place at the end of play Thursday.
With the Illini well back in the team standings, Langley teed off amid the morning wave and shot a 4-under 68 to finish at 10-under. He two-putted for par at No. 9, his closing hole, moments after Ching and Henrik Norlander of Augusta State, who was at 7 under after 36 holes, teed off at No. 1.
The early start gave Langley a chance to post a target number, but he said he wasn’t focused on the individual title.
“I’ve learned that if you think about that stuff too much, usually it doesn’t help,” Langley said.
His medalist hopes could have been dashed on holes 5-7, where he made a 5 on each, two of them for bogeys. Langley got a stroke back with a birdie at No. 8 before missing a 20-foot birdie putt on his final hole.
At the time, the odds seemed long that 10 under would be enough. But it was.
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