Carlsbad, California; The top-seeded Auburn Tigers are one win away from capturing their second national title in three years after a dominant performance in the semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship on Tuesday.
Playing at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California, the No. 1 Tigers blanked No. 5 Oklahoma State by a score of 5-0, securing their spot in Wednesday’s championship match against UCLA.
“It feels amazing,” Auburn star Jackson Koivun said in an interview on The Golf Channel after the match. “All year, it’s felt like we can do that again. We won in 2024, and that was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life. To have a chance to grab that tomorrow, it feels great”.
A Complete Team Victory
The Tigers left no doubt in the semifinal round, with every player contributing to the shutout victory.
Logan Reilly set the tone early in the opening match against Eric Lee. The freshman piled up four birdies, including three in a row on holes 6-8, closing out his match 7&5 to put the first point on the board for the Orange and Blue.
Josiah Gilbert followed shortly after with a stellar performance of his own. Three straight birdies on holes 9, 10, and 11 gave him a lead he wouldn’t surrender, and an eagle on 13 followed by a birdie on 15 secured the Tigers’ second point in a 4&3 victory.
Junior Cayden Pope played the anchor role to perfection. After a bogey on the third hole, Pope settled in and played clean golf, dialing up four birdies to close out his match 3&2 and officially send Auburn to Wednesday’s final.
The match between Koivun and Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout who topped the individual leaderboard at the end of stroke play never reached its conclusion. Koivun was leading 1UP on the 18th hole when Pope clinched the team victory.
“It was great to see our young guys step up and perform,” Koivun said. “I wish I was a little more help these past two matches, but I’m excited to go out there and play UCLA tomorrow”.
Road to the Final
Auburn entered match play as the No. 1 overall seed after a historic performance in the stroke play portion of the championship. For the first time in program history, the Tigers finished first in stroke play at the NCAA Championship, shooting 26-under-par as a team three strokes ahead of No. 3 Texas.
Junior Josiah Gilbert led the way during stroke play, finishing third individually at 11-under-par. Koivun finished tied for 10th at 7-under, while freshman Logan Reilly impressed in his NCAA Championship debut at 4-under.
In Tuesday morning’s quarterfinal round, Auburn dispatched No. 15 Stanford by a score of 3-1-1 to advance to the semifinals. Freshman Jake Albert was particularly impressive in his NCAA match play debut, winning his match 6&5.
Koivun Adds Another Accolade
Adding to an already memorable day, Auburn standout Jackson Koivun collected his second national player of the year honor this season on Tuesday, as he was named the recipient of the 2026 Fred Haskins Award presented by Stifel.
Looking Ahead
The Tigers will face No. 23 UCLA in the championship match on Wednesday afternoon. The Bruins advanced by taking down Arizona 3.5-1.5 in their semifinal and are seeking their first national title since 2008.
Head coach Nick Clinard, who has built Auburn into a national powerhouse, made it clear that this has been the goal since day one.
“We start in August, and I tell them I coach for the national championship,” Clinard said. “I tell them that in the first team meeting we coach to get you here and we coach to play well and have a chance to win a national championship. And that’s hopefully what we’re going to do tomorrow”.
The championship match is scheduled to begin at 4:25 p.m. CT / 2:25 p.m. PT on Wednesday. Live scoring will be available at scoreboard.clippd.com.
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