Preston Stout of Oklahoma State is your 2026 National Champion. After birdieing his last hole, Stout managed to increase his lead by one over Alabama’s individual qualifier, William Jennings.
Stout began the day leading by one and immediately increased it with four birdies in his first nine holes. While he ran into a little bit of trouble on the back with a few bogeys, he still finished on a high note.
However, Jennings had a few holes left on the front nine since he had teed off on Hole 10 earlier that afternoon. Jennings had a run of his own, birdieing his 7th and 9th holes before also draining four birdies on the front nine (his back). He hit a beautiful drive on his last hole only to come up short and miss the up-and-down for par.
Jennings won Regionals to become one of six individuals here this week, and he was very close to pulling off a feat unseen since 2009 when NC State’s individual qualifier, Matt Hill, won the whole thing. Jennings has lots to be proud of – and he’s just a sophomore.
Stout stood with his teammates taking deep breaths until he saw Jennings birdie his 17th hole to tie with him. Then, it was off to the range to begin warming up for a playoff. However, after only two shots on the range, Golf Channel’s cameraman notified him that he won; he was immediately carted back to the 18th green to celebrate with his team, family and girlfriend.
Cowboys’ Head Coach Alan Bratton shared how proud he was of Stout and the work they’ve put into his short game so he could shine in these moments under pressure. Now, Stout is headed to the U.S. Open in a few weeks and The Masters next year.
While Stout and the Cowboys, who were safely in match play, had their own stressful moment, we also had four teams preparing for a playoff for two spots for the first time in NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf history.
Stanford and Tennessee went low on the fourth day to give themselves a shot while UCLA and North Carolina, who were safely in the top 8 at the beginning of the day, struggled. Arizona also had a bit of a scare there, but they finished in 6th, one stroke out of the playoff, though they were in it for a while. Florida also made great gains on the final day (12-under) to land themselves T4 with Oklahoma State.
The playoff took place on holes 1, 15, 16, 17 and 18, with all five scores counting. Nerves could be seen everywhere, with topped tee shots and chunks into the water. Dean Greyserman of Stanford was the only person to birdie a hole – the 18th. Stanford ended up taking the 7th spot with an overall even par score, with UCLA taking the 8th seed with a 1-over. Tennessee and North Carolina both shot 2-over.
And for all the LSU fans, the Tigers did spend some time in the T8 position but eventually fell out of it and remained in 12th.
2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship Team Leaderboard
1. Auburn (-26)
2. Texas (-23)
3. Vanderbilt (-12)
T4. Florida (-11)
T4. Oklahoma State (-12)
6. Arizona (-3)
7. Stanford (-2)
8. UCLA (-2)
—————————— (cutline)
T9. North Carolina (-2)
T9. Tennessee (-2)
11. Virginia (+1)
12. LSU (+3)
13. Duke (+4)
14. Oklahoma (+5)
15. San Diego (+24)
2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship Individual Leaderboard
1. Preston Stout / Oklahoma State (-14)
2. William Jennings (IND.) / Alabama (-13)
3. Josiah Gilbert / Auburn (-11)
T4. Will Hartman / Vanderbilt (-10)
T4. Filip Jakubcik / Arizona (-10)
Quarterfinal Tee Times at the 2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship
The matching ceremony produced all the pairs you’ll see below for tomorrow’s first match. The Semifinals pairings and afternoon tee times will be available after play concludes in the morning.
All times are local in PT.
Match 1 (off Hole 1): Vanderbilt vs. Arizona
6:50am: Chase Nevins (Vanderbilt) vs. Taishi Moto (Arizona)
7:00am: Jon Ed Steed (Vanderbilt) vs. Tianyi Xiong (Arizona)
7:10am: Will Hartman (Vanderbilt) vs. Filip Jakubcik (Arizona)
7:20am: Ryan Downes (Vanderbilt) vs. William Wistrand (Arizona)
7:30am: Wells Williams (Vanderbilt) vs. Zach Pollo (Arizona)
Match 2 (off Hole 1): Florida vs. Oklahoma State
7:40am: Luke Poulter (Florida) vs. Eric Lee (Oklahoma State)
7:50am: Zack Swanwick (Florida) vs. Ethan Fang (Oklahoma State)
8:00am: Parker Sands (Florida) vs. Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson (Oklahoma State)
8:10am: Matthew Kress (Florida) vs. Preston Stout (Oklahoma State)
8:20am: Jack Turner (Florida) vs. Gaven Lane (Oklahoma State)
Match 3 (off Hole 10): Texas vs. UCLA
6:50am: Daniel Bennett (Texas) vs. Alex Papayoanou (UCLA)
7:00am: Tommy Morrison (Texas) vs. Josh Kim (UCLA)
7:10am: Christiaan Maas (Texas) vs. Baylor Larrabee (UCLA)
7:20am: Luke Potter (Texas) vs. Tyler Loree (UCLA)
7:30am: Matt Comegys (Texas) vs. Kyla An (UCLA)
Match 4 (off Hole 10): Auburn vs. Stanford
7:40am: Jackson Koivun (Auburn) vs. Nathan Wang (Stanford)
7:50am: Logan Reilly (Auburn) vs. Dean Greyserman (Stanford)
8:00am: Jake Albert (Auburn) vs. Ethan Gao (Stanford)
8:10am: Josiah Gilbert (Auburn) vs. Jay Leng (Stanford)
8:20am: Cayden Pope (Auburn) vs. Edan Cui (Stanford)
Semifinal Tee Times at the 2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship
The matching ceremony produced all the pairs you’ll see below for tomorrow’s first match. What a showdown it’ll be between National Champion Preston Stout and two-time Haskins Award Winner Jackson Koivun.
One of the recent championship teams will be cut after this round – Auburn ’24 or Oklahoma State ’25.
All times are local in PT.
Match 1 (off Hole 1): Arizona vs. UCLA
1:35pm: Taishi Moto (Arizona) vs. Josh Kim (UCLA)
1:45pm: Tianyi Xiong (Arizona) vs. Tyler Loree (UCLA)
1:55pm: Zach Pollo (Arizona) vs. Baylor Larrabee (UCLA)
2:05pm: William Wistrand (Arizona) vs. Alex Papayoanou (UCLA)
7:10am: Filip Jakubcik (Arizona) vs. Kyla An (UCLA)
Match 2 (off Hole 1): Auburn vs. Oklahoma State
2:15pm: Logan Reilly (Auburn) vs. Eric Lee (Oklahoma State)
2:25pm: Jackson Koivun (Auburn) vs. Preston Stout (Oklahoma State)
2:35pm: Jake Albert (Auburn) vs. Gaven Lane (Oklahoma State)
2:45pm: Josiah Gilbert (Auburn) vs. Ethan Fang (Oklahoma State)
2:55pm: Cayden Pope (Auburn) vs. Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson (Oklahoma State)
