Michigan
Wisconsin
Two Wins Propel Michigan into Big Ten Match Play Semifinals
2/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 15, 2015
Site: Palm Coast, Fla.
Course: Hammock Beach Resort - Conservatory Course (par 72, 7,289 yards)
Tournament: Big Ten Match Play Championship (Day 1 of 2)
Scores: Michigan def. Wisconsin 2-1-2; Michigan def. Ohio State 3-2
Next U-M Match: Monday, Feb. 16 -- vs. Iowa (Palm Coast, Fla.), 8:10 a.m.
PALM COAST, Fla. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team opened its spring season with two wins today (Sunday, Feb. 15) in the Big Ten Match Play Championship at Hammock Beach Resorts's Conservatory Course. The seventh-seeded Wolverines earned a 2-1-2 win over No. 10 seed Wisconsin in the first round before defeating second-seeded Ohio State (3-2) in the quarterfinals. U-M will face No. 3 seed Iowa in the semifinals tomorrow morning (Monday, Feb. 16) at 8:10 a.m.
In the team's first-round matchup, freshman Kyle Mueller and junior Chris O'Neill won their matchups, while junior Brett McIntosh and sophomore Reed Hrynewich halved. O'Neill was down early but won four straight holes to go 1-up with 10 to play. He never lost that lead and finished the match 1-up.
Mueller eagled the 18th hole, a 584-yard par 5, and had two more birdies in his match, a 4-and-2 victory over Rob Jacobsen. Sophomore Tom Swanson lost his first-round match in the No. 5 position, 3-and-2, for the Badgers' only victory.
In the quarterfinal round, Michigan used a very balanced effort, as only Mueller earned a win in both matches on the day. The freshman birdied two holes in the quarterfinal round and needed only 13 holes to win his match, 6-and-5.
Swanson bounced back from his earlier defeat with a 4-and-3 win. He led the entire match against Ohio State's Tee-K Kelly after picking up a birdie on the very first hole. He went on to birdie three more holes in the quarterfinal match, including the clincher on a par 4 with three holes to play.
Junior Andrew Yeager, who was subbed in for the second match, never trailed as he won 2-and-1. The other second-round matches included O'Neill falling to Grant Weaver in the No. 2 position and Hrynewich dropping a 1-up decision to Boo Timko.
The Big Ten Match Play Championship concludes Monday (Feb. 16) with the championship and consolation brackets. Follow results live through the AJGA site.
Following are match-by-match results:
First Round -- No. 7 seed Michigan def. No. 10 seed Wisconsin, 2-1-2
No. 1 -- Kyle Mueller (U-M) def. Rob Jacobsen (WIS), 4 & 2
No. 2 -- Chris O'Neill (U-M) def. Thomas O'Bryan (WIS), 1-up
No. 3 -- Brett McIntosh (U-M) vs. Jack Watson (WIS), Halved
No. 4 -- Reed Hrynewich (U-M) vs. Eddie Wajda (WIS), Halved
No. 5 -- Matt Ross (WIS) def. Tom Swanson (U-M), 3 & 2
Quarterfinal Round -- No. 7 seed Michigan def. No. 2 seed Ohio State, 3-2
No. 1 -- Kyle Mueller (U-M) def. Clark Engle (OSU), 6 & 5
No. 2 -- Grant Weaver (OSU) def. Chris O'Neill (U-M), 7 & 6
No. 3 -- Boo Timko (OSU) def. Reed Hrynewich (U-M), 1-up
No. 4 -- Tom Swanson (U-M) def. Tee-k Kelly (OSU), 4 & 3
No. 5 -- Andrew Yeager (U-M) def. Nick Sparling (OSU), 2 & 1
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Chris Whitten
On pulling out two halved matches against Wisconsin ... "For whatever reason, we started slow in the Wisconsin match, and in a lot of those matches we were down early. I stayed with Brett (McIntosh) the whole day, and it was fun watching the live scoring on my phone and seeing everybody crawl their way back into those matches and hitting good shots at the end, which is what we want to do this week. We want to get better in each round and get our games cleaner and cleaner as we go, so it was great to see."
On carrying momentum into the Ohio State match and on the play of Andrew Yeager ... "The feeling of the Ohio State match was a lot different than the morning match. A lot of the matches you knew how they were going to finish with several holes to go. We were able to focus in on Andrew's match and then towards the end, Reed's (Hrynewich) match. Andrew was just so solid, and the thing he's worked to improve in his game is his tee shots and giving himself opportunities from the fairway, and he did that beautifully today. He hit good shot after good shot, and it was really fun watching him."
On the team strategy heading into the semifinals ... "Mostly just to have fun and keep enjoying what we're doing. The guys are playing well and they're confident. I think they really have fun in this format, and I don't know why it is that we're having this success, but we're enjoying it. For whatever reason, it's going well right now, so we're just going to try to keep it going."
On whether any lessons learned from last year's tournament carried over to this year ... "We have a lot of the same team back this year. There were no seniors on the roster last year, so we're growing into a team with more experience. Match play is certainly something where experience helps you, and the guys are maturing and growing as we go, and it's great to see them progress."
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
