CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Jackson Koivun and the top-seeded Auburn Tigers won their second NCAA golf title in three years, beating seventh-seeded UCLA 4-1 on Wednesday at breezy La Costa Resort.
A freshman in 2024 when Auburn edged Florida State at La Costa for its first championship, Koivun beat Baylor Larrabee 4 and 3 in the third of the five matches in possibly his final college event.
A few minutes later, Logan Reilly gave Auburn the decisive third point, outlasting Alex Papayoanou 1 up with a par on the par-5 18th in the lead group.
Freshman Jake Albert put the first point on the board for Auburn, beating Tyler Loree 5 and 3 in the second match.
The final two matches stopped on the 15th hole when Reilly wrapped up the victory. Josh Kim of UCLA led Josiah Gilbert 3 up, and Auburn’s Cayden Pope had a 4-up edge over Kyle An.
Koivun has yet to make an announcement about turning professional. The top-ranked amateur in the world, he has a PGA Tour spot waiting after securing a card through the PGA Tour University Accelerated program.
The team title capped a season where he won won six of 10 starts and took his second Fred Haskins Award as the player of the year. The three-time first-team All-America selection has 11 career victories — winning three Southeastern Conference titles.
UCLA missed a chance for its third title and first in match play. It won in 1988 and 2008.
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