Sunday, May 31
Carlsbad, Calif. / Omni La Costa: North Course
2:50 p.m. (18 holes)
Florida Gators
at
NCAA National Championships
Luke Poulter tips his cap after his NCAA Championship career-low 68 (-4) after his birdie on the 18th.
Clutch Gators: Florida two back of match play cut behind 4-under round three
Sunday, May 31, 2026 | Men's Golf
Luke Poulter’s NCAA Championship low 4-under 68 helped the Gators advance to round four.
CARLSBAD, Calif. – Faced with the tougher afternoon wave and conditions at Omni La Costa, the No. 2 Florida men's golf team was clutch behind a 4-under round to climb six spots, finish T10 to earn a spot in the final round of stroke play at the NCAA National Championship on Sunday.
The round three of 4-under is the third lowest for UF in round three of the NCAA Championship since a 11-under mark in UF's 2001 National Championship sweep and the six-shot improvement from round two to three, its biggest since a 15-shot mark two years ago.
The Gators who are 1-over through 54-holes, tee off round four tomorrow at 1:41 p.m. and are two shots back of tomorrow's top-8 match play cut. Coverage of the third round will be streamed live and free on babygrandegolf.com from 1:30-4:30 p.m. with Golf Channel coverage scheduled from 5:30-9:30 p.m.
Tomorrow's top-eight teams advance to match play while an individual national champion will be crowned. The team national championship will then be decided through match play, with quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Tuesday followed by the championship match on Wednesday. Golf Channel will provide coverage for match play.
After yesterday's second round, the Gators were two shots back of the top-15 as a pair of schools from the Volunteer State – Chattanooga and Tennessee – were tied for the final two advancing spots. When UF stepped onto the first tee box, they were in 15th by a stroke over 16th place Arkansas State who they were paired with, and finished three clear of the cut.
A great start by UF combined with teams above adding some strokes to their score produced a two-way battle for the final spot in the college sport's greatest rivalry, Florida-Georgia. Grouped together, the SEC rivals traded birdies and bogeys as UF was +5 in 15th and UGA a stroke back in 16th approaching the turn. The Orange and Blue then began to separate themselves behind Matthew Kress' three straight birdies between holes eight through ten, and Luke Poulter's birdie on nine pushed them five shots ahead of the Bulldogs, who began dropping.
The leadoff man today, Poulter continued to go low with a pair of birdies on 12 and 14 positioned the Gators in T11 and seven shots clear of the first cut as both LSU and Texas A&M were battling to pass Pepperdine (+4), who teed of the morning wave and set the cut as the afternoon wave began to tee off. The Tigers shot the course record of 18-under, leaped 15 spots in the afternoon to bump the Waves out and advance to round four.
Poulter logged his NCAA Championship low with a 4-under 68, a career-best by four shots. The junior bounced back from a second hole bogey when his tee shot went out of bounce and a bogey on hole eight. An All-Region selection for second straight season this year, Poulter played the next 10 holes 5-under and bogey-free with a birdie-birdie finish.
Also stepping up today and once again, was fifth-year senior Matthew Kress. Playing in his fourth National Championship, he regrouped from a triple-bogey on six with three straight birdies between holes eight through ten to finish with a 1-under 71. It is his sixth career under par round at the tournament, and six par or better in the ninth postseason round this year. The round was five shots better from a second round of 77 (+5).
Capping off Florida's sixth under par round total and third-lowest all-time at La Costa, Jack Turner made birdie for an even-par 72. He again played big as his 4-under 68 yesterday kept Florida in contention for today. The junior is T21 and 2-under through 54-holes.
The postseason story of the Gators this season, sophomore Parker Sands shot 73 (+1), a key counting score on a stage like today. He has bounced back from an opening round of 78 (+6) the last two rounds with his 1-under 71 yesterday.
Despite turning in a non-counting score of 74 (+2), Zack Swanwick brought the 18th green to applause with an eagle from 67-feet.
History offered a blueprint for head coach J.C. Deacon and the Gators. At the 2022 NCAA Championship at Grayhawk, Florida entered the third round tied with Oregon and Stanford for two of the final advancing spots. The tie breaker favorited the former Pac-12 foes, assigning an afternoon tee time for the Gators, who delivered a clutch back-nine performance from the All-American trio – Fred Biondi and Ricky Castillo chip-in birdies on 18 from Fred Biondi and Yuxin Lin's birdie on 17 -- and ultimately advanced comfortably, finishing eight shots clear of the cut line.
The Gators look to reach match play for the second consecutive season and third time in the last four years, joining only three other programs — Auburn, North Carolina and Virginia — to accomplish the feat. UF is 4-1 in match play at the National Championship and are 14-4 in postseason match play since 2022.
Since the current NCAA Championship format was introduced in 2015, Florida has advanced to the fourth and final round of stroke play six times, including each of the last five seasons and each year (3) the championships have been contested at La Costa. The Gators have missed the 54-hole cut only three times, most recently in 2021.
Post Round Quotes - Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On going into today and message to team…
"I told the guys last night in our team meeting that there's nothing more rewarding in all of golf than playing great when you need it the most, and we did that today. It feels really rewarding right now, but the work is not done, the job is not done, and we got 18 more holes. The best part about today is we actually gained some ground. So we have to go play great again tomorrow and get in that final eight."
On Luke Poulter's performance today…
"I walked with Luke the first two days and I knew he was playing pretty well, it just didn't go his way and he didn't get any momentum. I knew it wasn't far off, and he was really motivated to play well today, and when he gets motivated its dangerous. I am not surprised. Big time players come up with big time rounds."
On Matthew Kress today, bouncing back from triple to shoot 1-under...
"When watching the scorecard, and you see someone make a triple, you never want to see it, but if there's one guy that can handle that type of adversity, it's Matthew Kress. And he proved it. He's got the heart of a lion, and a wonderful leader for our team. Hopefully we can get him into one more match play tomorrow."
Luke Poulter
On staying strong going into today…
"I knew I had it in me this whole week. I just didn't get some putts to drop so making them coming down the stretch was big. I kept hanging in there. My driving hasn't been too great, which is normally my strength, but I just kept it in front of me."
On any message going into today…
"Just belief. We've done it all year and we've got each other's back. We haven't had our stuff this week, but we know it's coming. We've been playing great all year it was only a matter of time. But we still got a big day tomorrow, and we have our goals set on match play. We know what we got to do."
Florida Scores
T22. Jack Turner – 74-68-72 = 214 (-2)
T58. Luke Poulter – 76-74-68 = 218 (+2)
T72. Matthew Kress – 72-77-71 = 220 (+4)
T72. Zack Swanwick – 69-77-74 = 220 (+4)
T98. Parker Sands – 78-71-73 = 222 (+6)
Team Leaderboard
1. Auburn (-22)
2. Texas (-19)
3. Vanderbilt (-9)
T4. UCLA (-8)
T4. Arizona
T4. Oklahoma State
7. North Carolina (-6)
8. Duke (-1)
9. Oklahoma (E)
T10. Florida (+1)
T10. Virginia
T12. San Diego (+2)
T12. Stanford
T12. Tennessee
T12. LSU
-- Top-15 Cut --
16. Pepperdine (+4)
17. Mississippi State (+7)
18. BYU (+9)
19. Arkansas (+10)
20. Georgia (+12)
21. Arizona State (+13)
22. Arkansas State (+15)
23. Purdue (+16)
24. Louisville (+17)
25. Texas A&M (+18)
T26. Chattanooga (+20)
T26. Ole Miss
28. Memphis (+23)
29. USC (+26)
30. Florida State (+35)
The round three of 4-under is the third lowest for UF in round three of the NCAA Championship since a 11-under mark in UF's 2001 National Championship sweep and the six-shot improvement from round two to three, its biggest since a 15-shot mark two years ago.
The Gators who are 1-over through 54-holes, tee off round four tomorrow at 1:41 p.m. and are two shots back of tomorrow's top-8 match play cut. Coverage of the third round will be streamed live and free on babygrandegolf.com from 1:30-4:30 p.m. with Golf Channel coverage scheduled from 5:30-9:30 p.m.
Tomorrow's top-eight teams advance to match play while an individual national champion will be crowned. The team national championship will then be decided through match play, with quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Tuesday followed by the championship match on Wednesday. Golf Channel will provide coverage for match play.
After yesterday's second round, the Gators were two shots back of the top-15 as a pair of schools from the Volunteer State – Chattanooga and Tennessee – were tied for the final two advancing spots. When UF stepped onto the first tee box, they were in 15th by a stroke over 16th place Arkansas State who they were paired with, and finished three clear of the cut.
A great start by UF combined with teams above adding some strokes to their score produced a two-way battle for the final spot in the college sport's greatest rivalry, Florida-Georgia. Grouped together, the SEC rivals traded birdies and bogeys as UF was +5 in 15th and UGA a stroke back in 16th approaching the turn. The Orange and Blue then began to separate themselves behind Matthew Kress' three straight birdies between holes eight through ten, and Luke Poulter's birdie on nine pushed them five shots ahead of the Bulldogs, who began dropping.
The leadoff man today, Poulter continued to go low with a pair of birdies on 12 and 14 positioned the Gators in T11 and seven shots clear of the first cut as both LSU and Texas A&M were battling to pass Pepperdine (+4), who teed of the morning wave and set the cut as the afternoon wave began to tee off. The Tigers shot the course record of 18-under, leaped 15 spots in the afternoon to bump the Waves out and advance to round four.
Poulter logged his NCAA Championship low with a 4-under 68, a career-best by four shots. The junior bounced back from a second hole bogey when his tee shot went out of bounce and a bogey on hole eight. An All-Region selection for second straight season this year, Poulter played the next 10 holes 5-under and bogey-free with a birdie-birdie finish.
Also stepping up today and once again, was fifth-year senior Matthew Kress. Playing in his fourth National Championship, he regrouped from a triple-bogey on six with three straight birdies between holes eight through ten to finish with a 1-under 71. It is his sixth career under par round at the tournament, and six par or better in the ninth postseason round this year. The round was five shots better from a second round of 77 (+5).
Capping off Florida's sixth under par round total and third-lowest all-time at La Costa, Jack Turner made birdie for an even-par 72. He again played big as his 4-under 68 yesterday kept Florida in contention for today. The junior is T21 and 2-under through 54-holes.
The postseason story of the Gators this season, sophomore Parker Sands shot 73 (+1), a key counting score on a stage like today. He has bounced back from an opening round of 78 (+6) the last two rounds with his 1-under 71 yesterday.
Despite turning in a non-counting score of 74 (+2), Zack Swanwick brought the 18th green to applause with an eagle from 67-feet.
History offered a blueprint for head coach J.C. Deacon and the Gators. At the 2022 NCAA Championship at Grayhawk, Florida entered the third round tied with Oregon and Stanford for two of the final advancing spots. The tie breaker favorited the former Pac-12 foes, assigning an afternoon tee time for the Gators, who delivered a clutch back-nine performance from the All-American trio – Fred Biondi and Ricky Castillo chip-in birdies on 18 from Fred Biondi and Yuxin Lin's birdie on 17 -- and ultimately advanced comfortably, finishing eight shots clear of the cut line.
The Gators look to reach match play for the second consecutive season and third time in the last four years, joining only three other programs — Auburn, North Carolina and Virginia — to accomplish the feat. UF is 4-1 in match play at the National Championship and are 14-4 in postseason match play since 2022.
Since the current NCAA Championship format was introduced in 2015, Florida has advanced to the fourth and final round of stroke play six times, including each of the last five seasons and each year (3) the championships have been contested at La Costa. The Gators have missed the 54-hole cut only three times, most recently in 2021.
Post Round Quotes - Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On going into today and message to team…
"I told the guys last night in our team meeting that there's nothing more rewarding in all of golf than playing great when you need it the most, and we did that today. It feels really rewarding right now, but the work is not done, the job is not done, and we got 18 more holes. The best part about today is we actually gained some ground. So we have to go play great again tomorrow and get in that final eight."
On Luke Poulter's performance today…
"I walked with Luke the first two days and I knew he was playing pretty well, it just didn't go his way and he didn't get any momentum. I knew it wasn't far off, and he was really motivated to play well today, and when he gets motivated its dangerous. I am not surprised. Big time players come up with big time rounds."
On Matthew Kress today, bouncing back from triple to shoot 1-under...
"When watching the scorecard, and you see someone make a triple, you never want to see it, but if there's one guy that can handle that type of adversity, it's Matthew Kress. And he proved it. He's got the heart of a lion, and a wonderful leader for our team. Hopefully we can get him into one more match play tomorrow."
Luke Poulter
On staying strong going into today…
"I knew I had it in me this whole week. I just didn't get some putts to drop so making them coming down the stretch was big. I kept hanging in there. My driving hasn't been too great, which is normally my strength, but I just kept it in front of me."
On any message going into today…
"Just belief. We've done it all year and we've got each other's back. We haven't had our stuff this week, but we know it's coming. We've been playing great all year it was only a matter of time. But we still got a big day tomorrow, and we have our goals set on match play. We know what we got to do."
Florida Scores
T22. Jack Turner – 74-68-72 = 214 (-2)
T58. Luke Poulter – 76-74-68 = 218 (+2)
T72. Matthew Kress – 72-77-71 = 220 (+4)
T72. Zack Swanwick – 69-77-74 = 220 (+4)
T98. Parker Sands – 78-71-73 = 222 (+6)
Team Leaderboard
1. Auburn (-22)
2. Texas (-19)
3. Vanderbilt (-9)
T4. UCLA (-8)
T4. Arizona
T4. Oklahoma State
7. North Carolina (-6)
8. Duke (-1)
9. Oklahoma (E)
T10. Florida (+1)
T10. Virginia
T12. San Diego (+2)
T12. Stanford
T12. Tennessee
T12. LSU
-- Top-15 Cut --
16. Pepperdine (+4)
17. Mississippi State (+7)
18. BYU (+9)
19. Arkansas (+10)
20. Georgia (+12)
21. Arizona State (+13)
22. Arkansas State (+15)
23. Purdue (+16)
24. Louisville (+17)
25. Texas A&M (+18)
T26. Chattanooga (+20)
T26. Ole Miss
28. Memphis (+23)
29. USC (+26)
30. Florida State (+35)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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