Luke Kluver subs again in, helps energy Oklahoma again into NCAA rivalry

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl didn’t sleep nicely Saturday evening. His Sooners had counted a pair of 78s on Friday after which an 81 from freshman PJ Maybank, who subbed in for senior Luke Kluver following Kluver’s opening 86. And with Oklahoma needing to make up 5 pictures on Sunday simply to make the 54-hole reduce at this NCAA Championship, Hybl wrestled with the choice to maintain rolling with Maybank or throw Kluver again in.

So, on Sunday morning, hours earlier than the Sooners’ afternoon tee time, Hybl referred to as Kluver for a one-on-one assembly. He requested him two, pointblank questions:

Are you reset mentally?

Are you able to go on the market and shoot underneath par immediately?

“You may by no means assure a consequence,” Kluver mentioned, “however I simply instructed him I’d struggle for the blokes and play as exhausting as I might.”

Boy, did he ever. Kluver was 15 pictures higher on Sunday at Omni La Costa, firing a 1-under 71, certainly one of three under-par rounds by Sooners (Ben Lorenz, 72, and Drew Goodman, 71, have been the others). Oklahoma’s 4 counters shot 5 underneath (together with a mixed 9 birdies from Lorenz and Goodman) on the entrance 9, their again facet, to publish a 2-under 286 that rocketed the Sooners up six spots on the leaderboard.

At 25 over, not solely is Oklahoma taking part in Monday, however the Sooners are simply 5 pictures again of eighth-place Florida.

The highest eight groups after 72 holes advance to match play, and all seven groups exterior the present reduce line enter Monday inside seven pictures. 3 times since 2015 has a workforce made up seven or extra pictures within the ultimate spherical; a type of squads was Oklahoma, which made up 9 pictures in 2016 to begin a run of Hybl-coached groups making match play seven occasions in eight tries.

“We’re simply getting began,” mentioned Hybl, whose Sooners went from fifth to first after an 11-under ultimate spherical two weeks in the past on the NCAA Santa Fe Regional. “We haven’t completed very nicely, completed what I really feel this group can do. However we’ve seen moments. We noticed it within the ultimate spherical of regionals. We noticed it immediately. That is who we will be. These guys have gotten some guts. They’ve bought some guts.”

That features Kluver. The fifth-year senior performed simply three occasions for Oklahoma final season after transferring in from Kansas. He had his moments earlier this season, opening the autumn with back-to-back top-6 finishes, gong 4-0 on the Massive 12 Match Play after which capping final semester with a win on the Ka’anapali Basic in Hawaii. The spring, nevertheless, yielded only a pair of top-25s, and Kluver didn’t make the beginning 5 for convention.

However after Lorenz shot 12 over in 54 holes, Hybl referred to as Kluver in from the bullpen, and Kluver counted with a strong 1-over 73.

“I really went by means of so much that week,” mentioned Kluver, who declined to disclose specifics, “and I used to be capable of share with coach, and I feel that sort of opened his eyes just a little bit, that perhaps I’m so much more durable than I present at occasions.”

On the bench Saturday at La Costa, Kluver didn’t sit; he erased the 86 from his reminiscence, adopted his teammates and took psychological notes on each gap. His new gameplan could be discover the center of greens and lean on his lag-putting.

“Mentally, perhaps it’s exhausting to bounce again from an 86,” Kluver mentioned. “There’s nowhere to cover on the market. … However I didn’t have many nerve-racking par putts immediately.”

Hybl figures to have a neater sleep Sunday evening, however Monday will nonetheless be a dogfight.

“I consider in our guys and belief that they will go get the job completed,” Hybl mentioned. “Tomorrow it’s going to require all people. But in addition, there may be going to should be somebody that’s going to should rise to the event.”

Like Kluver simply did.