Michigan
USC
Kim Does it Again! Sends U-M Past Southern Cal, Into Final Four
5/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Site: Toledo, Ohio
Course: Inverness Club (par 71, 7,255 yards)
Tournament: NCAA Championships (Match Play Quarterfinals)
U-M Score: U-M 3, Southern Cal 2
Next Match: Friday, May 29 -- NCAA Match Play Semifinal vs. Texas A&M (Toledo, Ohio), 2:45 p.m.
• Photo Gallery
TOLEDO, Ohio -- For the second day in a row, sophomore Lion Kim (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep School) had the "Maize" touch as his 2-and-1 win over Southern Cal's Matthew Giles in today's (Friday, May 29) quarterfinal helped the University of Michigan men's golf team advance, 3-2, past the Trojans and into the NCAA Match Play semifinal at Inverness Club. At 2:45 p.m. today, Michigan will play No. 7 seed Texas A&M, which defeated No. 2 Arizona State, 3-1-1.
With the NCAA altering the format to match play for the team title, the field was primed for upsets as No. 8 seed and No. 1-ranked Georgia defeated No. 1 seed and stroke-play winner Oklahoma State, and No. 4 seeded Arkansas took its match over No. 5 seed Washington to set up the first semifinal. No. 7 seed Texas A&M took down No. 2 seed Arizona State to secure a spot in the semifinal.
Galleries then flocked to the match between No. 6 seed Michigan vs. No. 3 seed Southern Cal, the final of the match play quarterfinals. With senior co-captain Nick Pumford (St. Charles, Mich./St. Charles HS) losing the No. 5 match 3 and 2 to USC's Ryan Linton, the Trojans took an early 1-0 lead. Adding in senior co-captain Bill Rankin's (Traverse City, Mich./Central HS) 4-and-3 loss to Steve Lim, U-M fell into a 2-0 hole.
Fortunately, U-M was up in all three remaining matches. Freshman Matt Thompson (Battle Creek, Mich./Lakeview HS) improved to 4-0 in match play after a 4-and-3 win over USC's Tom Glissmeyer. Thompson never trailed as he built as much as a five-hole lead during his match, closing it on the 15th hole. Sophomore Alexander Sitompul (Jakarta, Indonesia/Bradenton Prep) followed as back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 gave him a 2-up lead, which he never surrendered, winning 5 and 3 to square the match at 2-2.
After draining an eight-foot putt in stroke play yesterday (May 28) to secure a spot for Michigan in the match play final, Kim again had the pressure put on him in his final match against Matt Giles, the fifth-ranked player in the country. After trailing by one after the first hole, Kim squared the match on the fourth hole with a bogey from Giles. Kim took a 1-up lead on the fifth hole and extended it to two after knocking down an uphill, 14-foot birdie putt on No. 7. Not backing down, Giles came back to win the next two holes to make the turn all square.
On the back side, Kim struck back to build a two-hole lead with back-to-back pars, which topped a double bogey and a bogey from Giles on Nos. 10 and 11. Another par on the par-five 13th for Kim followed by a bogey from Giles gave the Wolverine sophomore a 3-up lead with five to go. Back-to-back birdies by Giles cut into Kim's lead, as U-M's second-year man was 1-up with three holes remaining.
After matching pars on No. 16, Kim knocked his drive to the middle of the fairway but well short of Giles, who was about 80 yards up in the right rough. From about 212 yards away from the front pin, Kim stroked his 18-degree hybrid club to less than a foot from the hole, causing the gallery to erupt. Giles' second shot landed on the green, but 23 feet past the pin. Conceding the putt to Kim, Giles had to drain his long putt to tie the hole and extend the match, but he pushed it right of the hole, and U-M sealed the comeback win and advanced to the semifinals.
Friday Schedule/Results
NCAA Quarterfinal Matches
No. 8 seed Georgia defeated No. 1 seed Oklahoma State, 3-2
No. 4 seed Arkansas defeated No. 5 seed Washington, 3-2
No. 7 seed Texas A&M defeated No. 2 seed Arizona State, 3-1-1
No. 6 seed Michigan defeated No. 3 seed Southern Cal, 3-2
NCAA Semifinal Matches
No. 8 seed Georgia vs. No. 4 seed Arkansas
No. 6 seed Michigan vs. No. 7 seed Texas A&M
U-M vs. Southern Cal
No. 5 -- Ryan Linton (USC) def. Nick Pumford (U-M), 3 & 2
No. 4 -- Steve Lim (USC) def. Bill Rankin (U-M), 4 & 3
No. 3 -- Matt Thompson (U-M) def. Tom Glissmeyer (USC), 4 & 3
No. 2 -- Alexander Sitompul (U-M) def. No. 2 Tim Sluiter (USC), 5 & 3
No. 1 -- Lion Kim (U-M) def. No. 1 Matthew Giles (USC), 2 & 1
U-M vs. Texas A&M
No. 5 -- Nick Pumford (U-M) vs. Conrad Shindler, 2:45 p.m.
No. 4 -- Bill Rankin (U-M) vs. Matt Van Zandt, 2:54 p.m.
No. 3 -- Matt Thompson (U-M) vs. John Hurley, 3:03 p.m.
No. 2 -- Alexander Sitompul (U-M) vs. Andrea Pavan, 3:12 p.m.
No. 1 -- Lion Kim (U-M) vs. Bronson Burgoon, 3:21 p.m.
Players Mentioned
