University of Texas senior Beau Hossler clinched the winning point for his Longhorn team to clinch a spot in Wednesday's final of the 2016 NCAA men's golf championship.
The No. 1 seeded, five-man Longhorn team managed to oust the No. 4 ranked University of Southern California by a 4-1 count. They'll face the host University of Oregon Ducks at Eugene Country Club. However, Texas may have to go without Hossler, who suffered a wrenching shoulder injury at some point during the round.
Hossler, who said he has a bit of a "loose" shoulder, apparently suffered the injury going for the par-5 15th in two. On the 16th tee at Eugene Country Club, Hossler first showed visible signs of his left shoulder problem in what was the start of a series of gruesome swings, with Hossler unable to hold on to the golf club throughout the release. Hossler dropped the club to the ground after the tee shot to the par 3. Amazingly, Hossler made birdie 2 on the 16th to win that hole in his match against USC's Andrew Levitt, the fourth of five on the docket, and go 2 up in the match with two holes to play.
Then, on the par-4 17th, Hossler again took a mighty full swing with his drive, leading to a painful follow through. The drive landed in the rough, forcing Hossler to hit yet another painful shot as the club traveled through the high grass to the ball. The approach shot landed in the bunker.
It was at this point that Hossler was examined, and officials gave him an additional 15 minutes by allowing the anchor match to play through.
Hossler decided he wouldn't be able to hit an explosion shot from the bunker, so he chose to putt the ball out of the sand. The risky proposition worked, as Hossler extricated himself from the sand to leave a par putt from the fringe that would halve the hole and win the match. Hossler made the left-to-right breaking, 25-footer for a dramatic win.
Injured shoulder. Having to putt from the bunker. Then @BeauHossler did this... #Heart #NCAAGolfhttps://t.co/1NcnPo6Rjr
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 1, 2016
"I didn't want to hurt myself, but at the same time, this is the national championship," Hossler told Golf Channel. "This is the goal that I had the first day I stepped on the campus at Texas was to win a national championship with my team. Sometimes you've got to sacrifice a little bit to do that, and fortunately I was able to finish strong there."
It's unclear if Hossler will be able to play against Oregon on Wednesday.
Under NCAA rules, if Hossler cannot go, he can't be replaced in the final day lineup. That would mean the Longhorns would have to surrender the point for the match with Hossler's spot. Texas would then have to win three of the other four matches to win the title.
The 21-year-old Hossler, however, isn't giving up yet -- or at least he's not saying publicly that he won't play. Taking to Twitter on Tuesday night, Hossler said he'll at least be on site for the final day.
Thank you for all the love and support. I will be fine. Looking forward to tomorrow ?
— Beau Hossler (@beauhossler) June 1, 2016
After receiving some on-site medical attention, Hossler was on the 18th green with his teammates at Eugene Country Club for the pairings ceremony, placing his own name on the board in the third match against Oregon's Zach Foushee.
Hossler plans on taking an hour-by-hour approach to see if he'll play on Wednesday.
"I don't have much information right now," he said. "Obviously I need to make sure I need to get my shoulder in shape to play my best golf."
