Pepperdine, Ole Miss roll to East Lake Cup titles

In their first appearance in the East Lake Cup, the Pepperdine men's golf team rolled to a 4-1 win over the Oklahoma Sooners to take the prestigious match play title at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. On the women's side, Ole Miss continued its dominant run through the tournament. The Rebels earned the No. 1 seed in stroke play, with two players -- Kennedy Swann and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France, delivered with a 3&2 win, while fellow teammate and countrywoman Mathilde Claisse repeated the feat. But South Carolina could not find the third point required for the win. Hume dispatched her opponent 7&6, and Andrea Lignell posted a 3&2 win. So the championship came down to the Julia Johnson (Ole Miss) / Lois Kaye Go (USC) match. Go converted a must-make birdie on the 17th to extend the match to the 18th hole, but just missed another birdie chance on the final hole as Johnson held on for the win. For the Pepperdine men, it was far less stressful. The final No. 1 ranked team in the suddenly-halted 2019-20 season, the Waves picked up where they left off with a convincing performance against the Sooners. Joe Highsmith won his match 5&4, as did Dylan Menante, while Derek Hitchner (3&2) and R.J. Manke (2&1) also picked up full points. Highsmith beat the stroke play medalist Patrick Welch, while Manke knocked off current World No. 2 Quade Cummins (2&1). In the consolation matches, the defending men's champion Texas took out its frustration of a semifinal loss to its arch-rival Sooners, sweeping Texas Tech 5-0. The Texas women weren't so fortunate, falling to Florida 4-0-1. Due to an incoming weather system, the final matches were moved up to an early-morning start. The East Lake Cup normally features the semifinalists from the previous season's NCAA Championships, but with COVID disrupting the college schedule, the invites were based on last season's final Golfstat ranking among those teams who are actually competing this fall.