TOLEDO, Ohio – Unable to recapture its early morning magic, the Georgia men’s golf team was eliminated from the NCAA Championship in the match play semifinals on Friday.

The eighth-seeded Bulldogs dropped a 3-1-1 decision to fourth-seeded Arkansas, which will meet seventh-seeded Texas A&M on Saturday for the national championship at the Inverness Club.

Earlier in the day, the Bulldogs defeated the No. 1 seed, Oklahoma State, as the match came down to the last hole. Senior Brian Harman’s 4-foot putt lifted the Bulldogs to a dramatic 3-2 win over the Cowboys, in a match that pitted the teams that finished the year ranked Nos. 1 and 2.

“It was such an emotional day for us,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “That first match really took a lot out of us, but that’s the way it goes. Arkansas played great and deserved to win. We might not have the trophy, but we won the national championship in our minds this morning. That match will be etched in our memory forever. I’m not taking anything away from Arkansas or Texas A&M, but that was ‘the match’ right there.”

Harman and the Cowboys’ Rickie Fowler put an exhibition that will join the lore of the historic Inverness Club. Harman birdied the last three holes, including No. 17 to square the match and No. 18 to win it. That was his only lead of the day. Afterward, Inverness officials asked if they could have the golf ball so that they could add it a display that includes items from the likes of Bob Tway and Paul Azinger.

“That was unbelievable theater,” Haack said. “That was two of the best players in college golf; that was a clash of the titans. On the 18th tee box, Brian turned to me and said, ‘I’m not ready to go home yet.’ That was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen.”

“Rickie played great and I hung in there as best as I could,” Harman said. “The last three holes, something got into me. You couldn’t ask for a better finish. That was two really good teams going at it. I have a lot of respect for Oklahoma State and a lot of respect for Rickie Fowler.”

The Bulldogs also got victories from Adam Mitchell (5 & 3) and Russell Henley (2 up) to knock off Oklahoma State.

In the semifinals, however, the Bulldogs were unable to knock off their SEC counterparts. Henley won his match 2 and 1, and Harman squared his in the 3-1-1 loss.

Friday’s action marked the end of the careers for both Harman and Mitchell. Said Haack, “Those guys meant so much to our program. It’s going to be hard to replace them. We all are going to miss them very much.”

- Georgia Sports Communications