Tai appeared in command throughout the fourth round, but a triple bogey on No. 8, his second to last hole, almost proved costly. The native of Singapore  dropped a crucial five-foot putt on No. 9 to end his round at 1-under-par 71 and then had to wait out several waves of players who were in contention.

He eventually prevailed by a single stroke over six players, with two of those players, Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt and Ben James of Virginia missing birdie putts on the 18th hole in the final group of the day. Sargent’s birdie putt lipped out sealing the win for Tai.

“I didn’t know where I really stood on the individual leaderboard at the time,” Tai said of how he felt after the triple bogey. “I learned that once I was done. I had (assistant coach Devin Stanton) with me most of the day, and he kept telling me to focus on myself and do my best for the team and hope we make match play.”

All the guys on the team have really helped me a lot in my past two and a half years here now — Hiroshi Tai, Georgia Tech

Tai became the fourth player in Georgia Tech history to win the men’s individual championship, joining Troy Matteson (2002) as an NCAA tournament medalist, and Charles Yates (1934) and Watts Gunn (1927) both of whom won national collegiate individual championships.

“It means a lot to me,” said the new NCAA DI individual champion. “All the guys on the team have really helped me a lot in my past two and a half years here now. That includes not just the six guys here but all the guys back home as well. They are the best friends in my life, and I am really grateful for the relationships I have been able to make because of coach and him having me here.”

“Troy Matteson and Hiroshi Tai are a lot the same,” said Georgia Tech Head Coach Bruce Heppler (below), who coached both. “They do what you ask and are great students and great people.”

Illinois, the leader by six strokes after the first three rounds, posted a 4-under-par 284 on Monday to earn the top-seed for team match play by 16 strokes over second-place Vanderbilt. Joining Illinois in team match play are the No. 2 through 8 seeds in order, Vanderbilt, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State, Auburn, Ohio State and Georgia Tech. 

Defending national champion Florida finished in 11th place. Illinois enters match play as the No. 1 seed for the second time in school history, also earning top seed in 2015.

We are going to enjoy this for about 30 minutes and then figure this whole thing out — Coach Mike Small, Illinois

“We just continued our solid play from all week,” said Illinois head coach Mike Small. His team advanced to match play at the NCAA Championships for the ninth time since the current format began in 2009, tying Oklahoma State for the most berths.

"We hit a little lull in the morning due to some frustrations and agitations from a couple things," added Coach Small. "We settled back down, (the team) did a good job of that and then they played solid through the back nine again. We are going to enjoy this for about 30 minutes and then figure this whole thing out. We are excited about it.”

Virginia and North Carolina tied for third place in the team standings. Virginia was awarded the No. 3 seed and North Carolina earned the No. 4 seed. North Carolina advanced to team match play for the fourth straight year, which ties Oklahoma (2016-19) for second all-time in consecutive match play appearances. Illinois (2013-17) holds the all-time mark at five straight.

“Maybe for the first couple of days they were just trying to stress out their coaches and give me some more gray hairs, then the boys did what they always do and showed up in a big-time moment and were clutch today,” said North Carolina Head Coach Andrew DiBitetto on the Tar Heels’ 4-under performance. “You saw it literally right from the opening hole. A couple guys came out and made birdies and Dylan (Menante) made eagle to get off to a really fast start, which was very important on a day like today.”

The key is adopting the mindset that the goal this week was not to win an individual national championship — Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt

After winning the 2022 individual championship as a freshman, Vanderbilt junior Sargent (below) came up just short of a second title. “I think it’s pretty good, I’m definitely still learning the golf course,” he said Sargent. “I’ve had some really good moments, and some moments that have not been so good. But I feel like I’ve managed my game pretty well all week.

"The key is adopting the mindset that the goal this week was not to win an individual national championship. It’s easy to get down right now and be disappointed. Obviously, I wanted to make that putt (on 18 for birdie to force a playoff), but as we’ve seen in the golf world this week golf is not everything. It’s definitely a good feeling to be playing golf tomorrow, and I think we’re all looking forward to it.”

The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinal and semifinal matches conducted on Tuesday, May 28, followed by the finals on Wednesday, May 29.

Quarterfinal matchups on Tuesday include No. 1 seed Illinois playing No. 8 Georgia Tech, No. 2 Vanderbilt playing No. 7 Ohio State, No. 3 Virginia playing No. 6 Auburn and No. 4 North Carolina playing No. 5 Florida State. 

The 6:40 a.m. PT matches will feature Illinois-Georgia Tech teeing off from No. 1, while North Carolina-Florida State will tee-off from No. 10. At 7:40 a.m., the Vanderbilt-Ohio State match will tee-off from No. 1, with Virginia-Auburn teeing off from No. 10. The four teams advancing to semifinal match play will tee-off at 1:15 p.m. and 2:05 p.m local time.

Photos courtesy of C. Morgan Engel (NCAA Photos)