Darien Zhao
Matt Brown

'Eaters Come in Fourth at Wyoming World Match Play

February 20, 2024

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's golf team dropped a tiebreaker to Sacramento State to finish fourth at the Wyoming World Match Play tournament Tuesday at Indian Wells Golf Resort.
 
The Anteaters and Hornets closed out the afternoon with three victories each, but Sac State held the tiebreaker by virtue of winning more holes in the match.
 
At the top of the lineup, senior Darien Zhao earned a 1-up victory over Zach Mate. Zhao lost the first two holes before bouncing back with wins on the 6th, 7th and 9th to take his first lead. The two went back-and-forth and were all square after 16. Zhao then birdied the 17th and played the 18th even to secure the win.

Freshman Jason Tang never trailed in a 3&1 win over Jeffrey Perry at the second position. Tang won the first hole, and after Perry tied it up on the third, he came out on top at Nos. 4, 6 and 9 to make the turn at 3-up. Perry cut the lead to two on the 16th but Tang responded by winning the 17th to clinch the victory.

Tang went 3-0 in the tournament, while Zhao was also unbeaten at 2-0-1.
 
Sophomore Rei Harashima rallied for a 2-up triumph over Gabriel Smith. Harashima faced a two-hole deficit with five remaining but responded with three-straight wins at Nos. 14, 15 and 16. After both players came in at par on the 17th, Harashima won the 18th.

Junior Kevin McGough dropped a narrow 1-up decision to Zach Matzke. Jin Nakao also came up short against Jake Aberle by a 3&2 score and Yaoting Zou fell to Luke Dugger, 4&3.
 
UCI will be back in action, March 24-26, when it heads to Torrey Pines Golf Course for the UC San Diego Invitational.
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