Oregon men's golf wins first national ever championship in sudden death playoff

If anyone told you golf was a boring sport, they clearly didn't tune into Wednesday's NCAA championship match between the Oregon Ducks and Texas Longhorns.

The Ducks trailed late in the match, but Eugene's own Sulman Raza rallied back to square up his match going to the 18th hole, eventually forcing a sudden death playoff.

On the third playoff hole, Raza, a product of South Eugene High School, sunk the putt to give the Ducks their first ever national championship.

There were four matches going on through the afternoon, but there should have been five. Texas had to forfeit a match when their top player, Beau Hussler, withdrew after dislocating his shoulder in the semifinals. This gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead to start.

However, there was a bittersweet tradeoff for one Oregon golfer.

Here is how the match that decided the championship went down through the afternoon:

Taylor Funk/Sulman Raza

Rafa took an early lead, winning the second hole. He had a chance to go two up on the fourth, but missed the putt and halved the hole with Funk, who responded by winning No. 5 to square up the match.

Two holes later, Raza missed a putt for bogie, allowing Funk to go one up.

On No. 9, Funk struggled and lost the hole, evening up the match at the turn.

Funk regrouped on No. 10, taking the lead back.

On No. 12, Raza hit a huge chip shot to win his second straight hole and take the lead, which was even more clutch when you considered how Aaron Wise was struggling in his own match.

Funk had a chance to win No. 13, but missed the birdie putt and had to settle for par to halve the hole.

On the 15th, Raza nearly sunk a long putt, but it just missed the cup by an inch or two while Funk sunk a five-footer to go one up with three to play.

Then, on No. 16, Funk hit the water off the tee, giving Raza a golden opportunity to square up their match. However, Raza's tee shot hit the golf cart path and chose to take a drop to put the ball into the rough. Raza would have to settle for bogey, however, and halve the hole.

Over on 17, Funk had a tough birdie putt for a chance to win the match, but he'd miss the next two putts, allowing Raza to sink a par putt for the win and square things up going to the 18th hole.

On the 18th, Funk hit two poor shots to start the hole, but recovered nicely to get back on the green with his third shot. Raza would miss a long birdie putt for the championship and settle for par, putting the pressure on Funk to extend the match, which is exactly what he did.

On the first playoff hole, Funk overshot the hole and saw his ball go to the fringe. Meanwhile, Raza delivered a clutch shot to come within six or seven feet of the hole. However, Raza missed the putt as Funk sunk another par putt to extend the championship.

At No. 20, Taylor Funk finally found himself with the advantage, hitting the better approach shot onto the green. Raza delivered a great long putt that nearly went in for birdie, but sailed just wide of the cup. Funk had his own chance at a birdie to win the championship, but his putt missed as well, sending the match to a 21st hole.

On the 21st hole, both golfers reached the green no problem, but Raza's approach was a little more on target, coming within 10 feet of the hole. That was all Raza needed, sinking the putt to bring Oregon their first ever national championship.

Here is a rundown of how the rest of the matches went.

Gavin Hall/Edwin Yi

Edwin Yi opened his round by winning a pair of holes early on, going two up through five holes.

On No. 8, Yi nearly hit a hole-in-one, which would be impressive on its own before considering the fact that it was a par 4.

Through nine holes, Yi held a commanding three hole lead over Gavin Hall.

Yi continued his dominance on the back nine, taking a five hole lead through 13 after an incredible putt.

Yi had a misstep on No. 14, missing the putt that would've clinched the match, but two-putted to victory on No. 15 after a missed putt by Hall.

Scottie Scheffler/Aaron Wise

Aaron Wise and Scottie Scheffler traded blows to start their round. Scheffler took two of the first three holes to go one up early.

Wise had a chance to square up the match on No. 6, but missed an uphill birdie putt as the hole was halved with Scheffler remaining one up.

Scheffler extended his lead with a nice birdie putt on No. 7 to go up two holes.

On No. 8, Scheffler found himself in a tough spot behind a tree, but got his ball onto a nice spot on the green. Wise nearly drained his shot on No. 8 into the hole from the rough, but sank the next putt to win the hole with a birdie, coming back within one hole.

Scheffler would win holes No. 10 and 11, taking a surprising three hole lead over Aaron Wise, this year's NCAA individual champion.

Scheffler kept up the pressure, sinking a clutch birdie putt on No. 14 to halve the hole and stay three up with four to go.

On No. 15, Scheffler struggled on the green, but hit a par putt to take down Oregon's top player and get Texas on the board with their first point of the day.

Doug Ghim/Thomas Lim

Ghim got off to a strong start, winning the second and third holes to go two up early on. However, on No. 4, Ghim hit a shot that landed six feet up in a tree. Lim capitalized to win the hole and come back within one.

Lim then sunk a long birdie putt to win his second hole and bring his match with Ghim back to all square through five holes. Lim then sank another birdie on No. 6 to take the lead. Lim then won his fourth consecutive hole to go two up through seven holes.

Ghim was finally able to stop the bleeding on No. 8, winning the hole to come back within one after Lim found the trees.

Ghim eventually managed to get things back to all square after Lim missed a 15-foot putt for par.

Lim then regrouped on the 10th, sinking a birdie putt to go one up.

Ghim came right back to win holes No. 12 and 13 to go one up in his match.

On the 14th green, Lim missed a par putt and conceded his bogey putt to Ghim, who went two up with four holes to go.

On No. 15, Lim nearly hit a long birdie putt, but it came up just short. Ghim responded with a birdie of his own to go three up with three to go.

Ghim wrapped up their match on the 17th to give Texas their second point of the day and tie the match.