Eric Lee wasn’t on the Oklahoma State roster last year when the

Cowboys

failed to make the 15-team cut at the

NCAA Men’s Golf Championship

.

In fact, only two current Cowboys teed it up at Omni La Costa last year. Coach Alan Bratton revamped the roster in the offseason, with Lee and Ethan Fang transferring from California and incoming freshman Filip Falhberg-Johnsson making an impact as the season went on.

A year later, it was a different story for OSU.

The Cowboys won their 12th national title in school history Wednesday, topping Virginia 4-1 in the match-play final, and Lee was the one who punctuated their first title in seven years with his stellar up and down on the 18th hole. Leading 1 up after a birdie on the 17th hole, he had a tricky pitch from short right of the green on the par-5 18th. He bumped a pitch into the hill short of the green and allowed his golf ball to release just past the hole. He buried the birdie putt to win 2 up, and the Cowboys were on top of the college golf world again.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Bratton said. “Oklahoma State has now won 12 championships, but it’s the first one with these kids. They’ve heard stories, and we’ve had some of our best players of all-time talk to them just a couple of weeks ago. Now they have their own stories to share and a responsibility for them to continue to deliver those messages to the younger players so that we can keep this thing going.

“You hope for that kind of chemistry in every group, and we’ve got it with this team.”

OSU ties Princeton for the third most national titles in men’s golf with 12. Yale has the most with 21, while Houston has 16.

This was OSU’s fifth time making the championship of match play and only its second win. For Virginia, it earned its first wins in match play yesterday and was in the championship match for the first time in school history.

“I don’t think I can even explain it in words. It feels unreal,” Lee said. “It’s going to be pretty emotional. I’m going to try to soak it in.”

Fahlberg-Johnsson, for the third straight round, won his match in the lead spot, topping Virginia’s Maxi Puregger 3 and 1. Shortly after, Gaven Lane won his fourth straight hole to defeat Paul Chang, 4 and 3.

Virginia’s Ben James then knocked out Preston Stout in a battle of heavyweights in the third match, winning 3 and 2.


But Lee buried a long birdie putt on the par-4 17th to take a 1-up lead against Josh Duangmanee. He then found the fairway while Duangmanee’s tee shot went into thick rough near the penalty area, forcing him to lay up. His third shot left him 20 feet for birdie, which he wasn’t able to convert. That led to Lee’s stellar up and down, and Oklahoma State was on top of the college golf world yet again.

And there’s bad news for the rest of college golf: The Cowboys’ lineup, which earned its seventh win of the year Wednesday, featured four sophomores and one freshman, meaning everyone can return next season.

Early 2026 title favorite? It seems so.

This article originally appeared on :

Oklahoma State beats Virginia to win 2025 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, 12th in school history