CARLSBAD, Calif. – No. 1 Auburn men’s golf fired an Omni LaCosta Champions Course record of 16-under-par Saturday to take the lead at 20-under-par at the 2026 NCAA Championship.
Auburn threw out a par (72) and counted four scores at 69 (-3) or better.
“All five guys played some really, really good golf,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “We finally made some more putts; there are still more to be made, though. But what a finish today. Two freshmen came up big over the last four holes. That’s what it’s going to take, guys from up and down the lineup stepping up, if we want to make a run this week.”
No. 3 Texas and No. 11 Vanderbilt are the Tigers’ nearest trailers, eight shots back, at 12-under-par. Arizona’s Filip Jakubcik leads the individuals at 10-under.
Auburn’s best round of the morning came from junior Josiah Gilbert, who went bogey-free with birdies on 2, 6, 8, 13 and 16 for a 5-under 67. He’s tied for fourth at 7-under heading into Sunday.
“Us playing as well as we are right now is a credit to the program we’ve built,” Gilbert said. “The amount of work put into preparing us and having us peak at the right time is a byproduct of everything from strength and conditioning to team culture.”
Also in the top 10 individually is junior Jackson Koivun. He sits one back of Gilbert at 6-under after a 68 (-4) on the day. Koivun bogeyed just twice and more than made up for it with birdies on 2, 5, 6, 9, 11 and 18.
The Tigers’ freshman duo went to work in round two, showing no signs of immaturity as Jake Albert and Logan Reilly shot 68 (-4) and 69 (-3), respectively. Both players closed on a hot streak. Albert birdied 15 and 17 before a near-eagle turned birdie on 18. Reilly made 15 consecutive pars before picking up birdies on each of his final three holes.
“I felt really good today. My main focus was on making more putts,” Albert said. “I hit some good shots in there to give myself some short putts, and that helped. Closing the way I did wasn’t too bad either.”
Junior Cayden Pope matched three bogeys with three birdies for an even 72.
For Sunday’s third round of stroke play action, Auburn will be grouped with the Longhorns and Commodores, and will go off from the first hole at 6:30 a.m. PT. Following Sunday’s play, the field will be cut in half to 15. The best 15 teams will play a fourth round of stroke play before paring down to eight for match play on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Live scoring for the 2026 NCAA Championship is available at scoreboard.clippd.com.