CARLSBAD, Calif. – A challenging day on the course proved to be a good test for the Tigers; however, the nation’s top-ranked team battled and shot 2-under-par and maintained its stroke play lead heading into Monday’s fourth round at the Omni LaCosta Champions Course
At 22-under, Auburn easily survived the 15-team cut and sits in a good position to make the eight-team, match play cut following Monday’s action.
“It wasn’t easy today. The hole locations were very difficult,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “I thought we played a bit tight to start. We didn’t play aggressive enough or free enough, but they really battled the last four or five holes.
“Tomorrow, our goal is to win stroke play. Fighting for that means a lot to us, and it should mean a lot to Auburn. If we play free and play loose, we’ll be just fine.”
Auburn’s low men for the round were juniors Cayden Pope and Josiah Gilbert, who went 1 and 2-under, respectively.
Pope played a consistent round of golf with 15 pars, one bogey and two birdies on 4 and 10 for a 71 (-1). He’s up to a career-high 140 birdies this season.
Gilbert teed off 15 at one-over, but locked in and birdied the 15th, 17th and 18th holes to post a 2-under 70. The Millbrook, Alabama native now has 181 birdies this year, the second most in a single season in program history, only trailing teammate Jackson Koivun’s current total of 193.
A rare double-bogey-bogey run on 6, 7, 8 saw Koivun turn with a 40 (+4) on the front nine, but like Gilbert, he found a new gear coming down the stretch and birdied 14, 15, 17 and 18. He finished with an even-par 72 and has now carded 22 straight rounds at or below par.
Heading into the final round, Gilbert sits two shots back of the lead, which is held by Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout. Koivun is five back.
Auburn’s talented freshman duo sits just outside the top 20 as both Logan Reilly and Jake Albert are at 2-under after the morning’s round. Albert shot 73 (+1). Reilly shot 74 (+2).
Teams failing to survive the first cut were No. 14 Pepperdine (+4), Mississippi State (+7), No. 22 BYU (+9), No. 6 Arkansas (+10), No. 23 Georgia (+12), No. 13 Arizona State (+13), Arkansas State (+15), Purdue (+16), Louisville (+17), No. 20 Texas A&M (+18), Chattanooga (+20), No. 9 Ole Miss (+20), Memphis (+23), USC (+26) and Florida State (+35).
For the fourth round of stroke play, the Tigers will stick to threesomes with the Longhorns and Commodores. Their tee times are set to commence at 12:20 p.m. PT off the first hole.
Golf Channel begins its coverage of the 2026 NCAA Championship starting at approximately 2:30 pm PT on Monday. Live scoring is available at scoreboard.clippd.com.