Abrahamsson wins in playoff, Pacers 2nd behind Clemson at Palmetto Intercollegiate

Mar. 12—Oscar Abrahamsson stood over his ball, a crowd of teammates and other concerned parties lining the bricks surrounding the tee box of the par-3 16th hole at Palmetto Golf Club.

Abrahamsson had turned in one of the best rounds in the 28-year history of the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate just to get into a sudden-death playoff for the individual title, and now the USC Aiken senior was looking to put a confident swing on the ball.

He already had a playoff loss on his record from earlier in the spring season, and now he was staring down a daunting shot into the 212-yard par-3 with Campbell’s Henric Bjelke nestled in the safe-miss section short of the green.

Abrahamsson gripped his 5-iron, moments after talking himself out of hitting 6 and just going for it, and took his last look at the flag.

Then he backed off the shot.

Another player was returning from the parking lot and passed through the gap in the hedges next to the tee box before realizing his error, and Abrahamsson had to step back and re-set over the ball.

Additional pressure? Obviously not.

Abrahamsson hit his 5-iron approach to 8 feet from the hole, and then after Bjelke’s chip went long he made the birdie putt to claim the individual title.

“It didn’t bother me too much. I trust my process, and I just restarted my process and got over the ball,” Abrahamsson explained. “I’m almost happy he did it, because I almost felt more comfortable stepping over it the second time than I did the first time. I don’t think I’ve hit that green in, I don’t know, years, it feels like. I’m just happy I hit a good shot and it turned out good, and just made a great putt.”

Abrahamsson’s win gives USCA back-to-back medalists in its home event — Rory McDonald O’Brien won it last year — and he led the team to a second-place finish, only five shots behind Clemson’s winning score of 3-over 563.

An individual title seemed unlikely, especially to Abrahamsson after struggling on a rain-shortened first day. He was 6 over through 13 holes when the players were called off the course Monday, and with the tournament being shortened from 54 holes to 36 he was going to have even fewer opportunities to make up ground. He admitted that he woke up Tuesday morning feeling like he didn’t have a chance.

Then he went out and played his last five holes of the first round in 2 under, and then he fired a 6-under 64 to get into a tie with Bjelke at 2-under for the tournament.

“Honestly, I still can’t really believe it,” he said. “… I started kind of slow this morning, too. I made a terrible swing on the first hole I played and then made a good putt for par. Then, I don’t know, something just clicked and I just started playing out of my mind. I mean, as a last-year senior, it feels amazing to finish the way I did this week. It’s obviously a really big win, and I’m proud of myself for doing it. I’m happy the team is heading in the right direction, and everything’s just good right now.”

Teammate and fellow senior Swede Erik Olin (67) nearly made it a three-man playoff, but a bogey on his final hole dropped him into a tie for third along with Clemson’s Lucas Augustsson (71). The Pacers also counted a 72 from North Augusta alumnus Mitchell McNeill and a 73 from Karl Frisk in a second-round 4-under 276 that was 16 strokes lower than they had in the first round.

That was enough to get the Pacers into a three-horse race with Clemson and Campbell (571), but not quite enough to catch the Tigers. East Carolina (583) finished fourth, and Mercer (588) took fifth.

Clemson head coach Jordan Byrd praised his players for the way they finished the final round, during which they didn’t even have to count Augustsson’s score. Andrew Swanson (67) finished seventh at 1 over from the No. 3 spot in the lineup, and No. 5 player Thomas Higgins (69) tied for fifth at even-par. Kian Rose (68), the Tigers’ No. 1, finished birdie-eagle to surge into 11th place at 4 over.

Byrd thanked his players for rising to the occasion to bring home the Tigers’ sixth championship at Palmetto, but not before he had plenty of other thanks to give.

“This is easily one of my favorite places,” he said. “Growing up playing junior events here, played the state am here, played some college events here, been down here recruiting. It’s just a special place, and it takes special people like Brooks Blackburn, head pro, Mark Swygert, who I was lucky enough to play high school golf with, superintendent, does an incredible job. I think incredibly highly of (USCA head coach Michael) Carlisle. He’s done so much for college golf over the years.”

Before all of the trophies could be handed out, however, there was one matter of business to get sorted. Bjelke and Abrahamsson strode to the 16th tee, the former looking for his first collegiate victory and the latter looking for one he didn’t have to share — and, even then, “co-medalist” is a euphemism for “lost in a playoff.”

Abrahamsson has two of those to his credit, one in each of the last two seasons, but this time there’s no T in front of the 1.

“It felt good, in many ways, to get a chance to win in the playoff,” he said. “Doing it just felt amazing. Today I played some golf that I didn’t even know I was capable of, to be honest. I’m just happy.”

The second-place finish for USCA is the Pacers’ second runner-up of the spring, to go along with a couple of third-place finishes. The Pacers are hoping another positive performance carries over into the next, especially with the postseason looming. They play in Georgia College’s Bobcat Invitational next week, then West Florida’s Argonaut Invitational on April 7-8 before heading into the Peach Belt Conference Tournament and beyond.

“I’m happy. Obviously I’m really happy that I played good, but I’m also happy to see all of the guys on the team are doing good things and all the practice we do is starting to pay off,” Abrahamsson said. “Only losing to Clemson, which is a really big school, is pretty good for us. We’ve got a tournament next week, and I think that this week and what we’ve been doing so far in the spring has given us as a team a lot of positives, that’s for sure. I just hope that we’re going to keep building on what we have, and hopefully it’s good enough. I know it’s good enough to win the national championship. We’ve just got to do it, and I know we can. That’s for sure.”