The top-seeded University of Florida men’s golf team dropped a close semifinal match, 3-1-1, to defending national champion and No. 4-seed Oklahoma State on Monday at Colonial Country Club.

“That was a really good match out there today, close and fun to watch,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “We could have played a little better, but we hung in there with a good golf team. It was good to see us battle like that.”

Junior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) picked up his third win of the tournament, running his record to 3-0-0, with a 2-and-1 victory over Trent Leon. The pair made the turn at all square, but Leon was able to take a 1-up lead before Villegas took control. A birdie on the 12th hole evened the match, and the same result on the par-three 13th gave Villegas a 1-up lead that he would not relinquish. He bested Leon by a stroke on the 17th hole to seal the win.

“Manny has been the horse for us this week,” Alexander said. “He’s been playing in the number-two spot, so he’s not facing mediocre competition. He’s catching some good players. We’re ecstatic to have him back at this level after not playing his best in our last tournament.”

Florida sophomore Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) also remained unbeaten for the tournament, halving his third-round match with Tyler Leon. Horschel trailed by one hole with just four left to play, but battled back to all square on the 15th and played Leon to a stalemate the rest of the way to pick up the tie.

Sophomore Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.), who halved a crucial match against Duke in the second round to send Florida into the semifinals, rallied from a one-hole deficit on three separate occasions before succumbing to Ryan Posey, 1 up. Junior Tyler Brown (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) and freshman Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.) were both up ended by 2-and-1 scores on Monday.

“Billy has played well, Toby has been solid and Manny has played beautifully,” Alexander said. “We’re keeping our matched close and giving ourselves chances to win. We get a chance to play again tomorrow, and hopefully we can continue to play well.”

Florida will face seventh-seeded Texas A&M on Tuesday in a battle for third place. The Aggies lost their semifinal match to Lamar on a tiebreaker, finishing the match at 2-2-1. Live scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com or via www.gatorzone.com.

Round Three Results

(4) Oklahoma State def. (1) FLORIDA, 3-1-1

(11) Lamar def. (7) Texas A&M, 2-2-1*

*Lamar wins total holes tiebreaker, 25-23

Winners Consolation B Bracket

(9) Duke def. (5) Clemson, 3-1-1

(2) Georgia def. (3) UCLA, 2-1-2

Consolation Bracket

(8) UNLV def. (12) Washington, 3-2

(10) Arizona State def. (6) Coastal Carolina, 3-1-1

Florida’s Round Three Results (l. Oklahoma State, 3-1-1)

Billy Horschel halved Tyler Leon

Manuel Villegas def. Trent Leon, 2 and 1

Ryan Posey def. Toby Ragland, 1 up

Trent Whitekiller def. Tyler Brown, 2 and 1

Chris Ward def. Tyson Alexander, 2 and 1

-UF-