Not even five hours after capturing his second straight Big 12 individual title, Oklahoma State sophomore Preston Stout was tucked in his own bed.
The win had taken literally everything out of him.
“This is probably the worst I’ve felt all day,” Stout said via phone on Thursday evening.
Stout still isn’t quite sure what’s ailing him. It could be food poisoning. Maybe a stomach bug, or the flu. Whatever it is, it didn’t stop him from shooting 3-under 67 on a major-championship layout in Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Stout beat Arizona State’s Connor Williams by two shots to become only the third player to win multiple Big 12 titles, joining Ludvig Aberg and Morgan Hoffmann.
“We had a couple people referencing the Jordan flu game,” said Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton, whose Cowboys also won the team title, their first since 2021.
Stout began feeling icky on Wednesday afternoon. He’d wrapped up his third round just a shot off the lead, eaten lunch and hit a few range balls when it first hit him on the walk to the parking lot. That night was one Stout would like to forget.
“I was waking up every 30 minutes,” Stout said. “It was no good.”
Stout’s best sleep came Thursday morning when he crashed in front of his locker at Southern Hills while his teammates were eating breakfast. Stout had tried to take a couple bites of a bagel, but he couldn’t keep anything down. His warmup was horrible. His energy level was nonexistent, as were his expectations.
“I honestly thought I wasn’t going to play any good,” Stout said. “I ate a bite of sausage right before I teed off, and then I went and ripped up the first few holes pretty good.”
Stout birdied each of his first three holes and four of his opening five, quickly leaving the rest of the contenders, including reigning U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester of Arizona State and fellow co-leaders Williams and Houston’s Wolfgang Glawe, in his wake. From there, Stout coasted, nursing a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and popping Tylenol while trying his hardest to stay hydrated. He did manage to eat a whole banana, which ended up also being his dinner; while Bratton and his players were enjoying a celebratory dinner, Stout was passed out in the team van.
“I’m sure the whole team will be together tonight, too, but I’ll be in bed sleeping,” Stout said.
Stout surely will have plenty more opportunities to celebrate. Ranked No. 14 in the country, Stout is becoming a big-game hunter with his three career college wins coming twice at conference and at this spring’s Cabo Collegiate, traditionally one of the premier regular-season events. Stout has three top-3 finishes this spring as well.
Bratton loves Stout’s toughness but also his elite driving ability. Stout feels like his iron play is a separator and credits improved course management and wedge play to unlocking this newfound consistency; as a freshman, Stout’s Big 12 triumph was his only top-10 finish.
“I’m a lot more complete player, more mature,” Stout said. “I’m a lot smarter and thinking a lot more methodically around these golf courses. In junior golf, it’s a lot of see pin, hit pin, and it’s just not like that when you play these tougher courses. That’s probably the biggest thing. And my wedge play has gotten a lot better, and pretty much every course we play is driver-wedge.”
Southern Hills was no different. Even with the course soaked by 5 inches of rain in the days before the event, Stout had plenty of those 125-and-in opportunities, though only one full wedge. He instead showed off his ability with loads of off-speed shots into those slopey, bentgrass greens.
Stout’s development into a potential first-team All-American, plus the arrival of Cal transfers Ethan Fang and Eric Lee, who are ranked ninth and 20th nationally, respectively, have Oklahoma State ranked fourth in the country and in line for a No. 1 regional seed. Last fall, the Cowboys capped the semester with a victory at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup, also held in Oklahoma, a win that snapped the longest drought in school history; Oklahoma State had gone 19 straight tournaments without a team title, which it hadn’t done since the program was launched in 1947.
“That was a boost for us to close the fall that way,” Bratton said. “And then we come out of the break and win in Hawaii against a lot of good teams. It was that timeframe there where we’re starting to gel as a group, guys are getting better and we’re learning how to close.”
Oklahoma State has now won three consecutive tournaments entering next month’s NCAA regionals, which the Cowboys will play for a 36th straight year. Oklahoma State and Clemson are the only teams who have played in all 35 editions of the regional round, though the Tigers are in danger of finishing below .500 with just the ACC Championship left.
Stout says the belief that this group can win it all is at an all-time high.
“This was a new team, three new guys in the starting five; all great players, but yeah, we didn’t really know how this all was going to look, especially with all of us being so young,” Stout said. “To get that win at the end of the fall, we bled that into the spring and have played pretty much lights out all spring.
“It’s been really fun, and we’re looking to do big things next month.”
But first, sleep.
