The NCAA golf championship reached its decisive Monday at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course, where Connor Williams birdied the par-3 16th in a playoff to keep his run alive and the last match-play places were still unsettled.

That mattered because the final stroke-play round was doing two jobs at once: sorting the eight teams that would move on to match play and crowning the 72-hole individual champion. Monday was the day the bracket took shape, and Williams’ birdie was part of the morning scramble that set the tone before the field even teed off for the last round.

The top eight teams were not locked in when play began. Arizona and Tennessee were tied for eighth at 4 under, while Stanford sat first out at 1 under, a gap small enough to leave no one comfortable. The teams chasing the cutoff were over par when the day began, and the race for positions No. 8 through No. 15 was separated by only three shots.

Tennessee’s Lance Simpson gave the chase a jolt by birdieing four of his first six holes and reaching 9 under, good for a tie for fourth. LSU, after a historic round on Sunday that put it into the top 15, stayed in the mix with five birdies through six holes and moved inside the cut line early. Preston Stout also made his move, birdieing the 18th to take the clubhouse lead after reaching 15 under with nine holes to play and holding a one-shot edge over William Jennings with three holes left. Filip Jakubcik was next at 11 under.

Before any of that was settled, Williams and Arkansas’ Gerardo Gomez had already opened the day with a playoff for the final individual stroke-play spot. Williams won it the hard way, birdieing the par-3 16th to advance. The teams in the 4-for-2 playoff were set to play holes 1, 15, 16, 17 and 18 in foursomes, with the lowest playoff scores advancing until only two teams remained.

Omni La Costa has hosted the championship for the third straight year, and this edition began with Oklahoma State defending its national title and Auburn ranked No. 1 in the field. The event used 54 holes of stroke play from Friday through Sunday before Monday’s final round decided the top eight and the individual champion, with Tuesday morning match play waiting for whoever survived the cut.

By the time the sun set on Monday, the only thing left that mattered was which two teams would claim the final match-play places and carry the championship into the bracket round.