Kevin Ward and Gary Woodland didn’t need a champagne shower or celebratory dive in the lake to cap their Kansas Golf Assn. Fourball Championship title Saturday afternoon at Alvamar.

The skies parted and doused everyone on the course during the final three holes before Ward and Woodland — standouts on the Kansas University golf team — put the score out of reach. They defeated former Jayhawks Jay Hepler and Tyler Shelton by six holes in the 31-hole match play contest.

The current Jayhawks did most of their damage when the course was dry and built a lead that was virtually insurmountable before the rain fell. By winning, they became the fourth KU pair in the last five years to win the Fourball Championship.

“If we bring our A game,” Ward said, “nobody’s going to beat us.

“We were 14-under-par through 29 holes today. That’s a birdie every other hole. If you can do that, that’s putting somebody else in a tough place to try to match.”

Ironically, it was Ward and Woodland who played out of a hole in the beginning. They spent too much time on the putting green Saturday morning and arrived at the tee box at the first hole a few seconds late. Their tardiness caused them to forfeit the hole.

“We got off to a little bad break not getting there this morning,” Woodland said, “but we weren’t there, so it’s our fault. We put that behind us. It kind of really got us mad more than anything.”

Apparently an angry Woodland is a deadly Woodland, because from the second tee shot through the final putt he was on fire. His birdie on No. 2 evened the match, and his smashing drives and delicate putting kept the pair in the hunt while Ward struggled with his irons.

Hepler sank a 20-foot chip shot for birdie on No. 7 that kept the pressure on, but Ward and Woodland were one-up after nine holes and rapidly building steam. Ward regained his touch and made birdie putts on No. 10 and No. 14. That gave the two a three-hole lead after the first round.

Kevin Ward, right, tees off as teammate Gary Woodland looks on during the KGA Fourball Championship. The Jayhawks beat former KU golfers Jay Hepler and Tyler Shelton in the event's match-play finals Saturday at Alvamar.

“They made a couple of big putts, and they chipped in on us,” Woodland said. “It was a good match in the morning. They made one mistake in the front nine and made bogey and we got out there one-up through nine, and then we kind of turned it on the back nine.

“Then we got to the second 18, and Kevin really got hot.”

Call that the understatement of the day.

Ward almost melted his putter with his hot hands. He singed the greens with four birdies on the first five holes. Just like that, a close match turned into a six-hole differential.

Woodland drained 50- and 20-foot putts on No. 8 and No. 9 to pad the lead. That wowed the 30 or so fans and tournament officials who closely followed every hole of the match. Meanwhile, it only frustrated Hepler and Shelton, who made nice shots off the tee and placed good chips but couldn’t slice away much at the lead. Shelton birdied No. 12 in the rain, but after the 13th hole he and Hepler were mathematically eliminated.

Former Jayhawk Jay Hepler follows through after a short iron shot. Hepler and Tyler Shelton finished second in the KGA Fourball Championship finals Saturday at Alvamar.

The loss capped what had been a sensational tournament for the two former Jayhawks, who played at KU in the mid-1990s. They steamrolled through the stroke-play and early match-play rounds before wearing down in the finals.

The defeat was bittersweet because they had such a successful week, Shelton said, but he was proud of the current Jayhawks who impressed him on every hole Saturday.

“Even if we did have our A game, I wonder if we could have kept up,” he said. “But it was fun, and it was fun to watch them play well. Being a Kansas Jayhawk, it’s always fun to watch other fellow golfers play well here. My hat’s off to them. They just played great.”