pga tour golfers from oklahoma state

From Bob Tway to Rickie Fowler to Nancy Lopez, here are Oklahoma's top 18 contributors to golf

With the PGA Tour set to return to action on Thursday, The Oklahoman sports staff took the opportunity to celebrate the sport in Oklahoma with a look at the top 18 contributors to golf with ties to our state.

It’s a wide-ranging list, from players to executives to coaches to World Golf Hall of Fame inductees.

Here’s The Oklahoman’s list of the state’s 18 most significant contributors to golf:

Bio: Awtrey was born in Oakland, California, but grew up in Shawnee and played college golf at OU, graduating in 1966. He has worked as a club pro, served as OU's head coach, and held several positions for the PGA of America, including tournament manager and executive director. In 1993, Awtrey was named the organization’s first CEO, and held the position until his retirement in 2005.

Bio: Bolt was born in Haworth in 1916 and served in the Army during World War II. He didn’t join the PGA Tour until his 30s, but he went on to win 15 times, including the 1958 U.S. Open. He was known for throwing clubs, which eventually led to a rule being made to prevent that. He played in two Ryder Cups and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. He died in 2008 at 92.

Charlie Coe

Bio: Born in Ardmore in 1923, Coe grew up in Oklahoma City and went on to become one of the greatest amateur golfers in history. After a stint as an Air Force pilot during World War II, he was a three-time conference champion as a player at OU in 1946-48. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1949 and 1958, and played in the Masters 19 times as an amateur, including a second-place finish in 1961. He made the cut at the Masters 15 times and was the low amateur six times. The practice range at OU is named in his honor. He died in 2001 at age 77.

Bob Dickson

Bio: Dickson was born in McAlester in 1944 and was a two-time All-American at Oklahoma State. In 1967, he became the first amateur since 1935 to win the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur. He won five times professionally, including twice on the PGA Tour. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

David Edwards

Bio: Originally from Missouri, Edwards attended Oklahoma State, where he helped the Cowboys to the NCAA championship in 1976 and 1978, winning the individual title the latter season. He joined the PGA Tour in 1979, where he won four times in his career. He finished in the top 15 at each of the three American major championships, including a tie for third at the 1984 Masters.

Rickie Fowler

Bio: Fowler played at Oklahoma State in 2007-09 and was a two-time All-American. He won the Ben Hogan Award after his first year, which is given to the nation’s top collegiate golfer, becoming the first freshman to win the award. He turned professional in 2009 and has won nine times, including five wins on the PGA Tour.

Labron Harris

Bio: Born in Arkansas in 1908, Harris moved to Wewoka at age 8. He found his talent for golf at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, where he won the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference individual title. He became an accomplished player, but is best known as the founder of OSU golf after he was hired by Henry Iba in 1947 to start the program from scratch. He coached OSU to 24 conference championships, and the 1963 national title, as well as helping two Cowboys win individual NCAA titles. Harris died in 1995.

Mike Holder

Bio: The 1980 Big Eight individual champion at OSU, Holder took the reins of the Cowboy golf program from Labron Harris in 1973. He went on to coach the Cowboys to 25 conference championships and eight national titles between 1976 and 2000. He stepped away from golf after 32 years as head coach to take his current position as OSU’s athletic director in 2005.

Betty Jameson

Bio: Jameson was born in Norman in 1919 and was one of the 13 founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Tour in 1950. She won 13 times on tour, including three majors. She attended school at Texas and graduated from high school in Dallas. She died in 2009 at 89.

Nancy Lopez

Bio: Born in Torrance, California, in 1957, Lopez became one of the most dominant college golfers the sport ever saw during two years at the University of Tulsa. She won 11 of the 19 tournaments, including a national championship, before turning pro and continuing to dominate the sport. Regarded as one of the most talented female golfers of all time with 48 LPGA Tour wins, she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987.

Perry Maxwell

Bio: Maxwell was a world-famous golf course architect. He’s known as the Father of Oklahoma Golf, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012. He constructed Dornick Hills in Ardmore, Southern Hills in Tulsa, Twin Hills in Oklahoma City and made major contributions to Augusta National, Colonial and Merion, among many others. He died in 1952 at 73.

Susie Maxwell Berning

Bio: Maxwell Berning’s family moved to Oklahoma City when she was 13. She won three Oklahoma high school state championships and attended Oklahoma City University, becoming the first woman to receive a golf scholarship and competed on the men’s team. She won 11 times on the LPGA Tour, including four majors, the 1965 Western Open and the 1968, 1972 and 1973 U.S. Women’s Open. She will join the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2021 .

Dale McNamara

Bio: While her crowning achievement might be convincing Nancy Lopez to come to Tulsa for two years, McNamara’s coaching success is much broader. In 26 years coaching at Tulsa — in her hometown — her teams won 80 tournaments and four national championships with 28 All-Americans and three individual NCAA medalists.

Bio: Morgan was born in 1946 in Wewoka. He went to East Central State College in Ada before getting a Doctor of Optometry at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee. He turned professional in 1972 and won seven PGA Tour events, but he excelled on the Champions Tour, where he won 25 times, which is the fourth-most wins in history.

Orville Moody

Bio: Born in Chickasha in 1933 and growing up in Oklahoma City, Moody won the 1952 state title at Capitol Hill. He turned pro in 1967 after a 14-year stint in the U.S. Army. Moody won only one time on the PGA Tour, taking the 1969 U.S. Open title. He found greater success on the Champions Tour, winning 11 times. Moody died in 2008.

Doug Tewell

Bio: Tewell moved to Stillwater when he was young and attended Oklahoma State, where he started on a basketball scholarship before becoming a golfer and turning pro in 1971. He won four times on the PGA Tour and eight times on the Champions Tour, including the 200 Senior PGA Championship by seven strokes.

Bio: A lifelong resident of the OKC metro area, Tway was the author of one of the PGA Championship’s most memorable shots, when he holed out from a greenside bunker on the final hole to defeat Greg Norman by two shots in 1986. He was a three-time All-American at OSU, where he played on two NCAA championship teams. Tway went on to win eight times on the PGA Tour.

Scott Verplank

Bio: Verplank was born in Dallas but played college golf at Oklahoma State. He was on the 1983 national championship team, finishing T-3. He won the 1984 U.S. Amateur at Oak Tree and the 1986 NCAA individual title. He won five times on the PGA Tour and played for two Ryder Cup squads.

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Oklahoma State graduate Bob Dickson revels in victories by Rickie Fowler and Talor Gooch

It wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the creation of LIV Golf last year but Sunday turned out to be a huge day for former Oklahoma State golfers.

Taking it all in was Ponte Vedra Beach resident Bob Dickson, one of the players from OSU who helped lay the groundwork for a steady stream of Cowboys who have lassoed trophies and titles in professional golf since the 1960s.

“I loved it … a couple of ‘Pokes winning the same day makes us all very proud,” said Dickson, who won twice on the PGA Tour and once on the PGA Tour Champions with a career on the PGA Tour executive staff in between.

Within hours on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, Rickie Fowler won the Rocket Mortage Classic at the Detroit Country Club and Talor Gooch captured the LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama in Spain, both on dramatic birdie putts at the last.

Fowler birdied No. 18 in regulation to earn a playoff with Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa, and then birdied the 18 th again on a 12-foot putt.

Gooch became the first three-time winner of LIV Golf events when he rolled in a 15-footer for birdie to beat Bryson DeChambeau by one shot.

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LIV Golf at midway point: Surprise leader in individual standings, where some big names stand

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Oklahoma State players have won eight tournaments on the two Tours combined this season. In addition to Fowler’s victory last week and Gooch’s three LIV titles, Wyndham Clark won the U.S. Open and the Wells Fargo Championship, Viktor Hovland won The Memorial and Charles Howell III won the opening LIV event of the season in Mexico .

Dickson is taking it all in with pride. He played for the Cowboys from 1964-1966 under Labron Harris Sr., and posted victories in the U.S. and British Amateurs during that time.

Players such as Dickson, Labron Harris Jr., Danny and David Edwards and Dave Eichelberger begot Bob Tway and Scott Verplank. Then Howell and Hunter Mahan came along, who handed the baton to the likes of Fowler, Clark, Kevin Tway, Gooch, Hovland and Peter Uihlein.

“The golf culture at Oklahoma State has been very good for decades, a really good golf history,” Dickson said. “I’m really proud of these Cowboys.”

Fowler, Hovland and Clark, the PGA Tour winners from Oklahoma State this season, have combined for four victories, 22 top-10s and more than $28 million in earnings this season. Austin Eckroat seems poised to join them and had a runner-up finish at the Byron Nelson in April.

Clark is fourth on the FedEx Cup standings, Hovland sixth and Fowler eighth.

Cowboys on LIV Golf, Gooch, Howell, Uihlein and Matthew Wolff, have combined for three victories, nine top-10s and more than $32 million in earnings. Gooch leads LIV Golf’s points list, with Uihlein seventh and Howell 10 th .

Players accepting grant applications

The Players Championship application period for its annual Red Coats’ community grant program began on June 28 and will last until 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 4.

Applications will be accepted from eligible nonprofits in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. The grants are awarded to organizations that promote youth services, education, character development, health, wellness and sports and military support, with awards ranging from $2,500 to $15,000.

The Red Coats are a group of civic and corporate leaders who have been volunteer chairs of The Players.

“We’re thrilled to support the work of grantees across Northeast Florida as they inspire positive change here in our communities. It is our honor to provide funding to these deserving organizations,” said Kevin Robbins, captain of the Red Coats.

For complete guidelines and grant application, visit www.theplayers.com/charity/info/grants .

The 2024 Players week is March 12-17. More information about THE Players’ charitable efforts can be found at theplayers.com/community.

Tour adds Utah event

The last time the PGA Tour was in Utah, John F. Kennedy was President and the Beatles had released their second studio album.

More than 60 years later, the Tour is back at The Beehive State.

The Tour announced this week that the Black Desert Championship will become part of the FedEx Cup Fall schedule in 2024. It will be the second new addition to the schedule, along with an event at Myrtle Beach, S.C., in the spring, which will be played the same week as an Elevated Event.

The tournament will be at the Black Desert Resort, on the edge of the Red Rock Mountains. The facility also will begin hosting an LPGA tournament in 2025

The Tour played in Utah on and off from 1930 to 1962. Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper won the 1930 Salt Lake Open and Tommy Jacobs was the winner the last time the Tour was in Utah, at the 1963 Utah Open.

Be our Kuest

Peter Kuest had a chance to earn Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour last week had he made a birdie putt attempt on the final hole of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

But he still finished among the top 10, which earned him a spot in the John Deere Classic. Now, Kuest needs only to make the cut, then finish in a tie for 76 th or better to get enough non-member FedEx Cup points to earn his temporary membership.

Kuest, a former BYU player, was a Monday qualifier in Detroit last week, surviving a four-for-three playoff. He then shot 64 in the first round and went on to tie for fourth at 21-under 267.

Event: John Deere Classic, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Ill.

At stake: $7.4 million purse ($1,332,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).

Defending champion: J.T. Poston.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m.); CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).

Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Jonas Blixt, Jonathan Byrd, Lanto Griffin, Zach Johnson, Patton Kizzire, Russell Knox, David Lingmerth, Keith Mitchell, Trey Mullinax, Poston, Doc Redman, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson, Michael Thompson, Carl Yuan.

Notable: Poston, a St. Simons Island, Ga, resident, shot 62 in the first round and went on to beat Christian Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo by three shots.

Event: U.S. Women’s Open, Thursday-Sunday, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, Calif.

At stake: $10 million purse ($1.5 million to the winner).

Defending champion: Minjee Lee.

TV: Peacock (Thursday-Friday, 4-6 p.m.); USA (Thursday-Friday, 6-11 p.m.); NBC (Saturday-Sunday, 3-9 p.m.).

Area players entered: Chella Choi.

Notable: Lee opened with rounds of 67-66 at Pine Needles in Pinehurst, N.C., and went on to beat Mina Harigae by four shots.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark, Talor Gooch leading OSU assault in pro golf

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Austin eckroat gets his 1st pga tour win by prevailing at cognizant classic.

Austin Eckroat was a 25-year-old who was a star at Oklahoma State before turning pro.

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Austin Eckroat waited a long time to become a winner on the PGA Tour. Another day didn’t hurt.

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Eckroat got the first victory of his tour career Monday, topping Erik van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee by three shots to win the weather-delayed Cognizant Classic. Among his prizes: $1.62 million — by far his biggest golf payday — along with tour status for two years and a trip to the Masters for the first time.

Eckroat shot a final round of 4-under 67, finishing at 17-under 267.

He said he was nervous Monday. He hid it well, never giving up the lead.

“This has always been my dream to win on the PGA Tour,” Eckroat told Golf Channel. “And just to win, I haven’t won since 2019 — it was a college event. It’s just been so long. I’m just so happy.”

He left PGA National on Sunday night when darkness stopped play with a one-stroke lead and was never caught. Back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes protected his lead, and a 12-footer for birdie on the par-4 16th pushed the edge out to three shots.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘I’ve put myself in this position for a reason,’” Eckroat said. “This is what I want to do.”

Eckroat laid up on the par-5 18th to protect his lead and take water out of play, knowing all he had to do was avoid disaster to finish off his first tour win in 50 career starts. He made an easy par, sealing the win.

“I was just really happy I was able to perform in the situation,” Eckroat said.

Van Rooyen had his round of 8-under 63 on Sunday to finish at 14 under. Cameron Young (66), K.H. Lee (66), Shane Lowry (71), David Skinns (71) and Jake Knapp (66) all ended their rounds on Monday, all wrapping up at 13 under. K.H. Lee made three birdies in the five holes he played Monday.

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But nobody caught Eckroat, a 25-year-old who was a star at Oklahoma State before turning pro.

His most memorable tour moment, before Monday, likely was last year in the final round of the U.S. Open to become the sixth player in that tournament’s history to post a nine-hole score of 29. Eckroat shot a 5-under 65 and finished in a tie for 10th at 3 under — ensuring he’d play in this year’s U.S. Open.

The season’s first major awaits him now as well. He’s going to Augusta National next month, with stops at Bay Hill and The Players along the way to Magnolia Lane.

“The adversity of sleeping mid-round, I’m just really happy with how I handled it,” said Eckroat, who became the fourth first-time winner in nine tour events this season, joining Nick Dunlap, Matthieu Pavon and Knapp.

For Knapp, last week’s winner in Mexico, he’s now had three top-five finishes in his 10 career PGA Tour starts. His earnings are up to about $2.5 million.

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“I was happy with how I managed everything this week,” Knapp told Golf Channel.

The Monday finish was needed after a thunderstorm dumped nearly 2 inches of rain and brought lightning to the area Sunday afternoon, causing a 3½-hour delay in the final round. Of the 68 players who made the cut, 42 finished on Sunday — so 26 returned on Monday to play somewhere between one and 13 holes.

It was a quick day for Billy Horschel. He couldn’t get to the 18th tee before the horn blew to stop play on Sunday night, meaning he had to come back and play the par-5 finishing hole on Monday. He had a 9-footer for birdie, settled for par and was done in 15 minutes.

Horschel — who vaulted into the mix with six consecutive birdies on Sunday afternoon — finished at 12 under. He ended up tied for ninth, along with Keith Mitchell, Peter Malnati, Alex Noren, Andrew Novak, Kevin Yu and Martin Laird.

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Wells Fargo Championship

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With Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff as teachers, Austin Eckroat is going through his own tour school

Amateur Austin Eckroat hits a drive during last year's Mayakoba Golf Classic on the PGA Tour.

Hector Vivas

Imagine being a college golfer living with a PGA Tour pro. Two different worlds to be sure, but Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat knows first-hand what it’s like.

Eckroat, 22, and former Cowboys star Victor Hovland, 23, are roommates in Hovland’s house in Stillwater, Okla. Eckroat rents a room, and when Hovland happens to be home—which isn’t all that frequent these days—the college senior has got at his disposal for advice and career counseling the 13th-ranked player in the world, a two-time tour winner in 2020 who is currently second in the FedEx Cup standings.

MORE: The U.S. is taking an experienced team to the 2021 Walker Cup

Eckroat also played junior golf and in college lived with former OSU teammate Matthew Wolff. At 21, Wolff is actually younger than Eckroat, having left school early after winning the NCAA individual title and winning on the PGA Tour in only his fourth start in 2019.

Eckroat has had a front-row seat to see how well Wolff and Hovland adjusted in going from the top levels in college to the upper echelon of the pros. From watching them pick sports management agencies, sponsors and schedules, “I kind of got to live vicariously through them throughout those stages,” Eckroat said. “Some things you don’t even think about. … I think I’m better prepared for that next step.”

As one of the most consistent collegiate golfers in the country, Eckroat has had a stellar career. It all started with being a part of OSU’s NCAA title team as a freshman year in 2018. In that same season, he also got his first individual college win at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.

On Monday, Eckroat received one of amateur golf’s biggest honors when the USGA named him to the 2021 U.S. Walker Cup team , which will play Great Britain & Ireland in May at Seminole Golf Club. “I’m really looking forward to it,” Eckroat said.

Thirteen days after the Walker Cup comes the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, and then it will be on to the pros in June for Eckroat, who has a strong chance to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership through the new PGA Tour University program .

First announced in June 2020, PGA Tour University gives the top college seniors in the nation access to the developmental tours of the PGA Tour. The top five seniors at the end of the 2020-21 college season get a membership on the Korn Ferry Tour and an exemption into the final stage of KFT Q school. Those who finish sixth through 15th will receive membership onto one of the PGA Tour’s international tours—Latinoamerica, Mackenzie (Canada) or PGA Tour Series-China.

It made Eckroat’s dream of playing professional golf that much easier. Eckroat is currently 15th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and third on the PGA Tour University Rankings . As an amateur, he’s played on the PGA Tour twice, missing the cut in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and, impressively, tying for 12th in the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic last November.

MORE: USGA/R&A to allow amateur to accept endorsements among several rules changes proposed for 2022

Austin Eckroat has played in two PGA Tour events, including the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he missed the cut.

To prepare for upcoming events, Eckroat is focusing on his swing mechanics and “keeping things simple” with his main swing coach, his dad, Steve Eckroat, and Ryan Rody, the director of instruction at Tulsa’s Southern Hills Country Club. Eckroat said that the relationship between him and OSU head coach Alan Bratton has been “awesome. He understands the game really well” and he has helped Eckroat grow personally and as a golfer, and mature over the years.

“College has been a mini exposure [to the pros],” Eckroat said. “So, the adjustment period to the Korn Ferry Tour should be easy.”

Prior to playing in his two tour starts, Eckroat had only attended three PGA Tour events: the Charles Schwab Challenge and AT&T Bryon Nelson in Texas, and the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah, where Tiger Woods won. Still, he’s ready to get on the other side of the ropes and put his self-described “traditional golf swing” to the test.

Eckroat thinks keeping his swing simple and focusing on the fundamentals have been the keys to his college success. From his freshman year to now, he says his wedges, short game, putting and strategic approach (thanks to Coach Bratton) have been his biggest areas of improvements. While he thinks his game off the tee is often underrated, he believes it will be an asset to him on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The pause of collegiate golf around the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave Eckroat the chance to simply enjoy golf again with his friends. It took him back to when he was 10 years old in his hometown of Edmond, Okla., where he would play golf every day, sunset to sundown, without a stress in the world. Eckroat and his buddy, Quade Cummins, a senior at the University of Oklahoma (who is seventh in the PGA Tour U Rankings) were playing at their home course, Oak Tree Country Club, during the downtime and were mentioning to each other that, “It’s hard to play golf whenever you’re not preparing for anything … you’re just playing to play.” But, playing in an amateur event in Dallas just for fun gave them some motivation during the extended break to improve some things.

MORE: U. of Georgia senior begins most hectic semester of his impressive college career

While the two-time college winner has his sights on potentially joining the PGA Tour alongside Hovland and Wolff, Eckroat already has some dream tournaments he’s striving for, including one day playing in the Masters, the Memorial and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He knows getting into his hometown major, the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills (moved from Trump Bedminster) is a long-shot goal, but he thinks he can pull it off.

Eckroat says the “a-ha” moment in golf for him that keeps him coming back is “striping a long iron down the middle of the fairway and the ball landing right next to the pin.” He wants people to know that: “He’s a really nice guy, and he never gives up.”

This week, OSU is competing in the Cabo Collegiate at TPC San Antonio, and in the first two rounds, Eckroat shot 75-70 to be tied for fifth place.

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GOLF OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma's No. 1 Golf Source

Eckroat becomes fifth OJGT grad to win on PGA Tour, elicits praise from around the state

By Ken MacLeod

No one was beaming brighter than Morri Rose when Austin Eckroat closed out the Cognizant  Classic Monday for his first PGA Tour victory with a display of brilliant ball striking and solid clutch putting. Unless it was his former college coach Alan Bratton.

Eckroat shot a final-round 4-under 67 to win the weather-delayed event by three shots over Erik van Rooven and Min Woo Lee, collecting $1.62 million in the process, along with an invite his first Masters and PGA Tour status for the next two years. It was Eckroat’s first victory of any kind since winning at Okahoma State in 2019.

For Rose, the founder of the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour in 2000, it was the fifth OJGT graduate he has had the immense pleasure of watching win on the PGA Tour. The others were Kevin Tway, Robert Streb, Talor Gooch and Taylor Moore.

“I’m just so proud of him,” said Rose, who retired as executive director of the tour prior to the 2023 season. “The way he performed today and the whole week was incredible. Austin has always been a great player and now he’s figured out how to win. You could just tell watching him today, he’s become a man and played like a man.”

Eckroat burst on the state scene by winning the Class 6A state championship as a freshman at Edmond North. He won it again as a senior before an All-American career at Oklahoma State, where he was a mainstay alongside Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff. The 2018 national championship team also boasted Kris Ventura, who this weekend finished second on the Korn Ferry Tour, and Brendon Jelley, who tied for fourth in the same event in Argentina, along with pros Zach Bauchou, Sam Stevens, and Hayden Wood

“Austin has proven he’s a special player for a long time,” said Bratton. “He’s been destined for a day like today for many years. From winning the state high school as a freshmen, to his performance at the U.S. Junior Amateur (medalist in 2017), to winning his second event as a college player, to now. He’s been on a solid trajectory of improvement.

“We couldn’t be prouder of him and happier for him and his family. I can’t want to see what he does next.”

Eckroat finished second by a shot to Jason Day at the 2023 AT&T Bryon Nelson and was in contention through two rounds early this year in Hawaii, but the way he closed out the Cognizant Classic made it look like he is poised to join Streb as the only two-time PGA Tour winner among the OJGT grads.

“I don’t think my mark is going to last long,” Streb texted today. “We’ve got some great young talent in the state.”

Jay Doudican, the director of GHIN services for the Oklahoma Golf Association, is in the camp that this will not be Eckroat’s only PGA Tour win.

“It was amazing watching him today and he’s probably going to win a lot more,” Doudican said. “And it was great to showcase the OJGT and Oklahoma and the level of play we have here.”

Eckroat belongs to both Oak Tree National in Edmond and recently joined Gaillardia in Oklahoma City as well so he has good greens of both the Bermuda and bent varieties on which to practice.

“Everyone here is very excited for him,” said Oak Tree National  President and COO Tom Jones.  “He’s a great guy.”

Who could be the next OJGT grad to join Eckroat and the others as a PGA Tour winner? Sam Stevens is the only PGA Tour member and OJGT graduate for 2024 who has yet to win. On the Korn Ferry Tour are Jelley, Max McGreevy (who has twice had his PGA Tour card and still has some status), Logan McAllister and Quade Cummins while Streb and Tway are playing this season on both tours.

Beyond that, there are some great young Oklahomans in the college ranks now and more next year. Three fifths of Oklahoma’s starting lineup as it won the Southern Highlands Collegiate last week were OJGT grads in Drew Goodman, Jaxon Dowell and Ryder Cowan. All were inspired by Eckroat Monday.

PGA Tour victories by Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour graduates

Robert Streb: 2015 McGladry Classic, 2020 RSM Classic.

Kevin Tway, 2018 Safeway Open

Talor Gooch, 2021 RSM Classic, three wins on LIV Golf

Taylor Moore, 2023 Valspar Championship

Austin Eckroat, 2024 Cognizant Classic

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The double meaning of Wyndham Clark’s dream year

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How the uncanny parallels with caddie John Ellis have made them an unstoppable duo

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This week’s Wells Fargo Championship marks one year of Wyndham Clark.

Oh, he’s been on the PGA TOUR longer than that, but for all intents and purposes, it’s been a year. Before he won at Quail Hollow last year, many fans didn’t even know who he was.

Clark earned his first PGA TOUR title at the Wells Fargo, then won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club a month later. He made the U.S. Ryder Cup team, won another Signature Event at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and finished second to Scottie Scheffler at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS Championship. They know who he is now. Over the past 12 months, only Scheffler has been a more prolific performer in big events.

What they don’t know about, not even close, is the story of the man by Clark’s side, his caddie John Ellis, and the haunting echoes of one life in the other.

They walk stride for stride, doing yardages, exchanging clubs, studying the play of the wind in the trees. Clark, who has gone from 80th to third in the world in 12 months, and Ellis are different but the same, eerily so. Had things broken differently … well, they don’t talk about that because there’s no value in it. What’s important is that they respect the divide that connects them.

It’s tempting to call them the man who made it and the man who did not, but that’s not quite right. It’s also too easy, for their relationship is far more complicated than that.

They met at the Punchbowl, the famous putting green at Bandon Dunes, before the Oregon Ducks’ 2016-17 season. Clark, a two-time state champion out of the sports powerhouse Valor Christian High in Denver, had transferred from Oklahoma State, where he had excelled early but struggled since the death of his mother, Lise, of breast cancer in 2013. After two bad years, during which time Mike McGraw, the man who’d recruited him, had been let go, Clark decamped for Oregon, where he’d almost gone in the first place. He had lost his game, he was angry, and he hated who he’d become. He needed a fresh start.

Ellis was driving up from San Jose, California, where he had led Live Oak High School to three state titles. He’d twice been a first-team All-Pac-10 selection at Oregon, and then turned pro. He played in two U.S. Opens, won some state opens and a handful of times in Canada. His best result on the Korn Ferry Tour was 13th, and his best on the PGA TOUR was a T24. It was not what he or anyone else had envisioned. He was tired and frustrated, and when an assistant coaching gig opened up at Oregon, he jumped on it. He needed a fresh start.

Why do we get the teachers we get? And why do we get them exactly when we need them most?

“I feel like John was meant to be my caddie,” Clark said at the U.S. Open last summer.

Wyndham Clark on his accomplishments over past year

He might be right, for the paths of one of the most potent tandems on the PGA TOUR were circuitous, to say the least. Their paths were similar, though, too, each an incandescent talent with furious ambition, each soldiering on through the inevitable bad breaks and worse.

Lise Clark was a former Miss New Mexico who became a national sales director at Mary Kay, replete with pink Cadillac (Wyndham once drove it to prom). She made a mean brisket and could beat all the kids at table tennis; Randall Clark, Wyndham’s father, used to go downstairs and find dents in the table, courtesy of the boys’ tempers. Mom had won again.

Wyndham has said he got his fieriness from his father, who played tennis at Arizona before a brief pro career that was cut short by injuries. But there’s fiery, and then there’s fiery. Wyndham was 13 years old and at an AJGA tournament in Aspen, Colorado, when he threw such a fit that his father shut it down on the spot. The boy was made to shake hands with the other kids before walking in and apologizing to the tournament director. That temper wasn’t done with him yet.

Although his parents loomed large, they were also a loving presence who drove Wyndham to tournaments and kept him supplied with gear, with Lise leaving the kids affirming notes. She was the first to take him to the course when he was 3, and he was hooked at the first bucket of balls. She called him “Winner,” a moniker and something to aim for.

The middle of three siblings – two boys and a girl – Wyndham was 19 when his world was turned upside-down. Lise’s breast cancer had returned after a 14-year remission. He was in between his freshman and sophomore years at Oklahoma State and playing the Western Amateur when told he should fly home. He did, and she died less than a day later.

“Play big,” she told him when she was sick. “Play for something bigger than yourself.”

Clark, after his mother’s passing, tried to live into her words. Play big. Inspire. Be a role model.

Athletics had always been a way to do that. At sports powerhouse Valor Christian, he had played basketball alongside teammate Christian McCaffrey, now a Pro Bowl running back with the San Francisco 49ers. But Clark would forge his identity through golf, for nobody played like him.

While playing for Oregon, Ellis befriended Casey Martin, who was born and raised in Eugene before playing the PGA TOUR. Martin liked that Ellis could beat him. Over time, Martin would leave the TOUR to take over as Oregon’s head coach. He kept up with Ellis, who had some success but soon was struggling as a pro. When Martin lost his top assistant in Eugene, he knew who to call.

Looking around windswept Bandon Dunes, Ellis was excited to rejoin the Oregon program, and intrigued by the hotshot transfer from Oklahoma State, Clark.

“I told him Wyndham’s story,” Martin said. “I said, ‘Look, you’re going to be spending a lot of time with this guy, because I think you can help him.’

“Everybody loves John,” Martin continued. “He’s got a great personality; he’s super fun, he’s super funny, but not like a clown. He connected with the team. They knew he was a great player, but he could make them laugh. He made Wyndham laugh.”

To understand Ellis, who like Clark is one of three siblings – also two boys and a girl – you must know he is the son of Dave Ellis, once the beloved radio voice of San Jose State football. Dave quarterbacked the team to a 13-12 win over Rose Bowl-bound Stanford in 1971 (but would have been the first to point out that the Stanford kicker missed five field goals and an extra point).

Asked about his father, John Ellis said, “He joked that he threw four touchdowns in one game – two to his team, and two to the other team.”

Martin laughed at this bit of Dave Ellis lore.

“That sounds like something John would say,” Martin said.

Although his father was larger than life, John, who like Wyndham played high school basketball, would also forge his own identity through golf, for nobody played the game like him. He grew up on a golf course and sharpened his game by competing against his brother. Word spread.

Wyndham Clark describes his pre-round routine

“The coach before me at Oregon was Steve Nosler,” Martin said. “Nos would tell me about this player from San Jose whom he loved. He was really good.”

Peggy Ellis, John’s mom, was the rock of the family, especially when things got tough.

John was 18 when his world was turned upside-down. Dave Ellis, when he wasn’t doing color commentary for San Jose State football, was a community college teacher who had started a program for disabled students. He was 49 and teaching a physical education class when he felt his chest seize up. The San Francisco Chronicle detailed what happened next:

“I had all the classic symptoms,” Dave Ellis said. “I said, ‘Uh-oh.’ But I still finished the class. I know it sounds dumb, but people who know me aren’t surprised.”

He also went through with his plans to watch John and his brother, Chris, play a golf tournament in nearby Hollister. Only then did he drive himself to the hospital, where he was told he had in fact suffered a heart attack. After getting angioplasty, he figured he might as well get the lump on his head checked out, since Peggy was always on him about it.

Although he had thought he just had a lumpy skull, which he covered with baseball caps, he was told a massive tumor was pressing on his brain. A surgeon removed it in a two-phased operation that totaled 23 hours, after which Dave Ellis spent six days in a coma and had to relearn how to walk and talk again. He would joke that the non-cancerous tumor had room to grow because he had such a little brain, and while he had to miss the Spartans’ 1998 football season, he told the Chronicle that he planned to say, upon his return, “Hello, everyone. This is Dave Ellis, back at Spartan Stadium – a little brain damage, but we’ll be OK.”

Admirable pluck, considering the circumstances were not at all funny. His family did not know if he would survive, and when he came out of the coma, he didn’t recognize them.

“You’d look at him,” John said, “and he’d give you this stare, like, ' Who are you guys ?' He had to relearn who we were. It took a few weeks. It made walking and balance hard for him; he battled through so much and taught us to never give up. It gave me perspective about what mattered.”

Dave Ellis would relearn the names of not just his family members but also the Spartans as he returned to call the 1999 season. He would live another 23 years, passing in 2021.

No one aside from his immediate family can know what Clark went through with the death of his mother, but John Ellis can imagine it perhaps more vividly than most.

“I don’t know what would have happened to me, losing my dad,” he said. “With Wyndham, you’re in college …” His voice trailed off. “You have to grow up so fast.”

From the Punchbowl putting green at Bandon, Clark and Ellis were off and running.

“They got along so well it was fun to watch,” Martin said. He laughed. “Unfortunately for me, it worked out a little too well.” (Ellis would go with Clark when the latter turned pro in 2017.)

“He was a softspoken, very polite kid,” Ellis said of Clark. “He had a passion to be successful. Driven. You don’t normally see that in college kids. It looked like he had a chip on his shoulder, and he plays with a chip on his shoulder. I know some things happened at Oklahoma State and he wanted to prove he was one of the best players. He took a very pro approach.

“He had a routine, and drills to get ready,” Ellis continued. “In college golf you pile out of the car and go to the tee, but he was more optimized than the average college kid. We would do drills and compete, and when practice was over, it wasn’t over for him.”

Clark won the Pac-12 Conference championship, was named a first-team All-American, and had ascended to the top of the amateur rankings by the time he turned pro. He and Ellis promptly got through Q School and onto the Korn Ferry Tour, and off that circuit and onto the PGA TOUR.

And that’s when Clark nearly stalled out as Ellis had years earlier.

Rage issues were holding him back, and no one could see it more clearly than Ellis, who didn’t have to think back too far to a time when his career, too, had been derailed. Clark was angry over the loss of his mother, and it fed into his bad golf, which only made him angrier.

It all came to a head at the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, where Clark stormed off the course mid-round as Ellis and Boyd Summerhays, his coach at the time, trailed at a safe distance and talked in a low murmur, no doubt aghast. It was a long walk to the clubhouse.

There was, for a time, some question about what to do. Ellis, too, had sometimes played angry and he didn’t want Clark to have to face the same regrets that he had, knowing that his mental struggles, which he admits he should have addressed, held back his physical skills.

“When you look at John’s life and his story, there’s obviously some disappointment,” Martin said. “But maybe some of those disappointments have helped Wyndham. It’s humbling because it’s not about John anymore, but that can be rewarding, too. He’s found his niche; he’s really talented at it, and it’s fun to watch them work together. … Whether they stay together forever or not, you can’t separate Wyndham’s success from John.”

Ellis and Clark’s agent, Rob Mougey, strongly suggested he see sports psychologist Julie Elion. What followed, Clark insisting he’d already tried that, then relenting, became one of the biggest stories of last season. He read the books – “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday, “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon – and delved into meditation. He did the work.

“It was like, ‘Hey, buddy, this is rock bottom,’” Ellis said. “‘You have to give this a chance.’ It’s hard as athletes, as men, to deal with some of that stuff.”

Lise Clark would have loved to see Wyndham’s rise. Dave Ellis, too. Clark is playing big. John Ellis is the bag-toting quarterback who knows how and when to toss off a zinger to lighten the mood. They respect that some universal intelligence, maybe God, or cosmic dust, put them in each other’s paths for a reason. Each has been both teacher and student.

When Clark turned pro in 2017, Ellis agreed to be his caddie with the proviso that Clark had to win at Pebble Beach, which was so proximate to San Jose as to be a part of his golfing soul. When Ellis Monday-qualified for the 2004 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his father and grandfather were in tears. This year Clark did win, shooting a course-record 60 in the third (which became the final) round to fulfill his caddie’s wish.

The man who made it and the man who didn’t – that divide, once everything, seemed to dissolve in the pelting rain. Whether you believe Ellis didn’t make it so Clark could, or Clark made it so Ellis could, or both, or neither, it doesn’t really matter. On this day, in this golfing Eden with the waves crashing upon the 18th hole, they’d both made it.

Cameron Morfit is a Staff Writer for the PGA TOUR. He has covered rodeo, arm-wrestling, and snowmobile hill climb in addition to a lot of golf. Follow Cameron Morfit on Twitter .

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Chris Gotterup takes 4-shot lead in Myrtle Beach Classic. 16-year-old Blades Brown tied for 22nd

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Chris Gotterup shot a 6-under 65 on Saturday to push his lead to four strokes with a round left in the PGA Tour’s inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic.

After opening 66-64 to take a one-stroke lead into the day, Gotterup had seven birdies and a bogey on a sunny afternoon with the breeze only gusting to 12 mph at Dunes Golf & Beach Club. He capped the round with a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

“That birdie on the last was huge,” Gotterup said. “I was kind of in not a great spot over there on the right, but hit a great shot and finished it off with a really nice putt.”

The 24-year-old former University of Oklahoma player is trying to break through with his first PGA Tour victory in his 27th start. He had an 18-under 195 total, with the four-stroke lead matching the largest on the tour this season.

“I practiced all those days at home for a day like tomorrow,” Gotterup said. “It’s going to be hard. There’s a lot of good guys behind me. I’m going to have to bring it. But if I was here at the beginning of the week and you said this was going to happen, I’d be all in. I’m excited. It’s what I play the game for.”

Erik van Rooyen (65), Jorge Campillo (67) and Robert MacIntyre (68) were tied for second in the tournament being held opposite the Wells Fargo Championship. a signature event in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Myrtle Beach winner will get a spot in the PGA Championship next week, but not in the Masters or a guaranteed spot in the remaining two $20 million signature events.

Van Rooyen is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. He’s the only player in the top six with a victory.

Blades Brown, the second 16-year-old in two weeks to make a cut, was tied for 22nd at 8 under after a bogey-free 66. Last week, Kris Kim advanced to the weekend in the Byron Nelson.

“I felt so relaxed on that first tee shot today, not having to grind,” Brown said. “I didn’t really have any expectations of myself today, and I was able to go out and play free and focused golf.”

Brown, from Nashville, Tennessee, is high school sophomore. His mother, Rhonda Blades Brown, played two seasons in the WNBA.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Talor Gooch gets invitation to PGA Championship after LIV success

The PGA of America appeared to detour from its usual practice by inviting a low-ranked player whose recent success has come solely on the Saudi-backed circuit.

In an apparent nod to his work on the LIV Golf circuit, Talor Gooch received an invitation to this month’s PGA Championship.

The 32-year-old Oklahoma native, whose Official World Golf Ranking placement was in the 30s when he defected from the PGA Tour in May 2022, has plunged to 644th while with LIV, whose events have yet to be approved for OWGR points. The PGA of America traditionally fills out its PGA Championship field with players ranked in the top 100.

While his ranking plummeted last year, Gooch won three LIV events, finished in the top 12 in six others and garnered an $18 million bonus for winning its individual points race. He thanked the PGA of America for its invitation Monday on social media.

“Looking forward to Valhalla next week!” Gooch wrote , referring to the storied course in Louisville set to host the tournament for a fourth time. “See y’all there.”

Gooch’s 2022 results on the PGA Tour earned him spots last year in the fields of three majors: the Masters, the British Open and the PGA Championship. After the U.S. Golf Association tweaked its qualifying criteria for the U.S. Open in February 2023, Gooch referred to himself in saying it was “obviously disappointing because that changed rule only affected one person,” then fell short of making the U.S. Open field that year when his OWGR mark dropped below the top 60.

While several LIV players have been eligible to play in majors this year because of past success in those events, Gooch — whose best finish in a major was a tie for 14th at the 2022 Masters — has had to rely on his world ranking. That well ran dry in 2023, and Gooch was facing the prospect of not appearing in any major this year until, per his post, the PGA of America took a detour from its usual practice.

The organization is expected to reveal its full field Tuesday, according to the Associated Press . Another LIV golfer, Joaquin Niemann, said in March that he had received a special invitation to the PGA Championship.

Assuming that’s the case, it will be the second straight major in which Niemann participates via invitation, after Masters officials included him in their field last month. Niemann, who was ranked in the teens when he left the PGA Tour, had taken strides to keep his world ranking (currently 91st) from falling off a cliff. In addition to playing LIV events, the 25-year-old Chilean competed in several tournaments on the Asian and European tours, where his four top-five finishes included a win at the Australian Open in December.

LIV Golf’s David Puig, who joined the circuit in 2022 after starring at Arizona State, has taken a similar approach. By bolstering his résumé with several top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour over the past year, the young Spaniard has climbed the OWGR to a perch just outside the top 100, and he reportedly also received a PGA Championship invitation.

Since joining LIV, Gooch has played just two events that weren’t on that circuit or were a major, and he didn’t have a good result in either. He answered a question last week about potentially playing in qualifying events for the U.S. Open and British Open by bluntly indicating he had no intention of doing so.

Gooch sparked derision in golf circles earlier this year when he was quoted as saying of the 2024 Masters — to which he was not invited — “If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his [career] Grand Slam without some of the best players in the world, there’s just going to be an asterisk. It’s just the reality. I think everybody wins whenever the majors figure out a way to get the best players in the world there.” The Masters field ended up including 13 other LIV players, raising questions about whether Gooch’s criterion for “the best players in the world” was a field with him in it.

As such, Gooch could find himself feeling an extra dose of pressure to perform well at the PGA Championship, which tees off next week. A one-time winner on the PGA Tour, he is coming off a fourth-place finish at a LIV event in Singapore.

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Breaking down the 2024 ncaa division i men's golf regionals, including players to watch in each field, share this article.

The NCAA Division I men’s golf regionals get underway Monday at six sites across the country.

A total of 81 teams and 45 individuals not on those teams will be vying for a shot at making the 2024 NCAA Championships, set to begin May 24 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. The top five teams and top individual not on one of those teams will advance to the national championship. The match-play final to decide a champion is set for Wednesday, May 29.

Regionals include three days of play totaling 54 holes. Florida is the defending national champion, and former Florida standout Fred Biondi captured medalist honors last year.

Here’s a breakdown of the six regional sites, including a look at the top teams, players and those dark-horse teams looking to play spoiler.

More college : 2024 NCAA Division I men’s golf regionals full fields, seeds announced

Austin Regional

Texas men’s golf won the 2024 Big 12 Conference title. (Photo: Texas Athletics)

Site : University of Texas Golf Club, Austin, Texas

• Wake Forest
• UNC Greensboro
• San Jose State
• Grand Canyon
• Arkansas State
• Kansas City

Individuals

• Gustav Frimodt, TCU
• Luke Gutschewski, Iowa State
• Hunter Bott, UTSA
• Cooper Schultz, Kansas State
• Kobe Valociek, Virginia Tech
• Joseph Sullivan, Florida Gulf Coast
• Erik Jansson, Jacksonville State
• Justin Biwer, Colorado
• Alexandre Vandermoten, Jacksonville
• Peicheng Chen, St. John’s

Individuals to watch

• Bryce Lewis, Gr., Tennessee : Although he doesn’t have a win this year, Lewis has been pivotal for the Volunteers since Caleb Surratt turned professional earlier this year. He’s a big reason why Tennessee was able to earn a top seed.
• Gustav Frimodt, Sr., TCU : A medalist at the Big 12 Championship, Frimodt is playing as an individual but has a strong chance to earn a spot at nationals if he continues his strong play.
• Jacob Skov Oleson, Gr., Arkansas : The Razorbacks’ top player hasn’t finished worse than T-15 in his past nine stroke-play starts, including a T-11 at the SEC Championship. Perhaps he will break through here for his first win this year.

Favorite to win? Texas. The Longhorns captured the Big 12 Championship last month and looked like a different team doing so. Texas has the victory, two runner-up finishes and a third this spring. Add in playing at home, the young but experienced Longhorns should be in prime position for a regional title.

Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? Notre Dame. Although the Fighting Irish placed seventh at the ACC Championship, they had finished third or better in four straight starts coming into the conference championship. Expect Notre Dame to put up a strong fight to earn a nationals bid.

Baton Rouge Regional

Auburn’s Jackson Koivun. (Photo: Auburn Athletics)

Site : University Club, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• South Carolina
• Loyola Maryland
• Arkansas-Pine Bluff
• Alex Goff, Kentucky
• Max Sturdza, FAU
• Niilo Maki-Petaja, Louisiana Tech
• Hugo Thyr, South Alabama
• Archie Smith, Little Rock
• Jackson Koivun, Fr., Auburn : Not only is the SEC individual medalist in the conversation for the Phil Mickelson Award, he’s well in the race for the Haskins Award. Arguably the best player on the nation’s top-ranked team is easily one to keep an eye on.
• Ben James, So., Virginia : The reigning Phil Mickelson Award winner has had somewhat of a sophomore slump after an incredible freshman year, but he has still been consistent and a strong presence near the top of every leaderboard.
• Neal Shipley, Gr., Ohio State : The low amateur at the Masters has had his best college season to date, and he’ll need a big week to help the Buckeyes try to get inside the top five while on the outside looking in.

Favorite to win? Auburn. It’s hard to see anyone knocking of the Tigers with how well they have played this year. Auburn has lost to only four teams in stroke play all year. Don’t expect that to change this week.

Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? LSU. This one seems easy, as the Tigers are playing on their home course. However, also don’t overlook Ohio State, especially if Maxwell Moldovan finds his groove, as there could be two teams to sneak into the top five.

Chapel Hill Regional

North Carolina won the 2024 ACC title. (Photo: UNC Athletics)

Site : UNC Finley Golf Course, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

• North Carolina
• Georgia Tech
• East Tennessee State
• Northwestern
• Long Beach State
• Michigan State
• Tobias Jonsson, Mercer
• Walker Isley, UNCW
• Nick Mathews, NC State
• Conor Gough, Charlotte
• Will Davis, Davidson
• Spencer Oxendine, NC State
• Erik Johansson, Campbell
• Claes Borregaard, Kennesaw State
• Justin LaRue, Longwood
• Fred Roberts IV, High Point
• David Ford, Jr., North Carolina : After a stellar start to the year, David Ford has struggled in the spring, though he remains a force for the Tar Heels, especially at home. What a place regionals would be to have a signature win.
• Christo Lamprecht, Sr., Georgia Tech : With a strong finish to the year, Lamprecht could well earn himself a PGA Tour card via PGA Tour University, as well as win some hardware like the Haskins Award.
• Mats Ege, Gr., East Tennessee State : Ege is one of the names in college golf you need to know. He has three wins this year, including the SoCon title, and is no stranger to competing and beating Power 5 opponents.

Favorite to win? North Carolina. The Tar Heels, playing as the top seed while at home? Yeah, North Carolina should have a comfy three days on home turf while playing its way into NCAAs, where last year it finished as a semifinalist.

Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? VCU. With three victories this season, including the Atlantic 10 title, it’s easy to see why VCU is a team that could cause chaos and steal a spot to nationals.

Rancho Santa Fe Regional

Arizona State freshman Wenyi Ding at the 2024 Amer Ari Invitaitonal. (Photo: Alex Gelman/Sun Devil Athletics)

Site : The Farms Golf Club, Rancho Santa Fe, California

• Arizona State
• Oklahoma State
• North Florida
• Chattanooga
• South Florida
• West Virginia
• Wright State
• Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine
• Tegan Andrews, CSU-Fullerton
• William Walsh, Pepperdine
• Brady Siravo, Pepperdine
• Kevin Li, Seattle
• Wenyi Ding, Fr., Arizona State : The midseason enrollee has been nothing short of spectacular for the Sun Devils. He set an NCAA scoring record in his second start and is well in the convo for the Haskins Award.
• Nick Gabrelcik, Sr., North Florida : Gabrelcik has a bit of a question mark coming in after missing his conference tournament, but with two victories this year and plenty on the line in terms of PGA Tour University standings, expect a strong performance from him.
• Petr Hruby, Gr., Washington : Although he doesn’t have a win this year, Hruby has been a steady presence for the Huskies. He placed T-8 at the Pac-12 Championship and is a big reason why Washington earned a No. 2 seed.

Favorite to win? Arizona State. The Sun Devils have been a different team since a poor showing at the Southern Highlands Collegiate. Three wins and a third since. In addition to Ding, Preston Summerhays and Ryggs Johnston have been stellar.

Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? San Diego. Host schools have the best success when outside of the top five, so why would San Diego be any different? The West Coast Conference champions have more than enough talent to earn a spot at nationals.

Stanford Regional

Florida State’s Luke Clanton won the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial for his third straight win. (Photo: Florida State Athletics)

Site : Stanford Golf Course, Stanford, California

• Florida State
• Texas A&M
• Fresno State
• Sacramento State
• Enrique Dimayuga, Nevada
• Ben Warian, Minnesota
• Jakob Melin, San Francisco
• Cole Rueck, Boise State
• Joe Sykes, Idaho
• Luke Clanton, So., Florida State : Clanton had a stretch this spring where he was the best golfer in the country, winning three consecutive starts. He then placed T-5 at ACCs. Expect similar results, even on the West Coast.
• Michael La Sasso, So., Ole Miss : Although La Sasso doesn’t have a win this year, he has been incredibly consistent for the Rebels. An injury forced him to miss the opening round of SECs, but if he’s healthy for regionals, he’ll be near the lead.
• Jack Lundin, Sr., Missouri : Coming into the SEC Championship, Lundin won consecutive starts. He then placed T-50. Expect a big bounce back at regionals.

Favorite to win? Florida State. This is the regional where I feel we could see the most chaos. Stanford as the fifth seed, one would expect it to finish in the top five. But Trey Jones’ squad was a NCAA semifinalist last year for a reason.

Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? UCLA. The Bruins were the first team outside of the top 30 in the last NCAA golf rankings update, meaning they were that close to being a fifth seed. Only seems right they could move up into a top-five position.

West Lafayette Regional

Gordon Sargent at the 2024 Watersound Invitational. (Photo: Vanderbilt Athletics)

Site : Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, West Lafayette, Indiana

• San Diego State
• Mississippi State
• Colorado State
• Southern Illinois
• Tennessee Tech
• Caleb VanArragon, Valpo
• Hunter Thomson, Michigan
• Cameron Huss, Wisconsin
• Barend Botha, Toledo
• Valentin Peugnet, Illinois State
• Owen Stamper, Middle Tennessee State
• Alex McCulla, Illinois State
• Ty Gingerich, Cincinnati
• Luke Fuller, Western Kentucky
• Ben Ortwein, Rider
• Gordon Sargent, Jr., Vanderbilt : This one doesn’t need much explanation. Sargent is one of the best amateurs in the world and won the 2022 NCAA individual championship as a freshman. He’s a threat to win every time he tees it up.
• Bastien Amat, Sr., New Mexico : Amat is one of the more underrated players in college golf. He has two victories this year, both in fields with plenty of Power 5 talent. It shouldn’t be a surprise to see him play well at regionals.
• Ian Gilligan, Jr., Florida : Arguably the best transfer portal acquisition last year, Gilligan has continued his strong play with the Gators this season. As Florida looks to defend its title, it will rely heavily on Gilligan.

Favorite to win? Vanderbilt. The Commodores’ squad this year has the makeup of one capable of winning the national title. But up first, Sargent, Cole Sherwood, Matthew Riedel and the rest of the squad has to take care of business at regionals.

Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? San Diego State. The Mountain West champions traveling to the Midwest will have an adjustment, but this is a team that has proven it can play well when the stakes are high.

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Chris Gotterup leads by 4 at PGA Tour's Myrtle Beach Classic

• Associated Press

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Chris Gotterup shot a 6-under 65 on Saturday to push his lead to four strokes with a round left in the PGA Tour's inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic.

After opening 66-64 to take a one-stroke lead into the third round, Gotterup had seven birdies and a bogey on a sunny afternoon with the breeze only gusting to 12 mph at Dunes Golf & Beach Club. He capped the round with a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

"That birdie on the last was huge," Gotterup said. "I was kind of in not a great spot over there on the right, but hit a great shot and finished it off with a really nice putt."

The 24-year-old former University of Oklahoma player is trying to break through with his first PGA Tour victory in his 27th start. He had an 18-under 195 total, with the four-stroke lead matching the largest on the tour this season.

"I practiced all those days at home for a day like tomorrow," Gotterup said. "It's going to be hard. There's a lot of good guys behind me. I'm going to have to bring it. But if I was here at the beginning of the week and you said this was going to happen, I'd be all in. I'm excited. It's what I play the game for."

Erik van Rooyen (65), Jorge Campillo (67) and Robert MacIntyre (68) were tied for second in the tournament being held opposite the Wells Fargo Championship. a signature event in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Myrtle Beach winner will get a spot in the PGA Championship next week, but not in the Masters or a guaranteed spot in the remaining two $20 million signature events.

Van Rooyen is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. He's the only player in the top six with a victory.

Blades Brown, the second 16-year-old in two weeks to make a cut, was tied for 22nd at 8 under after a bogey-free 66. Last week, Kris Kim advanced to the weekend in the Byron Nelson.

"I felt so relaxed on that first tee shot today, not having to grind," Brown said. "I didn't really have any expectations of myself today, and I was able to go out and play free and focused golf."

Brown, from Nashville, Tennessee, is high school sophomore. His mother, Rhonda Blades Brown, played two seasons in the WNBA.

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sports Golf

Tiger Woods to be lone player on negotiating committee with Saudi backers of LIV Golf

Woods will be on a five-member subcommittee that will be involved in talks with the pif, part of a busy day of governance as the pga tour tries to strike a deal..

By The Associated Press

9:13 AM on May 9, 2024 CDT

Tiger Woods will be the lone player on a five-member subcommittee that will be involved in negotiations with the Public Investment Fund, part of a busy day of governance as the PGA Tour tries to strike a deal with Saudi backers of LIV Golf.

Woods was appointed to the PGA Tour board in August, making him the sixth player-director and the only one whose board term has no limits.

The tour said Woods will be part of the “transaction subcommittee” on the board of PGA Tour Enterprises that will handle day-to-day negotiations as PIF seeks to become a minority investor.

Also on the subcommittee are PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group and Joe Ogilvie, a former tour player appointed as a director liaison in March.

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The subcommittee reports back to the full board.

The developments capped a day that began with  Rory McIlroy losing the inside track on rejoining the board  as Webb Simpson’s replacement when board members resisted his return.

“I think there was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason,” McIlroy said at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, where a $20 million signature event is being played.

Simpson had offered to resign, but only if McIlroy were to replace him. When a player director resigns, the other players on the board have to unanimously agree on a successor. McIlroy  resigned from the board in November , and the players selected Jordan Spieth to replace him.

The seven players — Woods, Spieth, Simpson, Ogilvie, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott and Peter Malnati — are on the board of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Enterprises, the commercial entity that  agreed to a deal with Strategic Sports Group  as a minority investor.

That deal included a $1.5 billion investment, which could be as much as $3 billion.

McIlroy was willing to return, believing he could help find a solution to the split in golf that has left some of the best players on two tours. McIlroy sees the reunification in some form as the ultimate goal and rubbed players the wrong way when he suggested earlier this year that LIV players return without punishment.

“Today’s news is in no way a commentary on Rory’s important perspective and influence,” Monahan said in a statement. “It’s simple a matter of adherence to our governance process by which a tour player becomes a board member.

“Webb remaining in his position as a member of the policy board and PGA Tour Enterprises board through the end of his term provides the continuity needed at this vital time,” he said. “We are making progress in our negotiations with the PIF.”

McIlroy is certain to stay involved in an unofficial capacity based on his experience of two years on the board and his voice in the game. He was the only European tour member on the PGA Tour board, and McIlroy has cultivated relationships across continents during his career.

He had said on a  British soccer podcast  at the start of this year that he met with the PIF governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in late 2022 and that he returned home and encouraged the tour board to meet with him.

The framework agreement among the PGA Tour, European tour and PIF was announced June 6, with a deadline to finalize it by the end of 2023. Negotiations continue with little progress.

Woods was among the player directors who went to the Bahamas on March 18 — Monahan and Henry also attended — to meet with Al-Rumayyan.

Woods said at the Masters about that meeting, “I don’t know if we’re closer, but certainly we’re headed in the right direction. That was a very positive meeting, and I think both sides came away from the meeting feeling positive.”

Gorder is the chairman and CEO of Valero, the title sponsor of the Texas Open. He has been appointed the inaugural chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises board.

Find more golf coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

The Associated Press

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