Category: Men’s Golf

How Gator great Billy Horschel finished off the 2024 FedEx Cup season

Horschel failed to pick up one of Jim Furyk’s six captain’s picks for the 2024 United States Presidents Cup team.

Former Florida Gator [autotag]Billy Horschel[/autotag] finished off the 2024 FedEx Cup at East Lake this weekend with a 6-under performance that ranks him at No. 23 in the final season tally.

Subsequently, Horschel failed to pick up one of Jim Furyk’s six captain’s picks for the 2024 United States Presidents Cup team which came as a major disappointment to the Florida alumnus. Furyk — one of Horschel’s closest friends on the PGA tour — was the one who broke the bad news to his friend.

Instead, Furyk chose Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns, Tony Finau, Brian Harman, Russell Henley and Max Homa as the team’s captains. Horschel admitted that “it hurts” that he was not among the honored sextet.

Looking ahead at the PGA tour

The PGA Tour will be back on Sept. 12 for the start of the fall season and the Procore Championship. The Korn Ferry Tour is off this week and will pick up again with the Simmons Bank Open on Sept. 12.

The PGA Tour champions are back for the Ascension Charity Classic.

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Trio of Gators men’s golfers named Cobalt Golf All-American Scholars

Gators men’s golf once again found success in the classroom this school year.

The Golf Coaches Association of America announced on Thursday its Cobalt Golf All-American Scholars for the 2023-2024 school year. For the second consecutive season, Florida’s men’s golf team had three golfers named to the team — this time it is [autotag]Parker Bell[/autotag], [autotag]Matthew Kress[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyler Wilkes[/autotag] who earned the honor.

The academic accolades also mark the fourth straight season with multiple honorees under head coach [autotag]JC Deacon[/autotag] and back-to-back seasons of setting the program record in total selections with three.

Bell was also named to the 2024 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll as well as the 2022-23 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll. Kress is a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient and a member of the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team.

Wilkes graduated from UF this spring with a degree in education sciences and cum laude honors. He was a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member for the Gators and SEC All-Freshman Team honoree.

Cobalt Golf Award eligibility

To be eligible for nomination, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically in NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA, or receiving their Associate’s Degree and in their last year of athletic eligibility in the NJCAA.

In addition, they must participate in 50% of their team’s competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0 in NCAA Division I, under 78.0 in NCAA Division II, under 79.0 in NCAA Division III, under 78.0 in NAIA, and under 77.0 in NJCAA, and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2.

A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.

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Highlights from Billy Horschel’s 2nd-place finish at British Open

While Horschel slipped down the stretch, there is plenty ot be proud about in the Gators alumnus’ performance.

Former Florida golf standout [autotag]Billy Horschel[/autotag] finished tied for second at the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon on Sunday after relinquishing a third-round lead to eventual winner Xander Schauffele. He finished at 7-under par alongside England’s Justin Rose in the final tally.

Nonetheless, it was yet another superb effort from the Gators alumnus — one that will make the Orange and Blue proud.

Playing through some brutal Scottish rain, the Horschel put on a short-game clinic on the back-9 to take the solo lead at the 54-hole mark on Saturday. Unfortunately, Schauffele surged into the lead with a sizzling stretch of four birdies in six holes, holding on to win by two strokes.

Below is a look at highlights from Horschel’s efforts in Scotland last weekend.

Former Gator Billy Horschel loses lead in British Open final round

Billy Horschel took a 3rd-round lead into the final day of the British Open but managed to finish tied for second in the final standings.

Former Florida golf standout [autotag]Billy Horschel[/autotag] took the lead at the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon after three rounds thanks to a 2-under 69 effort. Playing through some brutal Scottish rain, the Gators alumnus put on a short-game clinic on the back-9 to take the solo lead at the 54-hole mark.

However, on the last day of play Sunday, Horschel could not maintain the edge, birdieing his last three holes to tie England’s Justin Rose for second place at 7-under in the final standings. Xander Schauffele surged into the lead with a sizzling stretch of four birdies in six holes and held on to win by two strokes.

Final British Open leaderboard

Here’s how the leaders finished at the 152nd Open Championship:

  • 1. Xander Schauffele -9
  • T2. Justin Rose -7
  • T2. Billy Horschel -7
  • 4. Thriston Lawrence -6
  • 5. Russell Henley -5
  • 6. Shane Lowry -4
  • T7. Scottie Scheffler -1
  • T7. Jon Rahm -1
  • T7. Sungjae Im -1
  • T10. Daniel Brown E
  • T10. Matthew Jordan E
  • T10. Adam Scott E

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Former Ohio State golfer performs well in first PGA event

Neal Shipley continues to make waves in the PGA #GoBucks

What a ride the past few months have been for former Ohio State golfer Neal Shipley. Shipley played in both the Masters and the U.S. Open and was the low amateur in both events. Impressive to say the least.

The former Buckeye is now a professional, playing on the PGA Tour America which represents about 28,000 PGA teaching professionals at 10,000 golf facilities around the country. The PGA Tour on the other hand represents tour players exclusively.

After performing well at his first PGA Tour America event, Shipley was invited to play at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit this past weekend on a sponsor’s exemption. And the young man did not disappoint in his first PGA event coming in tied for 20th place overall.

Shipley earned $113,068 for his first PGA tournament as a professional. Not a bad payday for a week’s worth of work. Shipley does not yet have his PGA Tour card, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see him earn that soon as he seems to be skyrocketing through the ranks.

Shipley joined the Buckeye golf team as a grad transfer in 2022. In the 2023-24 season with OSU, Shipley averaged his best scores ever with a 71.35 which earned him PING All-American honors, PING Midwest All-Region honors, as well as a unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection.

Big things are certainly ahead for the former Ohio State golfer.

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Ohio State’s Neal Shipley finishes U.S. Open as low amateur

Shipley joins some of the biggest names in the history of professional golf. #GoBucks

It has been one whale of a season beyond the college game for Ohio State men’s golfer, Neal Shipley. After finishing as the low amateur at the Master’s earlier this year, he doubled down and accomplished the same feat this weekend at the U.S. Open.

Shipley was one of three amateurs to make the cut at Pinehurst No. 2, and finished the championship at +6, two shots ahead of Florida State’s Luke Clanton who started the day tied with Shipley.

The graduate student becomes just the tenth amateur golfer to win low amateur at both the Master’s and U.S. Open in the same year, joining another former Buckeye, Jack Nicklaus. You may have heard of him.

Shipley has clearly shown that he belongs with the big boys of the sport. Hopefully, the type of finishes we’ve seen from him at these PGA majors translate into a long and distinguished professional golf career.

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Ohio State men’s golfer makes cut at U.S. Open

Neal Shipley is making a name for himself #GoBucks

If you’re a fan of golf and haven’t made yourself familiar with the name Neal Shipley, you might want to. The Ohio State grad student just made the cut for the U.S. Open as an amateur.

Shipley joined the Buckeye golf team as a grad transfer in 2022 and he has seemingly turned a corner playing the best golf of his young career. In the 2023-24 season with OSU, Shipley averaged his best scores ever with a 71.35 which earned him PING All-American honors, PING Midwest All-Region honors, as well as a unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection.

You may recall, he played in The Master’s tournament in early April making the cut and winning the Low Amateur Award. Shipley was paired with Tiger Woods on the final day where he shot a 73 to Wood’s 77.

Now Shipley has qualified to move on in the U.S. Open being played at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. Just making the cut is impressive in and of itself. If you haven’t been keeping up, a quick search on the internet will give you an idea of just how hard this course is playing.

Shipley sits at three over par heading into the weekend, eight strokes off the lead. He’s tied with names like Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth, and is leading Scottie Scheffler who is currently the best player in the world.

Who knows how the weekend will play out, but it looks like Neal Shipley has found his groove in the golf world and is ready for people to take notice.

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Ohio State men’s golf falls in NCAA semifinals

In case you missed it, so close. #GoBucks

The Ohio State men’s golf team almost messed around and got itself into the national championship match play. In the end though, it lost in heartbreaking fashion to Auburn in an epic playoff.

The Buckeyes did enough to advance to the match play portion of the NCAA Championship by finishing in the top eight of the team stroke play, then upset Vanderbilt in the close quarterfinals contest to punch its ticket to the semifinals.

Things were nip and tuck all the way against the Tigers, with the hopes of a victory eventually falling on Adam Wallin in a playoff that took 21 holes to complete. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun finally clinched the win, giving the Tigers the 3-2 win.

Despite the loss, it was the Buckeyes best finish at the NCAA Championship since 1997 when it finished fourth in the team stroke play. Maybe the run in Carlsbad, CA will create some momentum towards next season.

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Florida men’s golf finishes just outside top 10 at NCAA National Championships

It was a good run but the Gators were unable to replicated their title-winning results from last season.

The Florida men’s golf team’s 2024 season came to an end on Monday at the NCAA National Championships held in Carlsbad, California, where it finished 11th.

Florida entered the day in the final match-play spot with a one-stroke advantage but a collapse in the final three holes put them out of reach of the cut line. It was the third straight year that the Orange and Blue made it to the final round of stroke play.

[autotag]John DuBois[/autotag]finished the 2024 campaign with a 1-under 71 for a T23 finish — his second top-23 finish at NCAAs after finishing T18 in 2023. He played in 41 tournaments and 124 rounds for the Gators during the course of his collegiate career.

[autotag]Jack Turner[/autotag] became the sixth Florida freshman to finish top-23 at the NCAAs since 2001, joining ranks of [autotag]Billy Horschel[/autotag], [autotag]Sam Horsfield[/autotag], [autotag]Matt Every[/autotag] and [autotag]Camilo Villegas[/autotag]. He carded a final round of 1-over 73 resulting in a 72-hole score of 3-over 291 and T23 performance.

Florida continued its streak of five straight top-11 finishes after winning the national title: 1974 (2nd); 1994 (3rd); 1969 (T5); 2002 (T11).

“Our entire team has become hard-working, resilient and successful young men,” head coach J.C. Deacon offered after the match.

“They have invested everything into each other and our Florida Gators golf program. That’s all we can ever ask. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out. Things didn’t go our way down the stretch but we played a lot of great golf this week to be in position with three holes to go.

“We just couldn’t finish it off and I know exactly how hungry that’s going to leave this exciting young team. We will be back.”

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Adam Wallin falls to an eighth place tie at NCAA Men’s Golf Championship

Not what Wallin was aiming for heading into the day, but still a fantastic result! #GoBucks

Ohio State men’s golfer, Adam Wallin, entered the final round of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship with a two-stroke lead with designs of winning the first national title for an OSU golfer since Clack Burroughs took the trophy home in 1985.

In the end, there was a little rough patch in the middle of his round that cost him a chance at a title. Wallin posted a 4-over par for his round, dropping him into a tie for eighth place at 1-under par, just two strokes back of individual winner, Hiroshi Tai, from Georgia Tech.

It’s still one whale of a showing for the Buckeye golfer, and the first time an Ohio State player finished inside the top ten since 1995.

Wallin isn’t done either. He will now turn his attention towards helping his team get through match play against Vanderbilt on Tuesday as one of five golfers that will need to win three of five contests in match play.

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