Top three in PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings grouped together at Williams Cup

The race for a PGA Tour card is heating up.

It’s shaping up to be the tightest race for a PGA Tour card in the history of PGA Tour University.

In 2023, Ludvig Aberg dominated his competition en route to becoming the first college player to earn a PGA Tour card via PGA Tour U. Last year, after dealing with an injury in the fall, Michael Thorbjornsen also had a relatively straight path to earning his card.

This time, it’s all up for grabs.

The race for the top spot in the PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings has numerous players in position to earn a PGA Tour card, which is awarded after the final stroke-play round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. And this week, the top three players in the standings got a first-hand look at their competition in North Carolina.

The Tar Heels men’s golf team is hosting the Williams Cup at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, featuring some of the top teams from across the country in one of the last events this fall.

Included on those teams are some of the top players, like the top four in the PGA Tour University standings.

And Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were grouped together Sunday in the first round.

Auburn’s Brendan Valdes, North Carolina’s David Ford and Arizona State’s Josele Ballester played their opening 18 holes together in the Williams Cup. As if the three of the top amateurs in the world didn’t have enough pressure to perform for their teams, there’s also the competition for guaranteed job security straight out of college.

Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays is also competing, sitting at No. 4 in the standings. He debuted at No. 1 when the Class of 2025 rankings were announced this summer. Also in the field is Louisville’s Sebastian Moss, who’s No. 8.

Florida’s Ian Gilligan, No. 11 in the standings, made the cut this week at the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open, or else he’d also be in the field at the Williams Cup.

With roughly seven months remaining until one of them earns his PGA Tour card, every tournament, round and stroke matters. And at the Williams Cup, the top three are paired together have a little extra pressure than being a counting score for their team Sunday.

Oklahoma goes back-to-back in Texas, wins Ben Hogan Collegiate at Colonial

Senior Drew Goodman paced the Sooners with a T-3 finish at 5 under.

The Sooners are off to a stellar start this fall.

Oklahoma earned its second victory in eight days in the state of Texas, taking the top spot in the 2024 Ben Hogan Collegiate at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, site of the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge. The Sooners, which won the Valero Texas Collegiate last week in San Antonio at another PGA Tour venue, topped rival Texas by four shots.

Senior Drew Goodman paced the Sooners with a T-3 finish at 5 under. Sophomore Ryder Cowan finished solo sixth at 2 under while Matthew Troutman also placed in the top 10, finishing T-8 at even-par. Oklahoma was the only team to shoot in the 270s all three rounds, finishing at 10 under.

Defending national champion Auburn placed third at 4 under, two shots behind Texas. Those were the only three teams to finish under par. North Carolina was fourth at 1 over, and Arizona State, which was without U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester because he played in the DP World Tour’s Spanish Open over the weekend, was fifth.

North Carolina’s David Ford won the 2024 Ben Hogan Collegiate. (Photo: UNC Athletics)

North Carolina senior David Ford picked up the individual win, shooting 9 under to win by three shots over Auburn’s Brendan Valdes. Auburn’s Billy Davis and Texas’ Daniel Bennett also finished T-3.

For a couple of the stars in the field, it was a struggle. Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun, the reigning Haskins Award winner, finished outside the top 20 (T-28) for the second straight event and only the second time in his career.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt senior Gordon Sargent, who has his PGA Tour card locked up for next year, continued his inconsistent start to the year. In three events this fall, Sargent has placed T-33, T-11 and now T-40.

United States runs away with Men’s World Amateur Team Championship title

The U.S. played its best round Saturday to clinch the championship.

No team at the Men’s World Amateur Team Championship had more depth than the United States. And that depth showed all week in Abu Dhabi.

The Americans ran away with the WATC title, shooting 36 under over four days of stroke play at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, beating Norway and Australia by 11 to win the Eisenhower Trophy. The U.S. played its best round Saturday to clinch the championship, going 12 under thanks to an impressive 8-under 64 from North Carolina junior David Ford and a 4-under 68 from Alabama sophomore and reigning U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap.

In the individual competition, Dunlap finished solo second at 15-under 273, one stroke behind New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori, who also won the Elite Amateur Series title this summer.

Ford and Sargent, who earlier this week locked up his PGA Tour card via his start in the WATC, each shot 13 under for the week and finished T-5.

South African Christo Lamprecht, the senior at Georgia Tech who’s ranked No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, finished T-8 at 11 under.

France finished fourth in the team competition at 24 under while Italy and New Zealand tied for fifth at 23 under.

This is the 16th time the Americans have captured the trophy.

The WATC is a biennial competition comprised of two or three golfers from 36 countries playing four days of stroke play with the two lowest scores every day being counted.

Everything to know about the 2023 Men’s World Amateur Team Championship in Abu Dhabi

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Men’s World Amateur Team Championship.

It’s time for the 33rd Men’s World Amateur Team Championship.

The Emirates Golf Federation will host the 2023 World Amateur Team Championships. The men’s and women’s championships were originally set to be held in Dubai but moved to Abu Dhabi, where they’ll be contested at the National Course at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

In another recent change, the order of play for the men’s and women’s championships will be reversed to avoid a conflict in dates with other prestigious tournaments, meaning the men will play first while the women will battle it out next week.

This marks the first time the event, which dates to 1958, will be held in the Middle East. It also will be the first with a reduced scope of one golf course and 36 teams to lessen the cost and complexity of hosting the event, as approved at the IGF’s 2018 biennial meeting.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Men’s World Amateur Team Championship.

Meet the 10 members of the 2023 United States Walker Cup team

Here’s who will represent the United States at St. Andrews.

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — The roster for the United States Walker Cup team is set.

Following the conclusion of the 123rd U.S. Amateur on Sunday, the United States Golf Association’s International Team Selection working group and coach Mike McCoy announced the final selections to represent the American team in the 49th Walker Cup at the Old Course at St. Andrews from Sept. 2-3.

The Walker Cup is a 10-man amateur team competition between the U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland. The Old Course has hosted eight previous Walker Cups, more than any other venue, most recently in 1975, when the USA defeated GB&I, 15½-8½.

Rising Stanford senior Michael Thorbjornsen, second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, would’ve represented the United States but withdrew from the competition, as well as the U.S. Amateur, because of a back injury.

Meet the 10 members of the 2023 United States Walker Cup team.

Players to watch at the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club

It’s going to be an incredible week at Cherry Hills.

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It’s time for the premier men’s amateur championship.

The 2023 U.S. Amateur started Monday at Cherry Hills Country Club and Colorado Golf Club, both in the Denver suburbs. The field of 312 players will complete 36 holes of stroke play, 18 at each course, before a cut is made to the top 64, who will advance to match play at Cherry Hills beginning Wednesday. This will be the 123rd U.S. Amateur.

Eighteen of the top 20 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking are in the field, including No. 1 Gordon Sargent.

Last year, Sam Bennett topped Ben Carr 1 up at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.

Here’s a look at 10 players to watch at the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills.

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Gordon Sargent, Michael Thorbjornsen and David Ford named to 2023 United States Walker Cup team at St. Andrews

The top three ranked amateur golfers will represent the United States.

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With the Walker Cup nearly two months away, the United States Golf Association announced Thursday its first three selections to represent the Americans at the Old Course at St. Andrews in September.

Gordon Sargent, Michael Thorbjornsen and David Ford, the top-three golfers in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, will don red, white and blue for the United States in the 49th Walker Cup, set for Sept. 2-3 in Scotland.

“Gordon, Michael and David are fantastic additions to the team,” U.S. captain Mike McCoy said in a release. “Not only have all three of these young men had impressive seasons, resulting in these automatic selections, but they are future stars of our game who bring immense talent, enthusiasm and camaraderie to the team. Having them included in the experience at the Old Course is something I am very much looking forward to both personally and as team captain.”

The USGA’s International Team Selection working group will name a second set of additional players to the 10-member team in late July and will name the final selections to the team and alternates immediately following the U.S. Amateur Championship. The winner of the 2023 U.S. Amateur, set for Aug. 14-20 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, and the recipient of the 2023 McCormack Medal, should they be American, will earn the final automatic spots onto the team.  The Walker Cup Match is a 10-man amateur team competition between the USA and Great Britain and Ireland. The Old Course has hosted eight previous Walker Cups, more than any other venue, most recently in 1975, when the USA defeated GB&I, 15½-8½, led by future U.S. Open champions Jerry Pate and Curtis Strange.

Sargent, a junior at Vanderbilt, won low amateur honors last week at the 2023 U.S. Open and has won five times in college. And if he participates in the Walker Cup (as he’s expected to), Sargent will be up to 18 points in PGA Tour University Accelerated, meaning he’s only two points shy of automatically securing a PGA Tour card.

Thorbjornsen also qualified for the U.S. Open, his third time in the major championship. He won the Pac-12 Championship for Stanford last month and was named the conference’s Golfer of the Year. Ford, a fellow first-team All-American, was named ACC Player of the Year and led North Carolina to the semifinals of match play at the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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David Ford named first-team All-America

North Carolina Sophomore golfer David Ford snags first-team All-America honors.

North Carolina sophomore golfer [autotag]David Ford[/autotag] has been named to first-team All-America honors.

The announcement came Wednesday morning, with Ford being 1 of 11 golfers selected for such a high honor. Ford was the only Tar Heel to crack the list and joins Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht as one of the two to represent the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The honor acknowledges Ford’s remarkable year and the work he’s put on the green. Ford played a significant role for UNC, helping lead the program to new heights as they tied for third in the NCAA championship.

Ford had a historic season, leading Carolina in scoring at 69.89, the second-lowest average in UNC history. The sophomore also became the first Tar Heel to win ACC Player-of-the-Year honors, penciling his name in the record books.

Ford becomes UNC’s eighth first-team All-America, the second under head coach Andrew DiBitetto.

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Haskins Award: Final watch list for 2022-23 men’s college golf season

Check out who’s in the running for player of the year in men’s college golf in 2023.

The postseason is underway in men’s college golf, and after the NCAA Regionals, the NCAA Div. I Men’s Golf Championship field is set for May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With that, the race for the 2023 Haskins Award presented by Stifel is starting to heat up.

A handful of players have made their case throughout the season as front-runners for the Haskins Award, which honors the player of the year in men’s college golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media.

If you fit one of the listed criteria, use this link to cast your vote.

Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel writers. The players are listed alphabetically.

Golfweek/Sagarin rankingsMen’s teamMen’s individual

Haskins Award: First spring watch list for 2022-23 men’s college golf Player of the Year

Check out who’s in the running for men’s college golfer of the year.

With every passing week, the men’s college golf season creeps closer to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Haskins Award announced Friday its first spring watch list, featuring 15 of the best men’s college golfers this season. Gordon Sargent, a sophomore at Vanderbilt who has risen to No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is having a stellar season, but there are plenty of other big names in contention.

The Haskins Award honors the player of the year in college men’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.

Golfweek/Sagarin RankingsMen’s team | Men’s individual