McCoy Medals As Bulldogs Take Second At Linger Longer Invitational

Lee McCoy (with Great Waters club pro Jose Lopez)
won the Linger Longer Invitational on Tuesday.

GREENSBORO, Ga. --- Lee McCoy earned his sixth career individual victory as the No. 2-ranked Georgia men's golf team finished second at the Linger Longer Invitational Tuesday.

The Bulldogs posted a score of 12-under-par 276 on Tuesday at Great Waters Golf Course at Reynolds Plantation, bringing them to a total of 9-under 855 for the three-round tournament. Tuesday’s round gave Georgia the lowest score for any team in the field for a single round. Augusta finished tied with Georgia, while Alabama earned team honors at 12-under 852.

McCoy fired a 2-under 70 in the final round to bring his tournament total to 9-under 207. This is the sixth win of McCoy’s career, leaving him just one behind the school record of seven, shared by current PGA Tour members Chris Kirk and Russell Henley.

Sepp Straka’s final round of 7-under 65 gave him the third lowest score in school history, as only eight golfers have recorded a score lower than 7-under in a round. His 8-under 208 total for the tournament left him just one stroke behind McCoy for a runner-up finish.

“Sepp shooting 7-under today was something special,” said McCoy. “That was the main factor in getting us back into contention this week.”

Tye Waller, competing as an individual, shot a 1-over 73 in the final round and finished tied for 18th place.

Georgia will be back in action April 2-3 at the 3M Augusta Invitational, an event that McCoy won last season to earn a spot in the recent Valspar Championship.

Speaking of which, check out this piece on McCoy's experience.

Sigg-Led Bulldogs Win SICs Again

Greyson Sigg was a co-medalist as the No. 2 Georgia men’s golf team won the team title on Monday in the Southern Intercollegiate Championships at Athens Country Club.

The Bulldogs, who won the event last year, fired a 20-under-par 556 in the 36-hole event to earn a 3-shot victory over Arkansas. Georgia’s first round score of 17-under 271 represents the fifth-lowest round in school history. This is Georgia’s second title of the season.

“I saw a lot of good golf,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said, “and anytime you see good golf, you’re happy. The golf course was playing really hard today, with really tough pins, and firm, fast greens. But what I thought was really good was Arkansas made a good run at us, and we were able to hold it together and pull out a victory against a really good team. It was a great day for the Dogs.”

Sigg finished with a two-round score of 7-under 137 after a 6-under 66 in the first round, followed by a 1-under 71 in the second round. He shared medalist honors with Nicolas Echavarria of Arkansas.

“I’m pretty excited,” said Sigg. “[Medaling] was for sure a goal of mine today. I know there were a lot of good guys out here playing, and I just had to go out here and play my own game. I ended up playing pretty well.”

In addition to Sigg, three other Georgia golfers finished tied for seventh place or better. Zach Healy tied for third with a 6-under 138, followed by Sepp Straka with a 4-under 140 and a 3-under 141 effort from Lee McCoy. Making his Georgia debut, Tye Waller shot a 9-over 153.

Playing as an individual, David Mackey shot a 1-under 143 and tied for 12th. Other individual scores included 3-over 147 from Jaime Lopez Rivarola, 4-over 148 from Jack Larkin Jr., and Matt Beringer’s 5-over 149.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Sunday through Tuesday at the Linger Longer Invitational. Live scoring can be found at GolfStat.com.

McCoy Shines In Valspar Championship

Lee McCoy (right) with Jordan Speith

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Georgia senior Lee McCoy grew up at Innisbrook and lost track of the number of times he has played the Copperhead course.

Sunday was an experience right out of his dreams at the Valspar Championship.

He walked up the 18th fairway with Jordan Spieth at his side and thousands of people lining both sides of the fairway and packed onto the terraces of the corporate tents. They were cheering for him. And so was Spieth.

McCoy had the best showing by an amateur in nearly two decades at a PGA Tour event of top players, closing with a 2-under 69 to finish fourth at the Valspar Championship. When he tapped in for par on the 18th hole, he politely waved to the crowd as Spieth, who stumbled to a 73, approached him with applause.

What a day. What a week.

"Surreal to say the least," McCoy said. "I've always dreamed of just getting a tee time here on Thursday (for the tournament). Being in contention on Sunday, playing with the No. 1 player in the world is something that didn't cross my mind. I really had to pinch myself a few times today."

McCoy was only the fifth amateur to finish in the top 5 on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won as an Arizona State junior in 1991. His fourth-place finish was the best at a tour event with top players since 17-year-old Justin Rose tied for fourth in the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale. Robbie Shelton tied for third last summer in Alabama, an event held opposite the British Open.

There was a poignant moment on the 18th green as Spieth — also 22, but with about $33 million more in earnings — began clapping as he approached McCoy.

"It's really incredible to see a guy in his position to have that much class," McCoy said. "At the end of the day, I'm still a little college scrub playing out here with these guys trying to fit in. The guy had nothing but great things to say and treated me like I really belonged out here. It's pretty cool."

Spieth knows the feeling. He dealt with it at his hometown tournament, the Byron Nelson Championship, when he was 16. He featured on the weekend and tied for 16th.

"It was really cool to watch," Spieth said. "You would have thought he was out here for years, working the ball both ways. The way he was talking, couldn't sense any nerves or anything on his putting stroke, either. He's certainly really ready to be out here. It was really fun to watch."

The best moment was on the 12th, the rowdiest part of the golf course behind the green. McCoy rolled in a birdie and the place erupted.

"Jordan told me right after I made it, it was the greatest noise in the world," McCoy said. "Doesn't get better than that."

Georgia Prepares For Southern Intercollegiate

The second-ranked Georgia men’s golf team is set to host the Southern Intercollegiate on Monday. The one-day, 36-hole event will feature 14 total teams teeing off starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Athens Country Club. There is no fee for admission.

The Bulldogs will enter nine players in the field. The lineup will include seniors Lee McCoy and Sepp Straka, junior Greyson Sigg, sophomore Zach Healy and freshman Tye Waller. Matthew Beringer, Jack Larkin Jr., Jaime Lopez Rivarola and David Mackey will all compete as individuals.

“Playing tournaments is so different than practice or qualifying,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. “You actually get to see what guys are capable of doing when the light goes off. Being able to get everyone some experience, to post a score and to put a little pressure on everybody, that’s always a good thing to see how they’re going to perform. It will be fun to see all nine out there.”

Georgia took team honors at the 2015 Southern Intercollegiate after firing a 1-under-par 575 in the 36-hole event to win by 13 strokes.

“It’s a home tournament so it’s always cool to play out here at a course we all know pretty well,” Straka said. “It’s good to get that win in (in Mexico) going into this one and we’re kind of just trying to gear up at the right time here. We really want it to click by SECs and the postseason.”

The SICs were the brainchild of Georgia athletic director Herman Stegeman and Athens Country Club founder Lon Dudley in 1934. The first tournament was held in 1935 and ran annually through 1942. It resumed in 1946 and was held through 1965, then was relaunched in 1975 and ran through 1990. Past individual medalists include Wake Forest’s Arnold Palmer in 1950, Oklahoma State’s Bob Tway in 1979 and Centenary’s Hal Sutton in 1980.

Georgia will be joined by Arkansas, Augusta State, Francis Marion, Furman, Gardner-Webb, IUPUI, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Savannah State, Stetson, USC Upstate, Western Carolina and Youngstown State.

McCoy, 7 Other Bulldogs In Valspar

Lee McCoy will be one of the eight Bulldogs in the field this week for the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship.

McCoy, a senior for the Bulldogs, gained one of the eight sponsor's exemptions for the event by virtue of his win last season in the 3M Augusta Invitational.

McCoy grew up in the Palm Harbor, Fla., area and estimated he has played Innisbrook's Copperhead Course nearly 1,000 times.

"This one is extraordinarily special just because of where it is," McCoy said, "I'll have a lot of family and friends out this week. Before I turned 15, I couldn't drive a cart, so I would come out here on weekend mornings or in the afternoon during the week and find groups that didn't have a fourth," McCoy said. "I'd ask if they'd mind if I played with them because I can't drive a cart. Met a lot of people playing that way."

If he makes the cut, as an amateur he can't cash a check. But thanks to a new PGA rule, amateurs can donate winnings to charity. McCoy knows exactly what to do if he is fortunate enough to play on the weekend.

"A good friend of mine runs a charity called Fifty Legs, which provides prosthetics to kids and adults," McCoy said. "I would donate anything to them. That's a big goal for me this week, too."

Brian Harman, Brendon Todd, Erik Compton, Chris Kirk, Harris English, Russell Henley and Hudson Swafford also are in the field.

Bulldogs Win Tournament In Mexico

LOS CABOS, Mexico --- The Georgia men’s golf team secured its first victory of the 2015-16 season Tuesday, winning the Querencia Cabo Intercollegiate by a margin of 10 strokes over second-place South Florida. 

The Bulldogs shot a 1-over-par 285 in the final round, bringing their three-round total to 18-under 834. The tournament score was highlighted by a 16-under 268 in the second round, which tied for the fifth-lowest round in school history.

"I am really pleased with the way this tournament went for us," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "Our second round (a 16-under 268) was really fun to watch, especially since it was so balanced. We were able to dig in during the third round and hold on against a very good South Florida team. It was great to see Lee and Sepp, our two seniors, do a fantastic job leading us all week. We got better as a team in this tournament and the confidence of a win will only help us moving forward. We've got some time before our next one, so we'll get back to Athens and keep plugging away to get ready for the stretch run."

Lee McCoy capped off his best finish of the season with a 3-under 68, ending up tied for second individually at 8-under 205. On Wednesday, he was chosen as the SEC Golfer of the Week.

Straka finished in sixth place, with Sigg was 10th and Healy was 18th.

The Bulldogs will be back in action March 14 when they host the Southern Intercollegiate at Athens Country Club.