McCoy Takes Sixth At NCAA Championships

EUGENE, Ore. --- Georgia golfer Lee McCoy capped his collegiate career in record-setting fashion on Monday as he finished sixth in the NCAA Championships.

Playing the Eugene Country Club’s par-70, 7,014-yard layout, McCoy signed for a 2-over-par 72 to wind up at 1-over 281. Medalist honors went to Oregon’s Aaron Wise, who played his home course in 5-under 275.

“I hugged him and I told him, ‘Thanks for four great years,’” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. “I’m very proud of what he’s done for Georgia. He’s represented us very well. It was fun today being out there cheering him on.”

McCoy is the first Bulldog to record a top-10 finish at the NCAAs since Keith Mitchell in 2012.

McCoy wound up as Georgia’s career stroke average leader with a figure of 70.87, breaking the mark set by Joey Garber from 2012-14.

McCoy finished the season with a scoring average of 70.00 to eclipse his school record of 70.08 established last year.

McCoy and the Bulldogs were eliminated from the team competition on Sunday. Georgia was part of a 5-way tie for 14th and two of the five teams remained alive following a scorecard tiebreaker. As one of the low six players not on an advancing team, McCoy stayed in contention in the individual tournament.

Bulldogs Eliminated; McCoy Still Alive

EUGENE, Ore. --- The No. 6-ranked Georgia men's golf team was eliminated from the NCAA Championships on Sunday, but senior Lee McCoy remained in the hunt for national medalist honors.

Playing the Eugene Country Club's par-70, 7,014-yard layout, the Bulldogs notched a third-round score of 12-over 292. That left Georgia in a 5-tie for 14th at 27-over 867 as the field was cut in half, but the Bulldogs fell short when fifth-player scorecards were used as the tiebreaker. Louisville and Oklahoma survived the tiebreaker, while Georgia, Clemson and TCU were eliminated.

"It's disappointing to get knocked out, but I'm still really proud of these guys," Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. "They never gave up. We had our chances but we just didn't get it done. It stings to be finished, but when they look back at it, they'll realize we had a successful year."

As one of the low six players not on an advancing team, McCoy stayed in contention for individual honors. McCoy will enter his final collegiate round in eighth at 1-under 209, just five off the pace set by Aaron Wise of Oregon (204). He will tee off at 4:40 p.m. EDT.

"I'm extremely disappointed that my last round won't be with my teammates," McCoy said. "But I am proud to get to wear the `G' one more time and I will do all I can to represent our program well."

Said Haack, "We'll be out there cheering him on for sure. Maybe he's got a good, low round in him and can do something special."

McCoy paced the Bulldogs on Sunday with an even-par 70. Junior Greyson Sigg signed for a 3-over 73, followed by senior Sepp Straka at 4-over 74 and sophomore Zach Healy at 5-over 75. Freshman Tye Waller had the Bulldogs' non-counting score of 13-over 83.

After McCoy at 209, Straka finished at 5-over 215, while Sigg ended at 9-over 219, Healy at 14-over 224 and Waller at 27-over 237.

The back nine was Georgia's undoing again on Sunday. After the Bulldogs made the turn at even par, they had 14 bogeys and just two birdies among the counting players.

"That back nine bit us every chance it got," Haack said.

Earlier Sunday, McCoy, Healy, Straka and Sigg were named to the All-Southeast Region by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Bulldogs Eye Another National Title

The Georgia men’s golf team will begin its quest for the program’s third national title on Friday in the NCAA Championships at the par-70, 7,014-yard Eugene (Ore.) Country Club.

Team and individual stroke play will take place Friday through Monday, with the top eight squads after 72 holes qualifying for match play. The match play quarterfinals and semifinals are slated for Tuesday and the championship match is scheduled for Wednesday.

“Our guys know what’s at stake this week,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. “We have the opportunity to play for the national championship. This has the chance to be a week of golf that they will never forget. Our 1999 and 2005 players are forever connected by their national titles, and I would love nothing more than for these guys to get one, too. We’ve been playing pretty solid golf and we know if we continue to play well that good things can happen. We’re going to take it one step at a time. We hope to play well each round and try to get to match play and then see what happens from there. This is the most important tournament of the year and our guys are extremely dialed in.”

The Bulldogs, who are seeded sixth and are ranked fourth by Golfweek and sixth by Golfstat, will tee off on Friday in 11-minute increments between 3:42 and 4:26 p.m. EDT and on Saturday between 10:22 and 11:06 a.m. EDT. Georgia will be paired with Illinois and Oklahoma State in the first two rounds. Sunday’s pairings will be determined by the 36-hole results. Following Sunday’s round, the field will be cut to the low 15 teams for Monday final stroke play loop.

The Bulldogs will use a lineup of seniors Lee McCoy and Sepp Straka, junior Greyson Sigg, sophomore Zach Healy and freshman Tye Waller. That quintet is a perfect 2-0 this season with wins in the SEC Championship and the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. McCoy leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 69.97 (ahead of his school-record 70.08 set last year), followed by Sigg at 71.06, Healy at 71.47, Straka at 71.59 and Waller at 73.82.

McCoy, Straka, Sigg and Healy were in the lineup last year when Georgia advanced to the national semifinals after entering as the 26th seed.

“Last year, we were pretty up and down. But this year, we’ve been really steady,” Sigg said. “We’re going in this year and we’ll play as hard as we can and see what happens. We know what it takes and we have a full expectation to win the golf tournament.”

“We couldn’t be coming into this week in any better position,” McCoy said. “We got a conference win, a Regional win, and we swept the individuals at both. We’re looking as good as we’ve looked in awhile as a program. Our team chemistry is great. It’s definitely the best group of guys we’ve had since I’ve been here. I’m honored to get to go out there with them.”

The Golf Channel will air live coverage from Monday’s stroke-play final round at 7 p.m. EDT, Tuesday’s match-play quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Tuesday’s match-play semifinals at 6:30 p.m. EDT and Wednesday’s match-play finals at 6 p.m. EDT.

In addition, the Golf Channel will be on-site beginning on Sunday to provide coverage on Golf Central, Morning Drive and GolfChannel.com. Live scoring and tee times for the NCAAs can be found at Golfstat.com and NCAA.com.

Sigg-Led Bulldogs Win Regional

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Led by tournament medalist Greyson Sigg, the No. 3-ranked Georgia men’s golf team secured its berth in the upcoming NCAA Championship by winning the Tuscaloosa Regional on Wednesday at Ol’ Colony Golf Complex.

The Bulldogs, who won Wednesday by four shots over South Carolina, will be gunning for the program’s third national title May 27-June 1 in Eugene, Ore. 

Georgia finished at 16-under 848, including a final-round 6-under 282. South Carolina took second at 12-under 852, while Alabama (7-under 857), Kentucky (6-under 858) and Auburn (3-over 867) rounded out the top five advancing to the NCAAs.

“Our team is in a really good place right now,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “We’ve got excellent chemistry and we’re playing with a lot of confidence. We’re excited about the opportunity to play again for the national championship. We had a solid week in Alabama and we can’t wait to get out to Oregon.

“I could not be any prouder of Greyson. He has been rock solid for us all season and I’m thrilled to see him as the tournament winner. He was steady all week for us and set the tone for our team’s victory.”

Georgia won for the fourth time this season and in its second straight event as the Bulldogs claimed the SEC Championship last month. The win is the 60th in Haack’s 20-year career.

Sigg claimed medalist honors for the third time this season as he held off South Carolina’s Matthew NeSmith by a stroke. Sigg is the 50th medalist under Haack.

Sigg wound up at 9-under 207 as he signed for a 4-under 68 on Wednesday. Sigg now has five top-10 efforts this season, including the wins in The Carmel Cup, the Southern Intercollegiate Championship and the Tuscaloosa Regional.

“I felt really good about my game coming into this week,” Sigg said. “I had a good first round and just kept on playing really steady. My hat’s off to Matt because he played extremely well all week. Most importantly, we are headed to Oregon.”

Senior Sepp Straka followed Sigg on Wednesday with a 2-under 70. Senior Lee McCoy and freshman Tye Waller each posted an even-par 72, and sophomore Zach Healy had the non-counting score of 1-over 73.

Healy came in sixth individually at 4-under 212, while McCoy and Straka landed in 18th at 1-over 217. Waller checked in at 5-over 221.

The Bulldogs advanced from an NCAA Regional for the 21st time in 28 seasons, including 18 of 20 years under Haack. He led the Bulldogs to the 1999 and 2005 national titles, to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011, and to the “Final Fore” in 2015.

Georgia won the Regional title for the fourth time, previously claiming championships in 2007, 2008 and 2014. This marked the first time in school history that both the Georgia men’s and women’s golf teams won a Regional crown in the same season.

Bulldogs Ready For Tuscaloosa Regional

The No. 3-ranked Georgia men’s golf team has three wins and has finished in the top five in all but one of its 10 tournaments this year.

To extend their season to the biggest tournament of all, the Bulldogs must continue their solid play this week at the NCAA Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Regional.

The only way to advance to the NCAA Championships May 27-June 1 in Eugene, Ore., is to finish fifth or higher in the 13-team Regional, which runs Monday through Wednesday at Ol' Colony Golf Complex.

“There’s something about the whole season being on the line at one tournament,” said senior and SEC Player of the Year Lee McCoy. “It can get under your skin if you let it. But we’re going to treat it just like any other tournament. … In college golf, anybody can beat anybody on a given day, and that applies to a top-5 team like us. We’re not going to let our guard down for a single moment.”

Joining the Bulldogs and host/fourth-seeded Alabama will be No. 2 seed Auburn, No. 3 seed South Carolina, No. 5 seed UNLV, No. 6 seed Kentucky, No. 7 seed Kansas, No. 8 seed Charleston, No. 9 seed Lipscomb, No. 10 seed Charleston Southern, No. 11 seed Colorado, No. 12 seed Harvard and No. 13 seed Southern Illinois. Georgia, UNLV, Charleston, Harvard and Southern Illinois were automatic qualifiers as conference champions.

“This is always the tournament that creates the most ulcers in my stomach,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said with a laugh. “If we can get off to a good start and play pretty solid, it will help ease those nerves. All of the teams in the Regional are good. We’ve seen a lot of these teams this year and we know what they’re capable of.”

The Bulldogs will use a lineup of seniors McCoy and Sepp Straka, junior Greyson Sigg, sophomore Zach Healy and freshman Tye Waller. That quintet won the SEC title last month.

The other Regional sites are Gallery Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.; University of New Mexico Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M.; Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis.; Vanderbilt Legends Club in Nashville, Tenn.; and Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla.

The Bulldogs were invited to an NCAA Regional for the 21st straight year and for the 27th time in 28 seasons since the format was introduced in 1988-89. The Bulldogs have advanced from the Regional to the NCAAs 20 times. The Bulldogs have been invited to an NCAA Regional in all 20 of Haack's seasons and have moved onto the NCAAs in 17 of the previous 19 campaigns. Haack led the Bulldogs to the 1999 and 2005 national titles, to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011, and to the "Final Fore" in 2015.

Georgia will tee off between 9 and 9:44 a.m. with Auburn and South Carolina on Monday.

9 Bulldogs In The Players Championship

An unprecedented nine Bulldogs will be in action this week in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

The field features Hudson Swafford, Brian Harman, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Brendon Todd, Russell Henley, Bubba Watson, Harris English and Erik Compton.

• Adam Mitchell and Bryden Macpherson are playing in the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C.

• Redshirt freshman Jack Larkin Jr. has been named to the SEC's Community Service Team.

Georgia Named Top Seed For Tuscaloosa

The No. 3-ranked Georgia men's golf team will begin its quest for another national championship May 16-18 at the NCAA Regional hosted by Alabama, according to an announcement Thursday by the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Committee.

The Bulldogs are seeded first in the Tuscaloosa Regional, which will be held at Ol’ Colony Golf Complex. Thirteen teams will compete in the Regional, with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championships May 27-June 1 in Eugene, Ore.

Joining the Bulldogs and host/fourth-seeded Alabama will be No. 2 seed Auburn, No. 3 seed South Carolina, No. 5 seed UNLV, No. 6 seed Kentucky, No. 7 seed Kansas, No. 8 seed Charleston, No. 9 seed Lipscomb, No. 10 seed Charleston Southern, No. 11 seed Colorado, No. 12 seed Harvard and No. 13 seed Southern Illinois. Georgia, UNLV, Charleston, Harvard and Southern Illinois were automatic qualifiers as conference champions.

“I thought the SEC Championship was last month,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said with a laugh. “At least we’ll have familiarity with those four SEC schools and they’ll know about us. Looking at our Regional top to bottom, it’s extremely competitive and will be a tough challenge. But that’s how it’s supposed to be this time of year. To contend for and win championships, you have to play your best golf, so we’re excited about the opportunity.”

Georgia has won three tournaments this season, including the SEC Championship. The Bulldogs also have three seconds, a third, two fourths, and a sixth this season. Said Haack, “We’ve been a consistent squad all season, certainly much better than a year ago.”

The other Regional sites are Gallery Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.; University of New Mexico Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M.; Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisc.; Vanderbilt Legends Club in Nashville, Tenn.; and Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla.

The Bulldogs were invited to an NCAA Regional for the 21st straight year and for the 27th time in 28 seasons since the format was introduced in 1988-89. The Bulldogs have advanced from the Regional to the NCAAs 20 times. The Bulldogs have been invited to an NCAA Regional in all 20 of Haack's seasons and have moved onto the NCAAs in 17 of the previous 19 campaigns. Haack led the Bulldogs to the 1999 and 2005 national titles, to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011, and to the “Final Fore” in 2015.

McCoy, Haack Earn Southeastern Conference Awards

Lee McCoy and Chris Haack of the Georgia men’s golf team have been named the Southeastern Conference Player and Coach of the Year, respectively, according to an announcement Wednesday by the league office.

McCoy and Greyson Sigg earned First-Team All-SEC honors, while Sepp Straka and Zach Healy were selected for the Second Team by the league coaches. Georgia's four All-SEC selections led the conference. Vanderbilt had three honorees and Alabama had two, while Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina and Texas A&M had one each.

“We are all very appreciative of these SEC awards,” Haack said. “To be chosen by the coaches is a great honor. I could not be prouder of our guys. They have worked so hard, and they deserve this recognition. My hat’s off to Lee on being named the Player of the Year. He has been a tremendous leader and ambassador for our program on and off the golf course all season.”

McCoy is the sixth SEC Player of the Year in school history, joining Peter Persons (1986), Jeremy Parrott (1998), Nick Cassini (2001), Chris Kirk (2006) and Russell Henley (2010). McCoy was First-Team All-SEC in 2015 and Second-Team All-SEC in 2014.

A senior from Clarkesville, McCoy has won two times this season, including medalist honors at last month's SEC Championship (the 16th Bulldog to win the league title). He has finished in the top seven in seven of the nine tournaments in which he has played. McCoy has a season scoring average of 69.69 and a career average of 70.86, each of which is better than the current school mark. He is No. 1 in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking, No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and No. 6 in both the GolfStat Cup and the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. McCoy made national headlines in March when he placed fourth in the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship and was four shots better than final-round playing partner Jordan Spieth, then drove 7.5 hours to play in the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens.

“I’m honored to be chosen as the SEC Player of the Year,” McCoy said. “Our league is stocked with amazing players, so to win this is pretty surreal. All I’ve wanted to do all year is play to the best of my ability and give our team a chance to win. It’s been a fun and amazing year for all of us — and our team still has some pretty big goals.”

Haack earned the SEC Coach of the Year award for the fifth time in his 20-year career. Haack previously was recognized in 1998, 2000, 2006 and 2010. Haack has piloted the Bulldogs to a school-record 59 tournament titles, including three this season. Last month, he led the Bulldogs to his eighth and the program's 29th SEC Championship. McCoy is the fourth SEC Player of the Year under Haack's watch, while McCoy, Sigg, Straka and Healy give Haack 63 All-SEC selections (37 First Team, 26 Second Team).

Said Haack, “I’m humbled by my selection as the Coach of the Year. That award signifies that our team has performed well, so I share this with Coach Jim Douglas and all of our players.”

Sigg ranks second on the team and ninth in the SEC with a scoring average of 71.24. Sigg earned medalist honors — the first of his career — at the Carmel Cup and the Southern Intercollegiates earlier this season. The junior from Augusta has five top-10s this year, including 10th at the SEC Championship.

Straka, a senior from Valdosta, stands third for Georgia and 12th in the league with his 71.50 scoring average. Straka has five top-10 finishes, which is one more than he had in his previous three years. Straka had a stretch in the spring where he notched seven straight and 12 out of 14 par-or-better rounds.

Healy, a sophomore from Peachtree Corners, has a scoring average of 71.55, which ranks fourth for Georgia and 13th for the conference. He won his first collegiate golf tournament this season, claiming medalist honors at the Ka’anapali Collegiate Classic. Healy has recorded seven other top-20s this season, including a third-place effort in the Southern Intercollegiates.

Sigg, Straka and Healy earned All-SEC recognition for the first time in their careers.

The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs will learn their NCAA Regional destination on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The announcement will be made on The Golf Channel. The NCAA Regionals will take place May 16-18, followed by the NCAA Championships May 27-June 1 in Eugene, Ore.

• Speaking of Straka, he's playing in the Mackenzie Tour's Canada Q-School in British Columbia this week. 

• The PGA Tour stop this week is the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina. Brendon Todd, Harris English, Kevin Kisner and Brian Harman are in the field.