Bulldogs Finish Third In Puerto Rico

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico --- After a solid performance in its spring opener, the Georgia men's golf team finished in third place at the Puerto Rico Classic.

The Bulldogs completed the third round at the Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa with a 1-under par 287, bringing their three-round total to 13-under 851. Team honors went to Alabama at 25-under 839.

Zach Healy paced the Bulldogs in the final round with a 2-under 70. Lee McCoy and Sepp Straka each carded an even-par 72, while Jaime Lopez Rivarola shot a 1-over 73. Greyson Sigg had Georgia's non-counting score of 2-over 74. 

Straka tied for seventh individually at 5-under 211, six shots back of Alabama's Robby Shelton (11-under 205). Healy finished at 3-under 213, followed by McCoy and Sigg at 2-under 214 and Rivarola at 5-over 221.

In the Puerto Rico Individual on the par-71 Ocean Course, Jack Larkin Jr. finished in a two-way tie for seventh place at 4-over 217 after a final round score of 3-over 74.

"We're happy with the way things went with our first spring tournament," Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. "By and large, we were pretty solid all week. We can take a team score of 13-under and build on that. After every tournament, we take a look at the good and the bad and keep putting in the work. We know this team has tremendous potential, so we'll keep plugging away."

The Bulldogs will return to action Sunday through Tuesday in the Querencia Cabo Intercollegiate in Mexico.

Watson Wins Northern Trust Open

Bubba Watson

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bubba Watson ended his big week in L.A. as the star of his own show Sunday at Riviera.

Two shots behind with four holes to play, Watson made birdie on two of his last three holes to overtake Jason Kokrak and hold off Adam Scott for a one-shot victory in the Northern Trust Open.

Watson, who closed with a 3-under 68, won at Riviera for the second time in three years and moved back to No. 4 in the world.

He was among a half-dozen players who still had a chance over the back nine under warm sunshine. Watson took advantage of some late mistakes by Kokrak, who was going for his first PGA Tour victory, and his two birdies were enough to turn back the late heroics of Scott, who chipped in for birdie on the 18th for a 67.

Watson, Scott, Kokrak and K.J. Choi were tied for the lead through 11 holes remaining and all of them dropped shots to fall out of the lead.

"For me to come back ... and pull one out in a tough way means a lot," Watson said.

He finished at 15-under 269 for his ninth career victory on the PGA Tour.

"A guy like Bubba, he's very tough to beat," Scott said. "He's proving tough to beat from that position. He's wearing the course out on the toughest day."

What a week for Watson. He took his 3-year-old son to hang out with Justin Bieber. He made a cameo appearance in a "Girl Meets World" episode (they even gave him a line), and he dashed out of Riviera to hang out with his pals at the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors game Saturday night.

Best of all was winning another tournament.

Bulldogs To Open Spring In Puerto Rico

The No. 10 Georgia men's golf team will open the spring portion of its schedule in the 18th annual Puerto Rico Classic.

The Puerto Rico Classic will take place Sunday through Tuesday at the Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa's River Course, a par-72 track covering 6,945 yards. The Bulldogs will look to repeat as champions of the event, taking home the crown of the 15-team tournament in 2015.

"We're looking forward to a great week to get things underway," head coach Chris Haack said. "This tournament has treated us well in the past and is a nice kick start to the spring. Hopefully we can use this tournament to shake off the rust and get things moving in a positive direction for the rest of the year. We have high expectations for this this team and are excited to get the ball rolling."

Haack will use a lineup of seniors Lee McCoy and Sepp Straka, juniors Greyson Sigg and Jaime Lopez Rivarola, and sophomore Zach Healy. Redshirt freshman Jack Larkin, Jr. will compete in the individual tournament as well.

Georgia is currently ranked 10th in the most recent edition of the Golfstat poll, while the Bulldogs are No. 16 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

"Everyone is looking forward to this trip," said Straka. "This is one that people try extra hard to qualify for, going down to Puerto Rico, especially in February. It gets pretty chilly here, so it'll be nice."

Joining the Bulldogs for the tournament will be Purdue, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Oklahoma, UNC-Greensboro, Kentucky and Virginia Tech.

The Bulldogs will play with Oklahoma and Northwestern on Sunday. Live results can be found at BirdieFire.com.

The Bulldogs won the Puerto Rico Classic in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2015. Chris Kirk and Hudson Swafford were individual medalists in 2006 and 2009, respectively.

McCoy Named To Hogan Award Watch List

Georgia senior Lee McCoy

Georgia senior Lee McCoy has been named to the watch list for the Ben Hogan Award, which is presented annually to the top golfer based on all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period.

McCoy also has been chosen as one of three finalists for 2015 Collegiate Athlete of the Year by the Atlanta Sports Council. The awards ceremony will be held Thursday, Feb. 25, at The Fox Theatre.

McCoy's top finish of the fall came in the Nike Golf Collegiate, where he placed third. He has been invited to play in the PGA Tour's Northern Trust Open Collegiate Showcase on Monday at Riviera Country Club. He finished tied for third at that event last year. McCoy is individually ranked 17th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings and 23rd in the Golfstat Cup Standings.

Past Hogan Award winners include Georgia's Chris Kirk in 2007. By winning four times last season, McCoy tied the single-season record for wins held by Kirk in 2006-07 and Russell Henley in 2009-10. McCoy, who was named a First-Team All-American last season by the GCAA and Golfweek, broke the school single-season scoring average at 70.08.

McCoy was a member of the 2015 Walker Cup, Palmer Cup and Pan Am Games squads and he reached the match play portion of the 2015 U.S. Amateur.

The 25-man watch list for the award includes Dawson Armstrong of Lipscomb, Derek Bard of Virginia, Sean Crocker of Southern California, Charlie Danielson of Illinois, Thomas Detry of Illinois, Jonathan Garrick of UCLA, Nick Hardy of Illinois, Rico Hoey of Southern California, Sam Horsfield of Florida, Beau Hossler of Texas, Michael Johnson of Auburn, Hank Lebioda of Florida State, Maverick McNealy of Stanford, Matthew NeSmith of South Carolina, Jordan Niebrugge of Oklahoma State, Corey Pereira of Washington, Jon Rahm of Arizona State, Antoine Rozner of Missouri-Kansas City, Matthias Schwab of Vanderbilt, Robby Shelton of Alabama, Aaron Wise of Oregon, Adam Wood of Duke, Cameron Young of Wake Forest and Will Zalatoris of Wake Forest.

The list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the watch list, will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 13. On Tuesday, May 3, that group will be pared down to three finalists. The finalists will attend a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, May 23, prior to the start of the PGA Tour's Colonial National Invitation Tournament, where the winner will be crowned.

McCoy and his Georgia teammates will open the spring portion of the schedule Feb. 21-23 at the Puerto Rico Classic. The three-day event in Rio Grande will pit the Bulldogs against Alabama, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Purdue, UNC-Greensboro and Virginia Tech. Georgia finished first at the 2015 edition of the tournament, with McCoy, tied for fourth, being the highest rated Bulldog in the event.

• Russell Henley, Bubba Watson and Brendon Todd are in action this week in the always-entertaining AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Haack Inducted Into GSGA Hall Of Fame

Coach Chris Haack was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame recently.

Chris Haack became the first coach inducted into the Georgia State Golf Association Hall of Fame recently at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

"Being inducted was a little overwhelming," Haack said. "Getting there and seeing the names and photos of all the legends of the game from Georgia was unbelievable. To be included in that group, in some form or fashion is amazing. Then to be at the banquet, rubbing shoulders with many of those legends and having them congratulate me, it was a little surreal. I was so humbled by the whole thing."

Haack has been the Bulldogs' head coach since the 1996-97 season. He has led the Bulldogs to a school-record 56 tournament victories, including the 1999 and 2005 national championships and seven SEC titles.

Haack was chosen as the National Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2005 and earned SEC Coach of the Year honors in 1998, 2000, 2006 and 2010. He has produced 56 All-Americans and 14 Scholar All-Americans. Haack's golfers have earned 59 All-SEC certificates, including four SEC Players of the Year and seven SEC Freshmen of the Year.

Said Haack, "To say it's been a fun ride would be an understatement."

Tye Waller

• The Farmers Insurance Open will be played this week at Torrey Pines. Hudson Swafford and Brian Harman are in the field.

• Harman, Russell Henley, Swafford, Brendon Todd and Erik Compton were in action last week in the CareerBuilder Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. Harman came in 11th to lead the Bulldogs in the field.

• Junior Jamie Lopez Rivarola finished 16th in the Latin America Amateur Championship in Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic.

• Tye Waller has joined the Bulldogs as a transfer from Georgia Tech. Waller was a nationally rated player coming out of Spalding High School last fall and he reached the 2015 U.S. Amateur. Waller, a freshman, is eligible to play right away and is expected to contend for playing time this spring.

• Keith Mitchell, Scott Parel, Bryden Macpherson and Adam Mitchell are in action this weekend in the Web.com Tour's Panama Claro Championship.

7 Bulldogs Slated For Sony Open

Seven Bulldogs will be playing this week in the Sony Open in Hawaii: Harris English, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Hudson Swafford and Brendon Todd. The Waialae Country Club in Honolulu is set up as a par-70 reaching 7,044 yards.

• At last week's Hyundai Tournament of Champions, also in Hawaii, Kisner came in ninth at 16-under, Bubba Watson finished 10th at 15-under and Kirk was 24th at 9-under. Kisner and Watson played together in the final round.

Kirk, Kisner, Watson Set For Hyundai Tournament Of Champions In Hawaii

Kevin Kisner

The PGA Tour's 2015-16 schedule will resume Thursday through Sunday with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii.

Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner and Bubba Watson are slated to play in the 32-man field.

Watson is making his fifth appearance in the event and finished in the top 10 in the last two. Kisner, by virtue of his win in The RSM Classic on St. Simons Island, leads the FedExCup Standings with 888 points. Kirk is continuing to work his way back from a broken hand that sidelined him for much of the 2014-15 campaign.