Bulldogs Ready To Compete For SEC Championship

Tournament Central

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. --- The Georgia men's golf team will join its fellow league members this week in the Southeastern Conference Championship at Sea Island Golf Club.

The SEC Championship will run Wednesday through Sunday on the par-70, 6,898-yard layout on the Seaside Course.

The tournament will feature 54 holes of stroke play Wednesday through Friday, followed by match play quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday, and match play finals on Sunday. SEC Network + coverage will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, while the SEC Network will air Sunday’s match starting at 7:30 a.m.

Georgia will use a lineup of senior Zach Healy, junior Jack Larkin Jr., sophomores Trevor Phillips and Spencer Ralston, and freshman Davis Thompson. Healy played in the 2015 and 2016 SECs, finishing 11th and 18th, respectively, and helping the 2016 squad claim the league crown. Larkin, Phillips and Ralston made their conference debuts a year ago.

“This team isn’t as veteran as others we’ve taken to the SECs,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. “That’s a little different for us, but our goals remain the same. We want to go down there and play as steady and as consistent as we can in stroke play and then take our shot in match play. The biggest thing about college golf is learning to play without fear. When you’re playing for a school like Georgia and you’re young, you immediately have more nerves than you should and you’re more uptight than you should be. That’s all part of the learning curve. These guys have had a baptism by fire, which can be tough at the beginning but ultimately will be a good thing. They’ve made huge strides in a short amount of time, so there’s no doubt in my mind that we will be in contention to win the SEC title.”

Ralston leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 70.69 and he has finished in the top 10 in four straight tournaments, six out of seven, and seven out of 10 overall. Thompson is next at 72.26, followed by Phillips at 72.54, Healy at 72.80 and Larkin at 76.00. 

The Bulldogs will start play on Wednesday at 12:35 p.m. and will be paired with Mississippi State. The Thursday and Friday tee times will be based on standings, with each day’s first players off at 7:30 a.m. and the last off at 9:50 a.m. The match play quarters will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by the semis at 1 p.m. The match play final will take place Sunday at 7:30 a.m.

The SEC has been played at Sea Island since 2001 (Seaside Course 2001-07, 2010-present; Frederica Golf Club 2008-09). Georgia has won six of the previous 17 championships. Alabama has won four times, Florida has won twice, while Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt each have won once during that span.

Georgia has been a dominant force at the SECs, winning a league-best 29 conference titles. Under Haack, the Bulldogs have secured eight SEC titles, including the six at Sea Island. Georgia boasts 16 SEC medalists, including Haack protégés Bryant Odom (2001), Brendon Todd (2004), Russell Henley (2010) and Lee McCoy (2016).

The SEC is as strong as ever with five schools ranked in the top 10 and three others in the top 20. All 14 SEC teams currently are projected to advance to the NCAA Regionals next month, which would mark the first time that has happened.

“If you can’t get excited this time of year, there’s something wrong,” Haack said. “There’s a great deal of pride any time you get to compete for your conference championship.”

News & Notes About The Bulldogs

• Four Bulldogs are playing this week in the Valero Texas Open: Hudson Swafford, Keith Mitchell, Harris English and Chris Kirk.

• Erik Compton, Sepp Straka, Lee McCoy and Joey Garber will be in action this week in the Web.com Tour's North Mississippi Classic.

• Speaking of Compton, our friends at The Golf Channel recently posted this piece on him.

• Scott Parel will be paired with Larry Mize in the Champions Tour's Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge.

Bulldogs To Close Regular Season In Mason Rudolph Championship

UPDATED (2:20 pm Thursday): ​With inclement weather in the forecast for Saturday, adjustments have been made to the format for the Mason Rudolph Championship on the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course in Franklin, Tenn. Georgia and the other teams will have a 9 a.m. shotgun start on Friday to begin a 36-hole day. The Bulldogs will be paired with Liberty and Louisville. Weather permitting, the teams will attempt to play 18 holes on Saturday. Sunday's forecast is clear, so its 18-hole format will stay the same, meaning the MRC could be a standard 54-hole event or a rare regular-season 72-hole tournament.​​

The Georgia men’s golf team will play in the 17th annual Mason Rudolph Championship -- its final regular-season tournament -- this weekend in Franklin, Tenn.

The tournament will take place Friday through Sunday on the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course (par 71, 7,100 yards). The Bulldogs and host Vanderbilt will be joined by Alabama, Ball State, Charlotte, East Tennessee State, Florida, High Point, Liberty, Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, South Dakota, Tennessee Tech and Troy.

The Bulldogs will use a lineup of senior Zach Healy; sophomores Will Chandler, Trevor Phillips and Spencer Ralston; and freshman Davis Thompson. Ralston leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 70.69, including 69.75 in his last three outings. Thompson is next at 72.26, followed by Phillips at 72.54, Healy at 72.80 and Chandler at 75.24.

Georgia enters this week’s competition having finished second in each of its last three tournaments.

Following the Mason Rudolph Championship, the Bulldogs will play April 25-29 in the SEC Championship on St. Simons Island. The NCAA Regionals are slated for May 14-16 and the NCAA Championships will be May 25-30.

“We’re getting down to it,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. “It’s important that we are playing some of our best golf right now. Every shot matters from this point forward, so we need to be dialed in more than ever. Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now and we’re excited about the chance to close the regular season on a high note.”

• The RBC Heritage will feature Keith Mitchell, Harris English, Brian Harman, Hudson Swafford, Kevin Kisner and Chris Kirk.

• Scott Parel will be playing in the Champions Tour's Mitsubishi Electric Classic.

Four Bulldogs Seeking Green Jacket

Bubba Watson hits his tee shot on the 18th hole
during practice for the 2018 Masters Tournament
on Monday. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Four Bulldogs will be in action this week at the 2018 Masters Tournament -- two-time champion Bubba Watson, Russell Henley, Brian Harman and Kevin Kisner.

As a past winner (2012 and 2014), Watson has lifetime status at Augusta National. He has won twice on Tour this season and is considered one of the 2018 favorites for the green jacket.

Henley finished 11th at the 2017 Masters to receive a 2018 invitation. He also met the criteria as a qualifier for the 2017 Tour Championship and for landing in the top 50 in the 2017 Official World Golf Ranking.

Harman's runner-up finish at the 2017 U.S. Open netted him another invite. Like Henley, Harman was a 2017 Tour Championship qualifier and a top 50 player in the OWGR. Harman also won the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship and is in the OWGR's top 50 heading into this year's Masters.

Kisner won the 2017 2017 DEAN & DELUCA Invitational to earn a spot in Augusta. He also was a 2017 Tour Championship qualifier, was in the top 50 in the 2017 OWGR, and is in the OWGR top 50 heading into this year's Masters.

There will be coverage aplenty this week and here are some of the ones we found from our fiends in the media:

Best Masters Memories From the Past 20 Years: No. 4 - Bubba's Rope Hook in the Playoff

Bubba Watson's G/FORE Masters shoes will be outrageous (in a great way)

Kisner hoping to create some weekend magic at Masters

Savannah’s Brian Harman ready for his second shot at Augusta

News & Notes About The Bulldogs

• Keith Mitchell, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk and Harris English are in action this week in the Houston Open.

• This week's Web.com Tour event is the Savannah Championship and features Erik Compton, Sepp Straka, Lee McCoy and Joey Garber.

Watson Tops Kisner In All-UGA Match Play Final

AUSTIN, Texas -- A championship showdown between Georgia Bulldogs alums finished one-sided, as Bubba Watson won his second World Golf Championships title by defeating Kevin Kisner, 7 and 6, in the finals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on Sunday afternoon at Austin Country Club.

It's the largest margin of victory in the championship final since 2008, when Tiger Woods beat Stewart Cink, 8 and 7, in the then-36 hole final.

Watson becomes just the fifth player to win multiple WGCs and multiple majors.

"It's crazy to think about it," Watson said. "I've got two World Golf Championships, counting this one, and two majors. I'm done, you know?

"It's unbelievable to think about that, giving my mom a hug, six years old, having one golf club for a year, no lessons. I mean I can sit here and make up stories all day, but it's absolutely remarkable that I'm able to lift a trophy like this."

Watson won the first five holes with one birdie, three pars and a conceded hole, as Kisner was unable to duplicate the form that had taken him to the championship match. Kisner suffered three early bogeys and lost the seventh hole with another bogey after an errant tee shot, as every mistake was magnified against the steady Watson.

"That grueling match that he had this morning, extra holes, you could just tell, the energy wasn't there," Watson said. "The drive and the competition was there, but he was just exhausted. And obviously for me it works out great for me, but for him, he had a great week, but obviously buried the first hole. I buried that hole a couple of times this week. Getting off to a quick start like that just puts pressure on anybody."

Even when Kisner showed some life -- such as draining a 20-foot par putt on the 10th hole -- Watson had an answer, as he birdied the 10th from 11 feet to go 7-up.

"I don't know what was going on," Kisner said. "It was just pitiful. I couldn't hit anywhere close to where I was trying. Long week. A little tired, probably. Lose some legs, and just didn't have it. And finally made a few good swings coming in, but those were too little, too late."

Watson's previous WGC win was the 2015 HSBC Champions. He now has 11 PGA TOUR victories, including two in his last four starts, as he won the Genesis Open in mid-February. His next start will the Masters, which he has won twice.

Watson, who earlier in the day beat Justin Thomas 3 and 2 to deny the current FedExCup leader a chance to move to world No. 1, opened the match by winning the first hole with a 12-foot putt, and then Kisner began to self-destruct. He missed a 9-foot par putt at the second, then found trouble again off the tee at the par-4 third, setting up another bogey. His tee shot at the par-3 fourth landed in the greenside bunker, and he failed to get up-and down. Another greenside bunker at the fifth resulted in a conceded hole after Watson's approach finished inside seven feet.

Kisner, who beat the red-hot Alex Noren in 19 holes in the semifinals, didn't win his first hole until the par-3 11th when he rolled in a putt from 34.5 feet.

But the match ended on the 12th when Watson rolled in his winning putt from seven feet. Earlier in the day, Kisner had won the 12th hole with an eagle putt and again in sudden-death with a birdie putt in his semifinal win over Alex Noren.

Dogs, Ralston Finish 2nd In LLI

GREENSBORO, Ga. --- The Georgia men’s golf team finished second for the third consecutive tournament on Tuesday as play concluded in the 13th annual Linger Longer Invitational.

The Bulldogs landed at 22-under 842 at Reynolds Lake Oconee on the Great Waters course (par-72, 7,073 yards), just two shots behind Alabama’s 844. Georgia closed with a 4-under 284 on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs also placed second in the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate in February and the Southern Intercollegiates earlier this month.

“Make no mistake, our goal everytime we tee it up is to win,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “But it’s hard to be disappointed when your team shoots 22-under and has two of the top three individuals. That would be hard to beat most weeks. This tournament was good for us, being in a back-and-forth situation with Alabama trying to win. This will certainly help us moving forward. We have plenty of positives to build on, but since we were so close and did not win, that will shine a light on the things we need to do better. As this tournament showed, every shot matters.”

Spencer Ralston finished second individually at 12-under 204, two strokes shy of Alabama’s Lee Hodges (202). The 12-under figure set a new tournament low for Ralston and he matched his career-best individual finish. Davis Thompson, the 36-hole leader, wound up third at 10-under 206, also setting his career-best tournament total. Trevor Phillips took 13th at 2-under 214, Zach Healy came in at 2-over 218 and Jon Hilliard Catanzaro finished at 20-over 236.

Tuesday's round pushed individuals Will Chandler to 2-over 218, David Mackey to 3-over 219 and Jack Larkin Jr. to 12-over 228.

The Bulldogs will return to action April 13-15 in the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn.

• Kevin Kisner, Bubba Watson, Brian Harman and Russell Henley will be in action this week in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play

• Harris English, Keith Mitchell and Brendon Todd are set to compete in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic.

• Tommy Tolles, Scott Parel and Paul Claxton are playing in the Champions Tour's Rapiscan Systems Classic in Mississippi.

• The Web.com Tour event, the Chitimacha Louisiana Open, will feature Joey Garber, Lee McCoy, Sepp Straka and Erik Compton.