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Honor recognizes college Player of the Year

April 9, 2008

ATLANTA - Georgia Tech's Chesson Hadley is among 20 Division I players named to the watch list for the 2008 Jack Nicklaus Award, the Golf Coaches Association of America has announced. The Nicklaus Award is presented to the Player of the Year in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as the NAIA.

Hadley, a sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., is joined on the list by 2007 NCAA Champion Jamie Lovemark of Southern California, Jonas Blixt of Florida State and Webb Simpson of Wake Forest, among others. Hadley currently is rated the sixth-best player in the country according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, the highest of any Atlantic Coast Conference player, and he leads the ACC in stroke average at 70.73.

Hadley has eight top-20 finishes in nine events this year, five of those in the top 10, including a victory at the Carpet Capital Collegiate last fall. He also was named a Mid-Season All-American by Golf World magazine following the fall campaign.

The Nicklaus Award recipients will be named immediately following the final round of each respective national championship. All four Nicklaus Award honorees will be invited to Muirfield Village for the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, just outdside Nicklaus' hometown of Columbus to receive their trophies from Mr. Nicklaus. Additionally, a 20-player All-Nicklaus Team - which will include outstanding players from NCAA Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA - will be named June 10.

2008 Jack Nicklaus Award Watch Lists
(in alphabetical order)

Division I
Jonas Blixt, Florida State
Kevin Chappell, UCLA
Jonas Enander Hedin, Charlotte
Derek Fathauer, Louisville
Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State
Aaron Goldberg, San Diego State
Chesson Hadley, Georgia Tech
Rory Hie, Southern California
Russell Henley, Georgia
Siwhan Kim, Stanford
Jamie Lovemark, Southern California
Adam Mitchell, Georgia
Kevin O'Connell, North Carolina
Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine
Webb Simpson, Wake Forest
Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State
Ryan Spears, Wichita State
Hudson Swafford, Georgia
Matthew Swann, Alabama
Michael Thompson, Alabama

Division II
Roberto Diaz, USC-Aiken
Luis Delgado, Chico State
Judson Eustaquio, Florida Southern
Matthew Galloway, West Florida
Andrew Georgiou, Columbus State
Kyle Hopkins, Sonoma State
Justin Hueber, Indianapolis
Jeff Goff, USC-Aiken
Eric Justesen, CSU-Stanislaus
Jake Koppenberg, WWU
Tobias Rosendahl, West Florida
Kyle Scott, West Florida
Colby Shrum, Central Oklahoma
J.P. Solis, USC-Aiken
Jarin Todd, Sonoma State
Will Wilcox, Clayton State
Brent Witcher, Valdosta State
Chris Wolfe, Armstrong Atlantic State

Division III
Rizal Amin, LaVerne
Matt Bova, Methodist
Nick Bova, Methodist
Josh Cummings, Greensboro
Ross Canavan, Redlands
Chris DeJohn, Skidmore
Scott Harris Jr., St. John Fisher
Nathaniel James, Washington & Lee
Joe Schoolmeesters, Saint John's
Josh Schrader, Methodist
E.J. Stenftenagel, Redlands
Alex Timmons, Carnegie Mellon
Taylor Urbanski, Oglethorpe
A.J. Vesey, Texas Lutheran
Pete Wendt, UW-Eau Claire

NAIA
Bruno Buccolo, Oklahoma Christian
Sam Cyr, Point Loma Nazarene
Samuel Del Val, Berry
Mitchell Evanecz, Victoria
Rhein Gibson, Oklahoma Christian
Mitch Hendon, Texas Wesleyan
Clay Parks, Oklahoma City
Cory Renfro, British Columbia
Blake Rowe-Sleeman, British Columbia
David Stewart, British Columbia
Dave Tobon, Johnson & Wales
Jarod Trammell, Berry
Julian Valenciana, Oklahoma City
David Vanegas, Johnson & Wales
Hamilton Wheeler, Southern Nazarene