April 1, 2009

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina junior George Bryan IV was named the Southeastern Conference’s Male Golfer of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. It marks the fourth weekly league honor for Bryan of his collegiate career.

Bryan equaled the best round of his collegiate career in the third and final round of the Hootie @ Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, carding a 6-under-par 65 to finish at 12-under for the tournament and grab a second-place showing, his second straight runner-up finish. The Gamecocks shot 8-under as a team in the final round of play – the best team round of the day – and vaulted to a third-place finish with a 6-under 846 after starting the day in seventh place.

The Chapin, S.C. native’s 54-hole total of 201 (69-67-65) marks the second-lowest 54-hole score in South Carolina golf history. Only John Bloomfield’s 197 (65-66-66) at the 1999 Red River Classic stands ahead of Bryan’s performance. Bryan’s previous best performance came at the 2007 NCAA West Regional when he fired a 204 en route to a 10th-place finish and helped the Gamecocks to the team title.

He has now fired five straight rounds under par, dating back to the second round of last week’s Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational, where he was also the tournament runner-up. Bryan, who was ranked 65th in the nation by GolfStat heading into the Hootie, has a stroke average this season of 72.67, which puts him 13th overall in the SEC.

Bryan was previously named SEC Golfer of the Week on March 17, 2008, after his victory at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational. He also earned the honor twice during the 2006-07 season as a freshman. It marks the first weekly league honor for a Gamecock golfer this season.

The Gamecocks return to action April 5-7 at the U.S. Collegiate Championships in Alpharetta, Ga.