Hall Named Finalist for Jack Nicklaus Award

NORMAN, Okla. — Junior Ryan Hall found his way to the ballot for another major award on Thursday as he was named one of five finalists for the 2021 Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced. The winner will be announced at The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, June 3-6 at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.
 
Hall is joined on the NCAA Division 1 finalists list by Pierceson Coody (Texas), Noah Goodwin (SMU), John Pak (Florida State) and Davis Thompson (Georgia). A full list of finalists across collegiate golf can be found here.
 
Hall would be the first Nicklaus winner at South Carolina. Three-time All-American and current PGA TOUR player Matt NeSmith was a semifinalist for the award back in 2016. The Golden Bear, a Big Ten Champion and NCAA Champion at Ohio State, helped inspire and create the award in 1988. It is now presented annually to the National Player of the Year in NCAA Division I, II and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA.
 
A Knoxville, Tenn. native, Hall is set to compete at the NCAA Championship as individual starting tomorrow. He punched his ticket to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. after a one-shot victory at the Albuquerque Regional (May 17-19). The three-year starter for the Gamecocks shot 68-68-69 to post a final 54-hole score of 205 (-11) at UNM’s Championship Golf Course. He made 15 birdies and a pair of eagles over three days and led the field in par-3 scoring average (2.67, -4). He finished T-2^nd in par-5 scoring average at 4.17 (-10). Hall became just the third regional champion in program history joining former All-American and PGA TOUR player Kyle Thompson, who won regionals twice as a Gamecock in 1999 and 2001. NCAA Regional play began in 1993.
 
Hall was also recently named to the final Haskins Award Watch List and is on the voting ballot, which is open until 1 hour after the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship on Monday (May 31). Media, as well as players, coaches, and SIDs, are encouraged to vote here.
 
He’s had one of the most consistent single seasons in program history. In 10 starts, Hall has finished in the top-20 every time out with two wins, four top-fives (T-7^th most in program history) and six top-10s (T-8^th most in program history). He was recently named First Team All-SEC and became the first South Carolian golfer to earn a spot on the U.S. Arnold Palmer Cup team. Hall’s 69.67 scoring average is currently the best in school history, as no golfer has ever posted a season scoring average below 70.00 for the Gamecocks. He’s ranked third in the country in the latest Golfstat Player Rankings. Of players with 30 or less rounds played, Hall leads the nation with 120 birdies. He leads the country with 11 eagles, carding two in the second round of the Albuquerque Regional.
 
Hall won the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational on Easter Sunday for his first win of the 2020-21 season. He shot 202 (-14) with a bogey free 66 (-6) in the second round and a carded final round 64 (-8), chipping in for eagle at the last hole to force a playoff with Pepperdine’s Dylan Menante. Hall made birdie on both playoff holes to win and earn a sponsor exemption into the PGA TOUR’s 3M Open this summer in Blaine, Minn. (July 19-25).
 
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