Clemson Golf Number One In MasterCard Ranking

May 25, 2000

CLEMSON, S.C. – For the first time since the final poll of the fall, Clemson has moved back into the number-one ranking of college golf according to the MasterCard Coaches poll. Clemson has won each of its last two tournaments, the ACC and the NCAA East Regional, both victories in fields that included previous number-one ranked Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets dropped to second in the final poll prior to the NCAA National Tournament. That event begins Wednesday, May 31 at Grand National Country Club in Auburn, AL. Oklahoma State is ranked third, followed by Arizona State and BYU. Georgia, the defending NCAA Champion, is sixth, followed by Houston Northwestern, Fresno State and Arizona.

Clemson will be trying to do something no Division I college golf team in NCAA history has done, win its conference regional and NCAA championships in the same year.

Lucas Glover (Greenville, SC) is Clemson’s highest ranked player. The former Wade Hampton High player is rated third in the nation, trailing only defending NCAA Champion Luke Donald of Northwestern and former US Amateur Champ Matt Kuchar of Georgia Tech.

John Engler (Augusta, GA), who has a pair of top four finishes in his last two events, is ranked ninth in the nation, while senior Jonathan Byrd (Columbia, SC) is rated 11th. Freshman D.J. Trahan (Inman, SC) is ranked 19th. Trahan, who was named ACC Rookie of the Year this season, is the highest ranked freshman player in the nation. All four of the players were first-team All-ACC this season.

Rank, Team 1 Clemson, 2. Georgia Tech, 3. Oklahoma State, 4. Arizona State, 5. Brigham Young, 6. Georgia, 7. Houston, 8. Northwestern, 9. Fresno State, 10. Arizona, 11. UNLV, 12. North Florida, 13. New Mexico, 14. Texas, 15. Auburn, 16. North Carolina State, 17. Augusta State, 18. Washington, 19. Kent, 20. Oregon.