Clemson Jumps to No. 5 in Golfweek Ranking

Clemson, S.C.—Thanks to its 11-shot victory over No. 2 seed Wake Forest at the ACC Men’s Golf Championship on Sunday, Clemson has moved from 10^th to fifth in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin national team rankings released Monday afternoon.  It is the highest ranking of the season for the Tigers in any of the three polls.

Texas is ranked first, followed by Illinois, Georgia and Stanford.  The Tigers are fifth, followed by Southern California, Oklahoma State, LSU, Florida and Vanderbilt.

Other ACC teams in the top 25 of the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings are Florida State at No. 15, Wake Forest at No. 16, Duke at No. 19, and North Carolina at No. 22.  Virginia is just outside the top 25 with a No. 26 ranking.

Individually, Clemson has all five of its starters ranked in the top 115 in the nation.  Austin Langdale jumped from No. 33 to No. 21 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.   He is ranked third among all ACC players behind Hank Leboida of Florida State (#16) and Will Zalatoris of Wake Forest (#20). 

Clemson graduate Stephen Behr, the winner of the 2016 Byron Nelson Award, is No 28 in the new rankings.  Bryson Nimmer, the Clemson freshman who finished fourth at the ACC Tournament, moved into the rankings for the first time at No. 83, while junior Carson Young is No. 88.   Senior Miller Capps is No. 115.

Clemson captured its 10^th ACC Men’s Golf Championship, its ninth under Larry Penley on Sunday.  The Tigers won the event in wire-to-wire fashion for just the second time in its history.  Clemson also led after each of the three rounds in 1988.  The Tigers finished with an 839 team score, 11 shots better than Wake Forest.  It was Clemson’s largest margin of victory in the ACC Championship since a 14-stroke win in 1988.

Clemson was ranked 12^th by Golfstat and 11^th by the Golf Coaches Association before the ACC Tournament began last Friday.  Those polls have not released updated rankings.

Clemson will learn of its NCAA Regional site a week from Monday, May 2 at 9:00 a.m. on the Golf Channel.

Golfweek/Sagarin Team Rankings

(April 25, 2016)

1. Texas, 2.  Illinois, 3.  Georgia, 4.  Stanford, 5. Clemson, 6.  Southern California, 7.  Oklahoma State, 8. LSU, 9. Florida, 10. Vanderbilt, 11. Auburn, 12. Alabama, 13. South Florida, 14. South Carolina, 15. Florida State, 16. Wake Forest, 17.  Arizona State ,18. California, 19. Duke, 20. Oklahoma, 21. Arkansas, 22. North Carolina, 23. San Diego State, 24.  Oregon, 25. Washington.