CLEMSON, S.C. — Jacob Bridgeman will lead the Clemson Tigers into the Valspar Invitational on Monday. The Tigers are one of 12 ACC and SEC teams slated to competed in the two-day 54-hole tournament to be held at The Floridian in Palm City, Fla.
The list of teams includes Clemson, Wake Forest, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M and many other prominent teams from the southeast. The Tigers are coming off the team’s first victory of the year at the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst #2, then a fourth-place finish at the Linger Longer Invitational, a field that included 17 of the top 100 players in the nation.
This tournament also attracts a national field, as the winner will receive an invitation to the 2023 Valspar Invitational tournament on the PGA Tour.
Three Clemson golfers have combined to capture medalist honors at each of the last two tournaments and all three will be in the lineup for Clemson on Monday and Tuesday.
Bridgeman is coming off one of the best performances of his career as he captured the Linger Longer Invitational by a school record tying six shots. Bridgeman had rounds of 67-66-67 for a 16-under-par score in winning the fourth tournament of his career, just one short of the career record held by D.J. Trahan and Chris Patton. His 200 score tied the tournament record.
Bridgeman currently ranks 13th in the latest PGA University rankings and is 20th in the latest World Amateur rankings. He has a 71.17 stroke average for the year to lead the team and his 70.90 career average is second best in school history behind Doc Redman’s 70.70. His spring resume also included medalist honors at the Canadian Tour qualifier in Alabama a few weeks back.
Colby Patton and Zack Gordon were co-medalists at the Wake Forest Invitational that concluded March 8. Patton is second on the Clemson team in stroke average this year at 72.00. He and Gordon both had scores of 212 in earning co-medalist honors at Pinehurst. Gordon has a 72.90 average this season with a pair of top 10 finishes.
Clemson will be without the services of veteran senior Kyle Cottam, who will be competing in the Canadian Tour qualifier in Arizona this week.
Carter Pendley has played well of late, especially in the later rounds in tournaments. He had his first career top 10 when he finished seventh at the Wake Forest Invitational, then shot rounds of 72-71 to finish the Linger Longer.
Kian Rose, who has had some injury issues of late, will be in the lineup this week. The redshirt freshman has a 73.17 stroke average so far this year for 18 rounds. He has four top 30 finishes this year.
Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.com.
