Jack Nicklaus Award Recipients Announced

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Matt Hill from NC State, Valdosta State's Brent Witcher, Mitchell Fedorka of La Verne and Point Loma Nazarene's Sam Cyr have been named the 2009 Jack Nicklaus Award Recipients.

Hill - the Division I Recipient - is the second player in NCAA history - Tiger Woods for Stanford in 1996 was the other - to win his conference tournament, an NCAA regional and the NCAA Championship tournament en route to the national title since the NCAA started the regional play format. Hill won eight college tournaments during the 2008-09 school year - the previous ACC record was five in one season. Although there is no official NCAA record for most wins in a season, it is believed that Hill has now established the new mark.

Division II winner Witcher was named Gulf South Conference's Player of the Year for the second straight season, the first VSU player to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since Scott Hay did so in 1988-89. Witcher averaged 71.0 strokes per round in 28 rounds this season and finished in the top five on five occasions on the year. Overall, he accumulated eight Top 10 finishes and nine Top 20 showings while leading VSU in nine of the 10 events. He earned victories at two spring events as he claimed medalist honors at the AASU/Southbridge Pirate Invitational and the First Federal Southeastern Collegiate.

Fedorka was the top ranked player in the Golfstat individual standings in addition to tying finishing second at the Division III national championships. Fedorka also earned All-West Region accolades in addition to being named SCIAC Player of the Year. He won three times this season and only finished out of the top 10 twice.

A repeat winner of the NAIA Nicklaus Award, Cyr won his second consecutive NAIA national championship. He won five times this season giving him 12 for his career. Cyr was a four-time first-team PING All-America selection. He tallied four other top five finishes and only finished out of the top 10 twice in 12 events.

Jack Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champions at The Ohio State University, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988. The recipients were recognized by Mr. Nicklaus at the final round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, just outside of Nicklaus' hometown of Columbus.

2009 All-Nicklaus Team

Bennett Blakeman, Illinois Wesleyan
Jorge Campillo, Indiana
Bud Cauley, Alabama
Sam Cyr, Point Loma Nazarene
Matt Ewald, Washburn
Mitchell Fedorka, La Verne
Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State
Matthew Giles, Southern California
Matt Hill, NC State
Morgan Hoffmann, Oklahoma State
Billy Horschel, Florida
Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington
Anthony Michael, Oklahoma City
Cory Renfrew, British Columbia
Josh Schrader, Methodist
Kyle Stanley, Clemson
Nick Taylor, Washington
Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech
Mike Van Sickle, Marquette
Brent Witcher, Valdosta State

See Also:
Jack Nicklaus Award Recipients Announced Transcript
Van Sickle Named to All-Nicklaus Team