2014 Southern Am Champ M.J. Maguire to compete in Arnold Palmer Invitational
ORLANDO, Fla. – Emerging collegiate star and 5-
year
AmateurGolf.com member
M.J. Maguire, a senior at North
Florida University, will compete against PGA
Tour
pros in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill
Club, starting March 19, 2015. Maguire earned a
spot
in the field by winning last summer’s
108th Southern Amateur Championship on the
Honors Course outside Chattanooga.
Maguire, from St. Petersburg, won the
prestigious Southern Am against an international
field containing many of the world’s top-
ranked amateurs. Since 2004, the Bay Hill
tournament has been supporting amateur golf by
awarding the annual Southern Am champ a
sponsor's
exemption into the event the following spring.
Several past winners of the venerable
Southern
Am have made the cut when playing as an
amateur
on that Palmer exemption, including Webb
Simpson
and Kyle Stanley, who went on to win PGA Tour
events after turning pro.
Maguire, an Atlantic Sun first team, all-
conference selection, has helped raise North
Florida’s golf team to a higher status in
collegiate golf. In addition to his victory in the Southern Am,
Maguire
also won the Ka’anapali Collegiate Invitational
last fall and placed second in the storied Azalea
Invitational in Charleston, SC, earlier in the
year.
He plans to defend his Southern Am title in
July
at Old Waverly Club in West Point, Miss.
ABOUT THE Southern Amateur
The Southern Amateur, which dates back to 1902, is
one of two competitions held by the Southern Golf
Association (the other is the Southern Junior). This
is a 72-hole stroke play championship with a cut
made after 36 holes. Entries are open to any male
amateur golfer who has a current USGA Handicap
Index® not exceeding 3.4 under the USGA Handicap
System. Non-exempt players must pre-qualify at
one of the qualifying sites held across the southern
U.S. in the two months leading up to the
championship.
View Complete Tournament Information