Georgia's Lee McCoy Named Amateur of the Month by the Southern Golf Association
Lee McCoy
BIRMINGHAM, AL (April 13, 2016)--The name McCoy
continues to resonate amongst the fields of amateur
golf as Lee McCoy, no relation to 2013 USGA Mid-
Amateur Champion Mike McCoy, had an outstanding
month of competition to be selected SGA Amateur of
the Month (March) by the Southern Golf Association
(SGA) selection committee.
McCoy, of Cartersville, Georgia, was the near-
unanimous selection after strong showings in the
Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour, the Southern
Intercollegiate Championship, and at the Linger Longer
Invitational.
McCoy posted a four-round total of 280 (-4), to
finish in 4th place behind play-off winner Charles
Swartzel (-7). This accomplishment was the best
amateur finish in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since
Justin Rose in 1998 at The Open Championship at
Royal Birkdale and only the fifth time that an amateur
has finished in the top five in a Tour event since Phil
Mickelson won the Northern Telecom Open in 1991.
The most recent top five finish prior to McCoy's came
at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open when
Jon Rahm finished T5.
After making the cut, McCoy posted the best score
of the day with a 66 and went on to post a 69 on
Sunday, while paired with then World #1, Jordan
Spieth, who finished the round with 73. All in all a
performance anyone in the field would have been
proud of, and certainly this senior at the University of
Georgia.
Immediately following play, Lee drove over seven
hours from Tampa back to Athens where he joined his
Bulldog teammates on Monday for the 36 hole
Southern Intercollegiate, where he finished tied for 7th
individually and helped his team win by three shots
over Arkansas. Sound fatiguing? It was, but McCoy's
saving grace was that, because it was two rounds in a
single day, players were allowed to get around the
course using carts.
After a few days of rest, McCoy was off to
Reynolds on Lake Oconee for the Linger Longer
Invitational, which annually boasts one of the strongest
intercollegiate fields and 2016 was no exception. Lee
posted a three day total of 207 (-9) to win the
individual championship by one shot over Georgia
teammate Sepp Straka. Despite the combined efforts
of McCoy and Straka, Georgia finished T2 for the team
championship.
Winners of the SGA’s March-through-October
award are determined by a blue-ribbon national panel
of golf officials, coaches and journalists. Formerly
named the National Amateur of the Month Award, it is
now simply known as the Amateur of the Month Award
as it has reached international status with
presentations to players all over the world.
The SGA supports amateur golf at the highest
level, including staging of the storied Southern
Amateur, which will be played for the 110th time in
July at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina, as well as the 44th Southern Junior
Championship in June at the University of Texas Golf
Club in Austin, Texas.