New No. 1! Auburn men’s golf jumps Virginia to take top spot in national rankings
After winning The Hayt in Florida over a field that included fellow title contenders in UVA, Auburn has moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 in the newest rankings released Wednesday.
Auburn’s on top.
The Tigers men’s golf team jumped Virginia in the new national rankings released on Wednesday morning to move to No. 1 nationally.
Auburn had been No. 2 all season, trailing the Cavaliers — fellow title contenders who knocked Auburn out of match play at the NCAA Championship last season.
But Auburn made its move on Monday, winning The Hayt tournament in Florida over a field that included Virginia. Auburn fired 13-under in the third round to take the team title.
Auburn’s Jackson Koivun, widely regarded as the best amateur in the world, won the individual title with a tie-breaking birdie on No. 18 at the end of the third round. Koivun has now won three of the last four tournaments he’s played in.
In the new national rankings, which are calculated by an algorithm, there remains a sizable gap between No. 2 and No. 3. It’s been a two-team race for the top spot between Auburn and Virginia, with Virginia leading the race all season up to now.
At the beginning of March at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Auburn and Virginia went down to the wire at the top of the leaderboard, with Virginia edging out Auburn at 15-under compared to the Tigers’ 14-under. They both pulled away from the rest of the competition with third-place Illinois finished at 4-under.
But, when both teams were in the same field again at The Hayt this past week, Virginia couldn’t keep up: Auburn won the tournament at 28-under while Virginia finished in sixth at 13-under.
The algorithm used by the National Collegiate Golf Ranking System recognizes stroke differential, not just placing differential, and Auburn’s strong play at The Hayt was obviously enough to move the Tigers into the top spot.
Auburn has two weeks off before returning to play March 23 at the Valspar Collegiate in Florida. The spring schedule continues to build toward the SEC Championship starting April 22 at St. Simons Island, Ga., and NCAA Regionals which begin May 18.
Auburn last season made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA’s postseason, before being eliminated in match play by Virginia. Virginia went on to make the national final, ultimately losing to Oklahoma State, but the Cavaliers returned their entire roster from that runner-up team for this season.