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Stanford's McNealy named Men's Golfer of the Year

May 1, 2015
Stanford men's golf Maverick McNealy
StanfordPhoto.com

SAN FRANCISCO—Maverick McNealy of STANFORD was named the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Year, Sean Crocker of USC was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and ARIZONA STATE coach Tim Mickelson was tabbed Pac-12 Coach of the Year in a voting by the Pac-12 men’s golf coaches. In addition, the 2015 All-Pac-12 Men’s Golf Team selected by the coaches was announced.

McNealy, who hails from Portola Valley, Calif., is the fifth different Stanford golfer to earn Golfer of the Year honors (1995, 1996 – Tigers Woods; 1999 – Joel Kribel; 2006 – Rob Grube; 2014 – Patrick Rodgers).  A semifinalist for the Hogan Award given annually to the nation’s top collegiate golfer, he has collected five victories this season and finished among the top five in eight of 11 tournaments. The most recent of his five victories came this week in record-fashion as he took Pac-12 Championship medalist honors with an 18-under 262, which included a Palouse Ridge course record 61 in the final round. His final score of 262 is a Pac-12 Championship record low score for four rounds. Currently ranked No. 1 in the latest Golfstat and Golfweek individual rankings, McNealy carries a 68.68 stroke average. That currently puts him at the top of Stanford’s record book for individual season stroke average, just ahead of former teammates Patrick Rodgers (69.41) and Cameron Wilson (69.76).
 
Crocker, from Westlake Village, Calif., provides the Trojans with back-to-back Freshman of the Year honors (Rico Hoey in 2014), and is the sixth Trojan to earn the award. Crocker led USC with a 70.46 stroke average through 37 rounds, while posting 17 rounds in the 60s. He finished among the top 10 in seven tournaments, including a tie for sixth at the recently completed Pac-12 Championships. He’s currently ranked 33rd in Golfstats head-to-head player standings, which is fifth among all freshmen. 

Mickelson, in his fourth year as head coach, has guided Arizona State to a Top-5 national ranking after collecting five tournament wins and 10 Top-3 finishes this season. It’s the first time Mickelson has earned league coach of the year honors, and the 10tth time an Arizona State coach has earned the honor with Randy Lein the most recent Sun Devil coach to receive the award in 2000. During the 2014-15 season, Mickelson has mentored All-Conference members Jon Rahm and Max Rottluff who have posted stroke averages of 68.79 and 69.27 respectively. Those season stroke averages rank 1-2 in Sun Devil history. The Sun Devils are currently ranked No. 3 in Golfstat, No. 6 in Golfweek. 

The Pac-12 golf awards and the All-Pac-12 Team are voted on by the Conference head golf coaches.  Following is the complete list of honors:

All-Pac-12 First Team

Name, School, Year, Hometown
Sean Crocker, USC, Fr., Westlake Village, Calif.
Jonathan Garrick, UCLA, Jr., Atherton, Calif.
Rico Hoey, USC, So., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Maverick McNealy, Stanford, So., Portola Valley, Calif.
Cheng-Tsung Pan, Washington, Sr., Bradenton, Fla.
Corey Pereira, Washington, So., Cameron Park, Calif.
Jon Rahm, Arizona State, Jr., Barrika, Spain
Max Rottluff, Arizona State, Jr., Dusseldorf, Germany

All-Pac-12 Second Team

Name, School, Year, Hometown
Shotaro Ban, California, Jr., San Jose, Calif., 
David Boote, Stanford, Jr., Surrey, England
Lorens Chan, UCLA, Jr., Honolulu, Hawai’i
George Cunningham, Arizona, Fr., Tucson, Ariz.
Zach Foushee, Oregon, Jr., West Linn, Ore.
Brandon McIver, Oregon, Jr., Billings, Mont.
Jonathan Sanders, Washington, Jr., Chatsworth, Calif.
Aaron Wise, Oregon, Fr., Lake Elsinore, Calif.

Honorable Mention: Viraat Badhwar, So., STAN; Broc Johnson, Sr., ASU; KK Limbhasut, Fr., CAL; Manav Shah, Sr., UCLA.

All-Pac-12 Freshman Team

Name, School, Year, Hometown
Sean Crocker, USC, Fr., Westlake Village, Calif.
George Cunningham, Arizona, Fr., Tucson, Ariz.
KK Limbhasut, California, Fr., Loma Linda, Calif.
Jonah Texeira, USC, Fr., Porter Ranch, Calif.
Aaron Wise, Oregon, Fr., Lake Elsinore, Calif.

Honorable Mention: Sebastian Crampton, CAL; Frank Garber, WASH

Pac-12 Player of the Year: Maverick McNealy, Stanford

Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Sean Crocker, USC

Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Tim Mickelson, Arizona State