SEC Golfers On PGA Tour List

Lee Hodges is a professional golfer who plays in the PGA tournament. He claimed his outstanding win on the PGA Tour at the 3M Open in July 2023.

Hodges won the Alabama 4A individual state championship as a senior at Ardmore High School in 2014. Not only that but he transferred from UAB and enrolled in Alabama in August 2016. 

He was named to the All-SEC first team and Ping All-America third team as a senior. He won twice alongside University of Alabama teammate Davis Riley in both cases, as the team finished second at the 2018 NCAA Division I championship.

As a senior, he shot his 54-hole career low mark of 9-under par 201 at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate where he finished with a season-best third-place result. 

Moreover, he was a 2 times all-conference performer at UAB and was named the 2015 conference USA freshman of the year. 

Will Claxton is a famous American professional golfer and he helped the Swainsboro High School golf team win four regular regional championships during his time there

He was named to the 1999 Polo Golf Junior All-America team in his senior year of high school. Moreover, he went on to attend Auburn University and was a member of the Tigers’ 2002 SEC Championship team.

During his freshman year, he finished 4th position and 3rd position in the SEC Tournament in 2002 and 2003 respectively. 

He joined the Hooters Tour in 2005 when he turned a professional golfer in the same year and was a member until 2008. He was a member of the eGolf professional tour in 2009 and was a member of the Nationwide Tour from 2010 to 2011. 

Claxton earned an invitation to the 2011 Transitions Championship and his first career PGA tour start where he made the cut and finished T-67 for the event.

William Horschel is an American pro golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.

Horschel accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida where he played for the Florida Gators men’s golf team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association competition from 2006 to 2009 alongside coach Buddy Alexander.

Moreover, he was a 4 time All-American including three first-team honors, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Player of the Year in 2007 and 2009.

He was a 2008 PING Southeast all-region selection and graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 2009. 

He represented the United States at the Palmer Cup on two occasions in 2007 and 2008 gaining 4.5 points. Not only that but he posted a 3-1 record for the victorious 2007 Walker Cup team.

William had missed the cut in the first FedEx Cup playoff event to fall to number 82 in the standings.

Russell Henley helped the Georgia Bulldogs win the SEC title in his junior and senior years respectively and claimed medalist honors. 

Henley is a pro golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and he played college golf for 4 years at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Moreover, he won the 2010 Haskins Award as the most outstanding collegiate golfer. He played in the U.S. Open and tied for the low amateur.

He also played in 2 Nationwide Tour events named the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational and the Stadion Athens Classic at UGA in 2010.

Henley won the Fred Haskins Award as the nation’s most outstanding collegiate golfer. He was named Georgia’s Student-Athlete of the Year for the 2009-2010 season and won the Stadion Classic at UGA on the Nationwide Tour in 2011. 

Chip McDaniel played college golf at the University of Kentucky where he won three tournaments. Furthermore, he also won the Kentucky State Amateur in 2013 and 2017 and the Junior PGA Championship in 2013.

McDaniel turned pro in 2018 after graduating and qualified for the 2019 U.S. Open golf tournament by finishing first in sectional qualifying. 

He was the runner-up at the 2016 SEC Championship and completed his career with a 71.8 stroke average.  

Chip earned a spot on the 2015 SEC All-Freshman Team and was a second-team All-SEC pick in 2016 and 2018. 

Smylie Kaufman was the SEC silver medalist at the 2014 SEC Men’s Golf Championships in his final conference appearance in 2014.

Kaufman fired a career-low tournament score of 11-under par 199 at the 2014 SEC Championships and set a career-low with a 72.20 scoring average as a senior in 2013.

Moreover, he played college golf at Louisiana State University and turned pro after graduating in 2014. 

He was named twice to the SEC Community Service Team for men’s golf in 2013 and 2014.

Braden Thornberry earned PING All-America Second Team honors and became the third 2-time All-American in Ole Miss history.

Thornberry played in 13 world amateur golf tournaments where he posted a 70.28 stroke average that ranked him 15th place nationally. Not only that but he was the one and only golfer to earn two SEC Golfer of the Week honors throughout the season. 

As a junior, he cruised to a 5-shot victory by finishing -12 at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship and earning SEC Golfer of the Week honors. 

Braden won the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s golf championship individual title and was a member of the victorious team U.S. at the 2017 Walker Cup and the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup respectively. 

Hayden Buckley came back strong and registered a tie for 28th position in his first event the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate back in 2016.

In the Warrior Invitational tournament, he shot 209 which is the lowest 54-hole round score of his career.  

Buckley is a professional American golfer on the PGA tour who won the 2019 ATB Financial Classic golf tournament and the LECOM Suncoast classic on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021. 

In his college career, he signed with the University of Missouri where he enjoyed four college wins. He was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection in his senior year and named the Missouri Male Athlete of the Year for the 2017-18 season. 

Matthew NeSmith became just the second Gamecock to win an SEC title as he claimed a six-stroke victory at the SEC Championship with a record 54-hole total of 196.

NeSmith scored 64 in the second round at the SEC Championship is a career-low and school SEC Championship record.  

Moreover, he was named Golfweek National Player of the Week for winning the SEC Championship in 2014. 

He set his best PGA Tour finish with a T3 at the Valspar Championship in March 2022 where he shot outside of the playoff between Sam Burns and Davis Riley. 

Sam Bennett registered 3 under-par rounds at the SEC match play and recorded a tie for 17th place as well as finishing 4th position as a team. 

Famous American golfer Samuel won the U.S. Amateur tournament in 2022.  He started his career as a professional golfer from his high school, playing golf on a public 9-hole course in his native Madisonville.

He attended Madisonville High School where he was a state champion in 2017 and enrolled at Texas A&M in 2018. He earned All-American honors and represented the American team at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup as a  junior. 

Moreover, Bennett tied for fifth at the Border Olympics and posted top-20 finishes at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and SEC Championship.

He went undefeated in match play at the SEC Championship where he posted victories over Spencer Ralston and Julian Perico in 2021.