Finalists Announced for 2025 NCAA Division II Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday
NORMAN, Okla. - Five finalists have been named for the 2025 NCAA Division II Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Workday. They are Seth Bearden of Midwestern State, Adam Duncan of Colorado Christian, Leandro Mihaich of Oklahoma Christian, Sangha Park of Colorado Christian, and Cooper Tendick of West Florida. The winner will be announced by Nicklaus on Sunday, June 1 during his annual the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday press conference with awards presented to each of the recipients by Nicklaus and Workday.
The Lone Star Conference (LSC) Golfer of the Year, Bearden recorded seven top-10 finishes, three victories, and a 71.00 scoring average for the Mustangs. Ranked fifth via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, the junior from Crowell, Texas, went 2-0 in LSC Medal Match Play, winning his matches by a combined 6Up en route to leading Midwestern State to their fifth LSC Championship. Bearden earned PING All-South Central Region and First Team All-LSC honors for the second consecutive year after being named a PING Second Team All-American in 2024.
Ranked No. 1 via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, Duncan is a finalist in back to back years after compiling four victories, 10 top-10 finishes, and a 68.414 scoring average for the top-ranked Cougars. The senior from Bakersfield, Calif., earned his second straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Golfer of the Year and fourth consecutive PING All-South Region honors. Duncan became the first Colorado Christian golfer to be selected to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup on April 29 when the teams were announced live on Golf Channel. He will represent Team USA at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C., June 5-7.
The 2024 Division II Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday recipient, Mihaich returns as a finalist after recording five top-five finishes and winning his second straight Lone Star Conference (LSC) Individual Championship. Ranked ninth via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, the junior from Bell Ville, Argentina, finished inside the top 10 nine times with a 71.32 season scoring average. Mihaich earned his second consecutive First-Team All-LSC and PING All-South Central Region honors while leading the Eagles to their fourth straight NCAA Championship appearance. Mihaich is looking to become the second repeat Division II Jack Nicklaus Award recipient after Sonoma State’s Jarin Todd in 2007-08.
Park is a finalist in back to back years after carding nine top-five finishes, two victories, a 69.00 scoring average, and a First Team All-RMAC honor in his only year in Lakewood. Ranked third via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, the senior from Cheongju, South Korea, won the RMAC Individual Championship with a program-record 17-under 199 that included a course and tournament-record 10-under 62. Park was named PING All-South Central Region for the third straight year and has been a PING All-American each of the last four years, two each at UTPB (2023-24) and Odessa (NJCAA Division I) (2021-22).
The Gulf South Conference (GSC) Golfer of the Year, Tendick led the second-ranked Argonauts with six top-10 finishes, two victories, and a 70.61 scoring average. Ranked seventh via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, the junior from Kennesaw, Ga., earned PING All-South Region and First Team All-GSC for the first time after receiving Second Team All-GSC honors in 2024. Tendick, a three-time GSC Team Champion, is looking to become the second Jack Nicklaus Award winner in school history after Chandler Blanchet in 2017.
Duncan, Mihaich, Park, and Tendick are competing at the 2025 NCAA Division II Championships May 19-23 at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion at Ohio State, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988. The award is now presented to the National Player of the Year in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA.
About the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday
The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday is held annually at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The Tournament, founded and hosted by Jack Nicklaus, is conducted each year with three goals in mind: to honor the memory of individuals living and deceased who have distinguished themselves in the game of golf; to showcase the world’s best golfers competing on one of the most challenging venues in the world for the enjoyment of spectators; and to benefit many Greater Columbus Charities in alliance with the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation and numerous other local organizations. For more information, visit www.thememorialtournament.com or call 614-889-6700.
About Workday
Workday is the AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. The Workday platform is built with AI at the core to help customers elevate people, supercharge work, and move their business forever forward. Workday is used by more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 60% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.