Finalists Announced for 2025 NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday
NORMAN, Okla. - Five finalists have been named for the 2025 NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Workday. They are Jack Burr of Huntingdon, Justin Chan of Carnegie Mellon, Jonathan McEwen of Washington & Lee, Haden Ruby of Methodist, and Chase Walts of Methodist. 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.
Burr, the repeat CCS Men’s Golfer of the Year, has recorded four top-10 finishes, including three inside the top five, in six spring tournaments for the Hawks. The junior from Milton, Ga., has a 71.5 season scoring average highlighted by an eight-birdie, seven-under 65 in the Jekyll Island Collegiate Invitational’s final round to propell Huntingdon to victory. Ranked eighth via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, Burr is a three-time PING All-Region IV golfer and 2024 PING First Team All-American.
Ranked third via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, Chan is a finalist in back to back years after being co-medalist at the Golfweek October Classic and having recorded five other top-five finishes this season. The senior from Surrey, England has come away with top-five results in four of his five spring tournaments and enters the NCAA Championship with a team-leading 71.1 scoring average. Chan is a four-time PING All-Region V honoree and two-time PING All-American, including First Team in 2024.
McEwen, the only NCAA Division III golfer with a 2024-25 scoring average below 70 (68.9), has compiled five victories and two other top-five finishes during his sophomore campaign. His wins have included the ODAC Championship, where he broke the tournament and program 54-hole scoring record (11-under 204), and being co-medalist at the Golfweek October Classic. Ranked No. 1 via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, the Portsmouth, Va., native was the NCAA Division III Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award presented by StrackaLine recipient and a PING First Team All-American in 2024.
Ruby, who had only competed in seven tournaments during his first two seasons at Methodist, recorded seven top-20 finishes, including four inside the top 10, and two victories in 2024-25. The senior from New London, N.C., won the Fred B. Kravetz Invitational and was co-medalist at the Gate City Invite while carding a 71.4 scoring average on the season. Ranked seventh via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, Ruby was named PING All-Region IV for the first time on Sunday.
Walts leads Methodist with seven top-10 finishes, including five straight from October 1 to March 10, and a 70.6 scoring average this season. The senior from Flower Mound, Texas, won the Tiger Invitational by five shots and was co-medalist with Ruby at the Gate City Invite en route to USA South Player of the Year honors for the second straight year. Ranked second via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, Walts is a two-time PING All-Region IV honoree and 2024 PING First Team All-American.
All five finalists are competing this week at the 2025 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship at Midvale Country Club in Penfield, N.Y.
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.