Finalists Announced for 2025 NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday
NORMAN, Okla. – Five finalists have been named for the 2025 NCAA Divison I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Workday. They are Luke Clanton of Florida State, David Ford of North Carolina, Jackson Koivun of Auburn, Michael La Sasso of Ole Miss, and Christiaan Maas of Texas. 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.
After a summer that saw him make eight PGA TOUR cuts, including four finishes inside the top 10, and a winter where he earned PGA TOUR membership through PGA TOUR University Accelerated, Clanton has carded seven top-10 finishes and four wins by 14 total strokes during his junior campaign. The 2025 NCAA Tallahassee Regional Champion from Hialeah, Fla., won the 2025 Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird on Monday night and is ranked third via Scoreboard powered by Clippd with a 69.1 scoring average. Clanton was also a 2024 NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday finalist and has been the top-ranked amateur via the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR®) since August 14, 2024.
Ford, a 2025 Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird finalist, won a nation’s leading and program-record five tournaments, including a program-first three straight between March 25 and April 13, and compiled four other top-10 finishes this season. The senior from Peachtree Corners, Ga., went 3-0 in ACC Championship match play and was the ACC Men’s Golfer of the Month in October, March, and April. Ranked No. 1 via Scoreboard powered by Clippd, Ford’s program-record 68.78 scoring average leads the nation. Ford also broke season program records for strokes below par (89), score to par per round (-2.47), and rounds in the 60s (25).
The 2024 NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday recipient, Koivun has followed his historic freshman season with nine top-10 finishes as a sophomore, including in all seven spring tournaments heading into the NCAA Championship, and was again named SEC Player of the Year. The Chapel Hill, N.C., native became the first Tiger in 35 years to win an NCAA Regional (Auburn), the first player in 49 years to repeat as SEC Individual Champion, and won the season-opening Inverness Intercollegiate. Koivun, a Team USA selection for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Cup and 2025 Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird finalist, is ranked second via Scoreboard powered by Clippd with a 68.82 scoring average.
La Sasso has recorded six top-10 finishes, including four inside the top three, and won his first two collegiate tournaments this season en route to First Team All-SEC and Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird semifinalist honors. The junior from Raleigh, N.C., leads Ole Miss in at least 10 statistical categories, including scoring average (69.51), rounds below par (23), rounds in the 60s (18), and top-20 finishes (9), to guide the Rebels to their first NCAA Championship appearance since 2022. La Sasso is ranked fourth via Scoreboard powered by Clippd and a Team USA selection for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Cup.
Maas has carded eight top-10 finishes, including five inside the top five, and won the Pauma Valley Invitational during his junior, First Team All-SEC season. Leading the Longhorns with 18 rounds in the 60s and 29 rounds of par or better, the Pretoria, South Africa, native was named a Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird semifinalist and is ranked eighth via Scoreboard powered by Clippd with a 69.78 scoring average. Maas is a three-time All-Conference and a two-time PING All-American and PING All-Central Region honoree.
Clanton, Koivun, La Sasso, and Maas are competing at the 2025 NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., beginning tomorrow.
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.