Finalists Announced for 2026 NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday
NORMAN, Okla. -- Five finalists have been named for the 2026 NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Workday. They are Jack Burr of Huntingdon, Jackson Hiller of Oglethorpe, Jonathan McEwen of Washington and Lee, Kevin Mu of Emory, and Joshua Wang of Carnegie Mellon. The winner will be announced by Nicklaus on Sunday, June 7 during his annual the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday press conference. The award will be presented to the recipient by Nicklaus and Workday.
Burr is a finalist in back to back years after five top-five finishes this season and a victory at the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Championship by one stroke on April 29. Ranked sixth via Scoreboard Powered by Clippd, the senior from Milton, Ga., was named CCS Golfer of the Year for the third consecutive season and is the program’s first four-time First Team All-CCS selection. A two-time PING First Team All-American (2024-25) and four-time PING All-Region IV honoree, Burr is looking to become Huntingdon’s second Nicklaus Award recipient, first since Addison Lambeth in 2016.
Ranked third via Scoreboard Powered by Clippd, Hiller has recorded six top-10 finishes this season with three victories. The junior from Vero Beach, Fla., won the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Championship by one stroke on April 26, the NCAA Division III Fall Preview by five strokes on September 23, and was co-medalist at the season-opening Gate City Invitational on September 16. He set the program’s 54-hole scoring record with a 13-under 202 (66-68-68) at the NCAA Division III Fall Preview. Hiller is looking to become Oglethorpe’s third Nicklaus Award recipient, hoping to join Anthony Maccaglia (2015) and Trent Erb (2004).
The 2025 Division III Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday recipient, McEwen has been ranked No. 1 in every Scoreboard Powered by Clippd ranking this season. The junior from Portsmouth, Va., has finished inside the top 12 in all eight tournaments with three victories, including his second consecutive Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championship by one stroke on April 21. McEwen was the fourth Division III player ever to be selected for the Arnold Palmer Cup on May 5 and is looking to become the second multiple-time Division III Nicklaus Award recipient, first since Hope’s Josh Gibson (2018-19).
Ranked second via Scoreboard Powered by Clippd, Mu has recorded six top-20 finishes this season with three victories. The junior from Austin, Texas, won the Discover Dekalb Emory Invitational by six strokes on April 19, winning the tournament for the Eagles with his birdie putt on the tournament’s final hole. He also won the Tiger Invitational by five strokes on March 10 and the Wabash College Fall Invitational by three strokes on October 7. A 2025 PING First Team All-American and two-time PING All-Region IV honoree, Mu is looking to become the second Nicklaus Award recipient from Emory, first since Jackson Klutznick (2024).
A freshman from Palo Alto, Calif., Wang has finished inside the top 23 in all nine of his stroke play tournaments this season. He won the Tartan Invitational by two strokes on October 14 and was co-medalist with Hiller and McEwen at the Gate City Invitational on September 16., Wang began his collegiate career going 3-0-0 in University Athletic Association (UAA) Match Play September 8-9. Ranked seventh via Scoreboard Powered by Clippd, Wang is looking to become the first Nicklaus Award recipient from Carnegie Mellon and the first freshman Division III Nicklaus Award recipient since the inception of the Division III Nicklaus Award in 2003.
All five finalists are competing this week at the 2026 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship at Mission Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, 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 enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. Workday unifies HR and Finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core to empower people at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver outcomes that matter. Workday is used by more than 11,500 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 65% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.