2022 NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus Award Finalists Announced

NORMAN, Okla. – Five finalists have been named for the 2022 NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award. They are Ludvig Aberg of Texas Tech, Eugenio Chacarra of Oklahoma State, Chris Gotterup of Oklahoma, Logan McAllister of Oklahoma, and Cole Sherwood of Vanderbilt. The winner will be announced on June 5 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, and presented by award namesake Jack Nicklaus during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.

Aberg, the 2022 Ben Hogan Award winner, is ranked among the top three in all four major ranking systems, including No. 1 according to the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking, No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), No. 2 in the Golfstat individual rankings, and No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. He won two tournaments in 2021-22, including the Big 12 Conference Championship, and finished in the top 10 in each of his last eight tournaments. 

Chacarra ranks among the top seven in all four rankings systems, including second in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking and fourth in both the World Amateur Golf Ranking and Golfstat Player Ranking. He has logged a 69.80 adjusted scoring average over 37 rounds with nine top-10 showings for the Cowboys. Chacarra has three tournament victories this spring, including the NCAA Columbus Regional. 

Gotterup, who leads Golfstat’s rankings with an adjusted scoring average of 69.80 through 31 rounds, led the Sooners with two individual wins, six top-fives, and eight top-10s this season. His 196 (-20) at the Puerto Rico Classic, which he won, was the lowest 54-hole score in 2021-22 for the nation’s No. 1 seed. Gotterup finished second at the Big 12 Conference Championship to earn All-Tournament honors.    

McAllister, who is ranked third in Golfstat’s rankings with an adjusted scoring average of 70.01, compiled 15 rounds in the 60s, six top-10s, three top-fives, and one victory in 2021-22. His victory came in the Carmel Cup in September, and he earned a spot on the Big 12 Conference All-Tournament team.  

Sherwood, the First-Team All-SEC member, had a resurgent spring while carding six top-10s, four top-fives, two wins, and 15 rounds under par for the SEC champion Commodores. He was twice named the SEC Golfer of the Week, set a Vanderbilt 18-hole record with a 61 at the Cabo Collegiate, and his three-day total of 196 at that tournament set a Vanderbilt 54-hole record. Sherwood’s adjusted scoring average of 70.00 is good for fifth in Golfstat’s individual rankings.

All five finalists are competing this week at the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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.