Finalists Announced for 2024 NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday
NORMAN, Okla. - Five finalists have been named for the 2024 NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Workday. They are J.F. Aber of Wittenberg, Cam Cappuzzo of Methodist, Justin Chan of Carnegie Mellon, Cooper Hrabak of Methodist, and Jackson Klutznick of Emory. The winner will be announced by Nicklaus on Tuesday, June 4 during his annual Memorial press conference with awards presented to each of the recipients by Nicklaus and Workday.
Aber recorded a top-20 finish in all but one tournament this season to go along with five wins to lead the Tigers, who won five team tournaments. The senior from Pittsburgh, Pa., who was named North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, collected victories at the Ted Barclay Invitational, Wittenberg Men’s Fall Classic, Hershey Cup, Denison Spring Shootout, and NCAC Conference Championship, where he broke the school record for lowest three-round total by four strokes. A four-time All-NCAC selection, Aber has been a PING Second-Team All-American each of the last two years.
Cappuzzo is currently ranked third in Scoreboard powered by Clippd’s National Rankings after four top-five finishes and a win in the Golfweek October Classic. The senior from Fort Mill, S.C., helped lead the top-ranked Monarchs to four team victories while earning First-Team All-USA South and two USA South Men’s Golfer of the Week honors. Cappuzzo was named Methodist’s member of the USA South’s All-Sportsmanship team on April 19 and a member of the 2024 Ben Hogan Award Watch List on February 9 for his play in the fall. The October 2023 NCAA Division III SwingU College Player of the Month, Cappuzzo was a PING Third-Team All-American last year.
Currently ranked fourth in Scoreboard powered by Clippd’s National Rankings, Chan carded two top-three and four top-10 finishes this season, leading the Tartans to a University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship and Visit Florence Intercollegiate victories. The junior from London, England, won both of his UAA Championship matches, finished second behind Cappuzzo in the 125-person Golfweek October Classic, and T3rd at the Visit Florence Intercollegiate. Chan was a PING Honorable Mention All-American last year.
Hrabak finished inside the top 10 six times this season, including finishing no worse than ninth in every tournament since March 5, and recorded a co-victory at the USA South Championship. The senior from Medina, Ohio, carded six rounds in the 60s, including two 66s, en route to being named First-Team All-USA South for the fourth time. Hrabak received USA South Men’s Golfer of the Week honors on March 27 and has been named a PING First-Team All-American each of the last three years.
Klutznick recorded top-15 finishes in all but one tournament this year, leading the Eagles to four victories and a University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship that was shared with Carnegie Mellon. The senior from Denver, Colo., who is currently ranked second in Scoreboard powered by Clippd’s National Rankings, became just the third NCAA Division III player to be selected to the Arnold Palmer Cup on April 23 when the teams were announced live on Golf Channel. He will represent Team USA at Lahinch Golf Club in Lahinch, Ireland July 5-7. Klutznick was a PING First-Team All-American in both of his previous years at Emory.
All five finalists are competing this week at the 2024 NCAA Championship at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder Creek, Nev.
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 a leading enterprise platform that helps organizations manage their most important assets – their people and money. 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 10,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 50% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.