June 8, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern sophomore men's golfer Luke Donald (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England) has broken Tiger Woods' three-year-old Golfstat Cup record, finishing this season with a stroke average of 70.45. Woods' mark of 70.61 was set in 1996. The Golfstat Cup is awarded to the collegiate golfer with the lowest stroke average.
Donald also has swept the No. 1 individual ranking in all three final computer rankings. He ends the season as the top collegiate golfer in the Mastercard rankings, Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and Golfstat Cup standings.
The NCAA's No. 1 ranking continues an incredible week for Donald. Yesterday, Donald was awarded the Jack Nicklaus Award, given by the Golf Coaches Association of America to the national player of the year. On Sat., June 5, Donald became Northwestern's first-ever NCAA men's golf champion.
The Wildcats, as a team, ended the year ranked No. 2 in the country in Golfstat's head-to-head rankings, behind only NCAA champion Georgia. NU also improved to sixth in the final Mastercard standings and finished 13th according to Golfweek.
Individually for NU, senior Erik Ciotti (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) finished his career No. 80 in the final Mastercard rankings while junior teammate Josh Habig (Jasper, Ind./Jasper) was ranked 81st. In addition, Ciotti qualified yesterday for the U.S. Open.