The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
McDowell Wins Fred Haskins Award
6/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
June 29, 2002
ORLANDO, Fla. - UAB junior Graeme McDowell added yet another award to his growing list of accolades, as he was named Saturday as the recipient of the Fred Haskins Collegiate Player of the Year Award by the Fred Haskins Award Committee.
The Haskins award is considered to be the Heisman Trophy of men's collegiate golf and is voted on each year by coaches, players and members of the media. McDowell becomes the first UAB player in history to win the award. He will be joining the likes of players such as David Duval, Tiger Woods and Phil Mikelson and last year's winner Bryce Molder.
"I'm very happy for Graeme," said Blazer head coach Alan Kaufman. "Graeme has achieved what no other golfer at UAB has ever done and we are very proud of him. He has proved that he can play with the best college golfers and I'm positive he will bring his will and determination to win with him in the pros. I couldn't think of a better way for Graeme to end his college career."
Along with the Player of the Year award, McDowell was named the Conference USA Player of the Year and Ping All-American for the second consecutive year. He earned C-USA All-Conference team honors, was the C-USA Player of the Month in February and March, and was Golf World's Player of the Week March 22. McDowell was also one of 10 finalists for the Ben Hogan Award given to the top collegiate golfer.
McDowell recently completed arguably the most outstanding career in UAB collegiate golf history. The Portrush, Northern Ireland native won six tournaments this past season and finished tied for fourth at the NCAA Championship in late May. He posted a career-best 63 in the final round of Atlanta Intercollegiate to win the tournament for the third-straight year. He finished the season with a 69.86 scoring average, 11 top-10 finishes, and shot 35 rounds of par or better.
McDowell was also the first Blazer to be ranked No. 1 in both the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and the Golf Stat Cup Rankings.
