July 18, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Four former and one current Auburn men's golfers will play at the Barbasol Championship PGA Tour event held at Grand National in Opelika, July 20-23.
Recent graduate Matt Gilchrest and current junior Trace Crowe will join former All-Americans Blayne Barber and Dominic Bozzelli and the 2007 SEC Champion Patton Kizzire in a crowded field of 128 that will play the par-71, 7,302-yard Lakes Course.
Gilchrest, a two-time All-SEC selection and 2017 Byron Nelson Award finalist, will be making his second-straight appearance at the Barbasol Championship after missing the cut at 1-under 141 last year. The Southlake, Texas, native has played five tournaments on the Mackenzie Tour this summer including a career-best t-8th finish at the Freedom 55 Financial Open.
Crowe, a native of Bluffton, S.C., will be making his PGA Tour debut after leading the Tigers with a 71.82 stroke average last season. The 2017 All-SEC second-team selection had four top-15 finishes including the second win of his career at the Gary Koch Invitational as a sophomore.
Barber, a member of the 2011 and 2012 Arnold Palmer Cup USA teams at Auburn, will make his 21st appearance on the PGA Tour this season. He had a career-best runner-up finish at the RSM Classic in November and tied for 16th at the PLAYERS Championship in May.
Bozzelli and Kizzire are fresh off a t-25th finish at the John Deere Classic. Bozzelli, a 2013 graduate, has played in 22 PGA Tour events this year, making the cut 10 times with four top-25 finishes. The Rochester, N.Y., native tied for third at the Valspar Championship, finished fifth at the CareerBuilder Challenge and most recently tied for 10th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June.
Kizzire is currently ranked 90th in the FedEx Cup rankings and has made the cut in 11 of 23 events played this season on the PGA Tour. The two-time All-SEC selection finished second at the Safeway Open and t-5th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Last year at the Barbasol Championship, former All-American Michael Johnson, making his professional debut, finished third at 17-under 67-65-70-65-267. Aaron Baddeley defeated Si Woo Kim over four playoff holes to win the event.