Iron sharpens iron: Jovan Rebula, Graysen Huff finish 1-2 at SEC Championship

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Graysen Huff, left, and Jovan Rebula tied for the individual SEC championship, with Rebula winning in a playoff.

AUBURN, Ala. – While Auburn's Graysen Huff walked the fairway on 18 preparing to hit his approach shot at the SEC Championship, head coach Nick Clinard greeted him with a question.

"He asked if I wanted to know where I stood, and I told him no," said Huff, unaware that he needed a birdie on the final hole to force a playoff with teammate Jovan Rebula.

"I hit a really good shot up there, made about a 20-footer and then actually, at the moment, thought that I had won the tournament, so I was pretty excited about that, got a little emotional on the green," Huff said. "Shook hands and everything and coach looked at me, he said, 'Alright, now get your mind ready for a playoff.'

"And I kind of went, 'Oh, alright, who's it against?' And he said, 'Well, you're playing Jovan.' I said, 'That's an interesting turn of events.'

The Tiger teammates played four extra holes with Rebula winning the SEC individual championship on a long birdie putt. Huff and Rebula each signed three straight scorecards in the 60s to finish 54 holes of stroke play at 8-under par, sharing the lead.

"I'm really proud and happy for Jovan," Huff said. "I think that's awesome for him. He played a great round today. I played really good this week as well."

Drawing inspiration from Auburn basketball's Final Four run, Huff noted the importance of, as Tigers' basketball coach Bruce Pearl puts it, "staying right and staying ready."

"We have probably one of the best seven, eight, nine guys in the country in my opinion, and I think that you always have to be ready and able to step up," Huff said. "Bruce really teaches to be ready to take your shot when you've got them, and that's kind of what we're doing here. You've got to be able to step up and step in the lineup and play. You never know when you're going to be called upon.

"It's one of those things on this team because we're so good and we're deep, you've got to be ready to step in, and they're big shoes to fill, so you've got to be prepared for it."

The competition to crack Auburn's starting five elevates each golfer's performance, Huff said.

"I really do believe that throughout this year, we've pushed each other to the limits," he said. "We've pushed each other for the better, and maybe for a little bit of the worse toward the middle of the season. Playing against these guys every single day, Jovan's a seasoned competitor and he has very good wins. Some of the other guys have played very good amateur golf throughout the years. I really do think that all of the guys are great competitors. Playing against them day in and day out really does make you better."

With iron sharpening iron, Auburn blistered the rest of the Southeastern Conference, the only team to break par Friday en route to a 16-stroke victory over Vanderbilt. The leaderboard resets for Saturday's match play, with top-seeded and defending champion Auburn facing No. 8 seed South Carolina in the quarterfinals, beginning at 6:30 a.m. CT at Sea Island in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Huff, taking another cue from Auburn's basketball team, tees off against the Gamecocks' Will Miles at 6:50 a.m. CT.

"We still have some unfinished business coming in the next couple days," he said. "We just taking it in stride and getting ready for tomorrow."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer