Insider: Which college gets bragging rights on TOUR?

text size

Greenwood/Getty Images

Bryce Molder was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame this year.

The approach to golf changes once it makes the transition from college to the PGA TOUR. It morphs from an individual game weighted toward team competition to an individual pursuit. With the exception of the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup, professional golf is about every man for himself.

That doesn't mean the pros don't have pride in their old schools. These guys keep up with their former institutions, some more than others, and often return to the site of their old triumphs to visit their coaches and take a look around.

A few weeks ago Georgia Tech inducted Bryce Molder into the school's Hall of Fame. They had a ceremony one night and introduced the four-time All-American to the crowd at halftime of the football game the next day. Molder stood on the 50-yard line as the crowd cheered. You could tell he was having a great time as he laughed at the highlights shown on the giant scoreboard in the South end zone. Who was that kid with those skinny legs in those video?

Molder is part of a great tradition of golf at Georgia Tech, one that claims such stalwarts as Bobby Jones and former British Amateur champion Charlie Yates. Molder played for three seasons with Matt Kuchar and the duo with the Yellow Jacket headcovers still play a lot of practice rounds together.

"It's just an act," Molder joked this spring at The Heritage. "We really hate each other."

The Georgia Tech fraternity on the PGA TOUR is deep and talented. In addition to Kuchar and Molder, it also includes British Open champions David Duval and Stewart Cink, two-time PGA TOUR winner Troy Matteson and second-year player Cameron Tringale. (Another Yellow Jacket will join the crowd next season, as Roberto Castro earned his way to the major leagues via his performance on the Nationwide Tour.)

With all that talent, you might think that Georgia Tech has the most successful group that's represented on the PGA TOUR. Close, but not quite.

In an attempt to provide some bragging rights, the TOUR Insider has conducted an investigation to identify the top college golf programs. A school needs to have three players on TOUR to qualify for this competition. From there you simply add up the money winnings and arrive at the winner. It's almost as much fun as deciding who will play in the BCS football championship game, but without the bickering and complaining.

But there is some controversy to start the countdown. Wake Forest is represented by Webb Simpson and Bill Haas, the No. 2 and No. 7 money winners on the PGA TOUR. Their earnings (without Haas' $10 million FedExCup bonus) exceed a TOUR-leading $10,435,000. But there's not a third TOUR member to add to the total. Billy Andrade is carrying a microphone instead of a 5-iron. Lanny Wadkins is on the Champions Tour. Too bad Arnold Palmer didn't play in the Masters; even that $5,000 check for missing the cut would have counted. So the Wake Forest boys will have to settle for first place with an asterisk.

Here are the other nine:

No. 9: Florida's team includes Camillo Villegas, Brian Gay and Chris Couch for a total of $3.310 million. A bounce-back season by Villegas could move Buddy Alexander's Gators up a notch or two next season.

No. 8: The Texas Longhorns got wins from Jhonattan Vegas and Harrison Frazar and a bubble-dancing effort by Justin Leonard to finish with $4.128 million.

No. 7: The Arizona Wildcats suffered with Jim Furyk's off season. (Too bad the Presidents Cup didn't bring extra points.) Counting Rory Sabbatini, Furyk and Ricky Barnes, Arizona brought in $4.9 million. Maybe some of that money will help buy a football team.

No. 6: The Clemson Tigers are represented by Jonathan Byrd, Lucas Glover and D.J. Trahan for earnings of $5.429 million. Coach Larry Pendley's proteges can move up next year if Trahan regains his old form and if Glover continues to resurrect his game.

No. 5: Good thing Bubba Watson went back and finished his degree at Georgia. He's a real keeper in stuff like this. With Bubba, rookie winner Chris Kirk and Ryuji Imada, the Bulldogs finished with $6.344 million.

No. 4: Arizona State always rises and falls with Phil Mickelson. This year Mickelson, Chez Reavie and Billy Mayfair totaled $6.828 million. And that's with Mayfair struggling enough to require a trip to q-school. A return to health -- and form -- by Paul Casey and the Sun Devils could be a contender.

No. 3: UNLV has a lot of depth, starting with Adam Scott, Ryan Moore and Charley Hoffman. They earned $7.168 million, which doesn't include the $1 million bonus that Bill Lunde claimed for winning the Kodak Challenge.

No. 2: Georgia Tech's team of Kuchar, Molder and Tringale sounds like a law firm located on Peachtree Street. But they combined to make $7.517 million. And that's not even counting Stewart Cink, who had an off-season and still took home $990,000.

No. 1: Consider it a consolation prize for probably not getting a shot at the NCAA football championship. The top spot goes to Oklahoma State where Hunter Mahan, Charles Howell III and Bo Van Pelt earned $8.356 million. Not quite good enough to help were Rickie Fowler and Scott Verplank.

So, Oklahoma State is the winner. Congratulations to the Cowboys for having the best college team on the PGA TOUR. And the best news: Augusta State isn't there to take this championship away from them like they did this year at the NCAA championships.