Kansas’ Harry Hillier Leads PGA TOUR University Contingent at NCAA Championship
4 Min Read
Written by Chris Richards
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Kansas’ Harry Hillier opened with a 2-under 68, just one of seven scores under par Friday, and he shares the lead with Auburn freshman Brendan Valdes after the first round of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club.
Ranked 35th in the PGA TOUR University Velocity Global Ranking, Hillier has four top-10s this season, including a win at the Hawkeye Invitational, and he helped Kansas tally a program-record five team titles. In their first NCAA Finals appearance since 2018, the Jayhawks are T4 through 18 holes, four strokes behind Vanderbilt.
Liberty’s Kieran Vincent (Ranked 19th) was the only other PGA TOUR University player to finish under par, and he’s in a five-way tie for third at 1-under, while Arizona State’s Cameron Sisk (Ranked 17th) is T8 after an even-par 70. Four PGA TOUR University players are T16 at 1-over: Oklahoma’s Logan McAllister (Ranked 2nd), Georgia’s Trent Phillips (Ranked 4th), Texas’ Cole Hammer (Ranked 5th), and Pepperdine’s Joe Highsmith (Ranked 9th).
The stroke play portion of the NCAA Championship is the final tournament for the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022, and the Velocity Global Ranking will be finalized after the final round on Monday, May 30. Players finishing 1st through 5th will earn membership on Korn Ferry Tour and players finishing 6th through 15th will earn membership on a PGA TOUR international tour.
Velocity Global Ranking – Projections (through first round)
Five players currently ranked in the top-15 did not compete in Friday’s first round. Jacob Bridgeman, Ryan Hall, Noah Goodwin and Sam Choi did not qualify, and Alex Fitzpatrick was not in Wake Forest’s lineup due to illness. Fitzpatrick remains eligible for PGA TOUR University and his final points average is 1042.6895, as he will not earn points or a divisor this week, even if he’s subbed into the lineup.
| Rank | Change | Player | University | R1 | NCAA Pts | Bonus Pts | Pts Avg |
| 1 | - | Pierceson Coody | Texas | 72 | 7.67 | 0 | 1229.31 |
| 2 | 1 | Jacob Bridgeman | Clemson | - | - | - | 1115.87 |
| 3 | -1 | Logan McAllister | Oklahoma | 71 | 8.93 | 0 | 1109.97 |
| 4 | 1 | Cole Hammer | Texas | 71 | 8.93 | 0 | 1054.36 |
| 5 | -1 | Trent Phillips | Georgia | 71 | 8.93 | 0 | 1053.27 |
| 6 | 1 | Alex Fitzpatrick | Wake Forest | - | - | - | 1042.69 |
| 7 | -1 | RJ Manke | Washington | 74 | 6.15 | 0 | 1038.66 |
| 8 | 1 | Joe Highsmith | Pepperdine | 71 | 8.93 | 0 | 1008 |
| 9 | -1 | Jackson Suber | Ole Miss | 74 | 6.15 | 0 | 1001.26 |
| 10 | 1 | Ryan Hall | South Carolina | - | - | - | 993.93 |
| 11 | -1 | Christopher Gotterup | Oklahoma | 73 | 6.86 | 0 | 986.23 |
| 12 | - | Noah Goodwin | SMU | - | - | - | 980.23 |
| 13 | - | Aman Gupta | Oklahoma State | 73 | 6.86 | 0 | 916.36 |
| 14 | 5 | Kieran Vincent | Liberty | 69 | 15.01 | 6 | 904.45 |
| 15 | 2 | Cameron Sisk | Arizona State | 70 | 11.45 | 0.86 | 894.04 |
| 16 | -2 | Sam Choi | New Mexico | - | - | - | 889.86 |
| 17 | 18 | Harry Hillier | Kansas | 68 | 25 | 15 | 884.82 |
| 18 | -3 | Joey Vrzich | Pepperdine | 76 | 5.33 | 0 | 871.75 |
| 19 | -3 | Albin Bergstrom | South Florida | 75 | 5.68 | 0 | 869.2 |
| 20 | -2 | Walker Lee | Texas A&M | 78 | 4.96 | 0 | 853.94 |
| 21 | 1 | Spencer Cross | Tennessee | - | - | - | 838.36 |
| 22 | -1 | Ryan Gerard | North Carolina | 73 | 6.86 | 0 | 831.74 |
| 23 | -3 | Mason Andersen | Arizona State | 77 | 5.1 | 0 | 827.18 |
| 24 | - | Carson Lundell | BYU | 74 | 6.15 | 0 | 822.49 |
| 25 | - | Parker Coody | Texas | 72 | 7.67 | 0 | 821.32 |
| 26 | -3 | Christian Banke | Arizona | 78 | 4.96 | 0 | 816.56 |
The Velocity Global Ranking is designed to identify the best college golfers based on winning, competitiveness and season-long performance. It is developed in partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking®, which ranks the top amateur golfers on the basis of their average performance in counting events, and it includes the final two years of competition in NCAA Division-I men’s golf tournaments (stroke play), official PGA TOUR tournaments and select DP World Tour events.
Points Distribution
For players in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022, the NCAA Championship points distribution is based on a WAGR Power of 1000. Players who make the 54-hole cut receive points for 1st through 84th place, and players who miss the cut receive points for 85th through 156th (in order of 54-hole score).
Additionally, players in the current season Velocity Global Ranking will receive bonus points if they finish in the top 10 of the final stroke-play leaderboard.
| Position | Points | Bonus | Total |
| 1st | 25 | 15 | 40 |
| 2nd | 19.905 | 10 | 29.905 |
| 3rd | 17.4206 | 8 | 25.4206 |
| 4th | 15.8483 | 7 | 22.8483 |
| 5th | 14.7271 | 6 | 20.7271 |
| 6th | 13.8702 | 5 | 18.8702 |
| 7th | 13.1847 | 4 | 17.1847 |
| 8th | 12.6184 | 3 | 15.6184 |
| 9th | 12.1391 | 2 | 14.1391 |
| 10th | 11.7257 | 1 | 12.7257 |
About PGA TOUR University presented by Velocity Global
PGA TOUR University presented by Velocity Global rewards elite college players with access to Tours operated under the PGA TOUR umbrella, while upholding the principles and virtues of collegiate athletics. Introduced in 2020, the program strengthens and elevates the path to the PGA TOUR through the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR international tours. The Velocity Global Ranking will be featured on GOLF Channel each Wednesday on Golf Today and within weekly live tournament coverage, as well as across GOLF Channel and PGA TOUR digital platforms throughout the season. For more information, visit pgatour.com/university and follow PGA TOUR University on Twitter and Instagram (@PGATOURU).
About Velocity Global
Velocity Global accelerates the future of work beyond borders. Its global work platform simplifies the employer and employee experience to employ any talent anywhere with just a click through its proprietary cloud-based workforce management technology, backed by personalized expertise and unmatched global scale. As the largest global Employer of Record (also known as International PEO) in 185 countries and all 50 United States, more than 1,000 brands rely on Velocity Global to build global teams without the cost or complexity of setting up foreign legal entities or state registrations. The company offers additional services including Independent Contractor Compliance to assess a workforce, and Agent of Record (AoR) to streamline payments to contractors. Velocity Global was named a “Leader” in Global Employer of Record services by prominent analyst firm NelsonHall. Founded in 2014, the company has hundreds of employees across five continents. For more information visit velocityglobal.com.
