Clegg Awarded Third Straight SEC Scholar-Athlete Of The Year Honor

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Graduate student Ford Clegg was selected as the 2023 SEC Men’s Golf Scholar Athlete of the Year, the league announced Friday. This marks the third consecutive year that Clegg has been awarded the honor.

Clegg is the first golfer in the SEC to win three consecutive times since Alabama’s Joseph Sykora won it three times in a row from 2006-08.

For the third consecutive year, @fordclegg is your 𝐒𝐄𝐂 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫-𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫!#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/k2AVKeuM3K

— Mississippi State Men’s Golf (@HailStateMG) April 21, 2023

“It is such a big honor for Ford to win this award for the third time in a row,” head coach Dusty Smith said. “He embodies everything a student-athlete should be. I know he has put countless hours into his school and his golf, and it’s very rewarding for him to be recognized as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.”

In each of his previous two seasons winning Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, Clegg was also a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. In both seasons, he was the only Division I men’s golfer in the nation to earn first team honors, and in both years, he was one of five or fewer golfers to earn first, second or third-team recognition.

Clegg was named a Presidential Scholar in every semester of his undergraduate career. He graduated with his degree in finance last May, maintaining a cumulative 4.0 GPA and receiving Summa Cum Laude Honors. He started coursework for his MBA in the Fall 2022 semester, and he has maintained a perfect 4.0 in that program as well.

On the course this season, Clegg has maintained a 71.26 stroke average, one of three MSU golfers with a sub-72 average and at least 10 rounds played. He is tied with Hunter Logan for the second-most rounds of par or better this season with 16.

The second-year team captain has three top-10 finishes this season, two of which were inside the top five. His best finish was a tie for third at the Daniel Island Intercollegiate, leading his team to its first of two tournament titles this season.

The Birmingham, Alabama, native has also etched his name in the program record book this season. He currently holds the records for the most career rounds of par or better and rounds in the 60s. With three rounds played at the SEC…