April 21, 2008

Tuscaloosa, AL (UWIRE) -- Alabama men's golf coach Jay Seawell orchestrated another of his many firsts for the Tide golf program as Alabama swept the 2008 SEC Championships, winning both the team championship and the individual championship.

Alabama shot 13-under par in Sunday's final round at Frederica Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga., to win the team title, and Michael Thompson shot 65 to finish the tournament 8-under par and capture the individual championship.

"Michael played unbelievable golf. A 65 today, under all the pressure and everything that's going on," Seawell said. "That was a total round today. I'm very proud of him and happy for him. He's been close a couple of times. I know he did it when he was at Tulane, but now we can add a victory for him at the University of Alabama."

The win marks Alabama's sixth team tournament championship of the season out of 10 stroke-play events. It is Alabama's first SEC golf team championship in 29 years and only the second time ever it has won.

Alabama's 1979 team won the league title, as well. Thompson became the second Alabama golfer in history to win the SEC's individual championship, a moment 56 years in the making. Bobby Hill won it for Alabama in 1952.

"There's nothing I can describe in words how pumped up we are," Thompson said. "We were high-fiving on 18 green, just going nuts. It was crazy. And then one of our former golfers who flies us, he was calling all the guys who played on that 1979 team, and he said that they were all screaming."

Alabama, ranked No. 1 in the Golf World/Nike Coaches' Poll and No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, led the tournament each day from the first to final round. It finished at 11-under par, scoring 285-293-275/853 to win on the par 72 course, finishing eight shots ahead of second place, No. 10-ranked South Carolina. Six of the 12 teams in the SEC are ranked in the nation's top 13.

The final team standings saw Alabama finish first at 11-under, 853, followed at 3-under, 861, by South Carolina. No. 2 ranked Georgia finished third at 2-under, 862. Florida was fourth, 872, followed by Mississippi State, 878, Tennessee, 881, Ole Miss, 884, tied at 8th Auburn and LSU, 888, at 10th Vanderbilt, 890, at 11th Kentucky, 893, and at 12th Arkansas, 897.

When Thompson bested the field of 60 golfers Sunday, he became the fourth Alabama golfer to win a collegiate championship this season. Joseph Sykora opened the season by winning the Topy Cup in September. Mark Harrell was co-champion at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in October. Matthew Swan won the Puerto Rico Classic on March 2.

Thompson is, perhaps, Alabama's most decorated golfer, advancing to the U.S. Amateur final in August and playing in the Masters as an amateur just a week ago. Though the senior from Tucson has finished among the top-10 individuals in all seven of the tournaments he's played for Alabama this season and had seven top 10 finishes as a transfer last season, he had yet to win an individual collegiate championship at Alabama. He had won four his freshman and sophomore seasons at Tulane in 2004 and 2005.

"This one feels awesome," Thompson said of his first Alabama collegiate win. "I couldn't have asked for anything better."

Thompson shot 70-73-65/208, with a 7-under par round Sunday, to finish at 8-under par, four strokes ahead of his teammate, Sykora, who tied for second with South Carolina's George Bryan IV.

Alabama now awaits its bid into the NCAA tournament. The NCAA announces the fields for its three regionals on May 5. Because of its ranking and head-to-head play against teams in the regional, Alabama will likely participate in the East Regional, which is May 15-17 at Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga.

The other regional sites include the Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio, and the West Regional in Bremerton, Wash. The top 10 teams from each regional advanced to the NCAA finals May 28 to 31 in West Lafayette, Ind.

(C) 2008 The Crimson White via UWIRE