Ege ranked No. 23 in PGA Tour University Preseason Rankings

Published 3:54 pm Wednesday, July 26, 2023

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – In April, Mats Ege (Kristiansand, Norway) announced he was returning to ETSU for the 2023-24 season.

On Wednesday, the Buccaneer redshirt senior was rewarded for that decision, as Ege was ranked No. 23 in the PGA Tour University Preseason Rankings for the Class of 2024.

Ege, one of just two golfers from a non-Power 5 school ranked in the Top 25, is coming off a stellar 2022-23 campaign. The Buccaneer leader was tabbed Southern Conference Player of the Year, PING All-American Honorable Mention and PING All-Region last season.

Ege etched his name in the Buccaneer record book in 2022-23, as he set single-season program records in scoring average (70.00), birdies (177) and par-5 scoring (4.51). The Norwegian won his first collegiate title at the General Hackler Championship back in March, while then claiming medalist honors at the SoCon Championship in April. Along with the two wins, Ege recorded seven top-10 finishes last year.

Ege played in all 13 tournaments (39 total rounds) for the Blue & Gold last season where he totaled 30 rounds of par or better and 20 rounds in the 60s. The 30 rounds of par or better ranked second-best in school history.

Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen is ranked No. 1 in the preseason ranking, while he will start the season ahead of second-ranked Christo Lamprecht (Georgia Tech), who made the cut and was the Low Amateur at The Open last weekend. William Moll (Vanderbilt), Nick Gabrelcik (North Florida) and Ben Lorenz (Oklahoma) round out the pre-season top five.

In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), PGA TOUR University ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible Tournaments include NCAA Division-I men’s team competitions, official PGA TOUR tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The Ranking Period for the Class of 2024 began Week 23/2022 and concludes May 27, 2024, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA D-I Men’s National Championship.

The No. 1 player in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking next May will earn PGA TOUR membership, while players Nos. 1-5 (fully exempt) and Nos. 6-10 (conditional) will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership. Additionally, players Nos. 6-20 will earn fully exempt membership for the North America Swing of PGA TOUR Americas.

Eligible players in the Class of 2024 must enroll to be included in the regular season PGA TOUR University Ranking. Player Registration is open, and the complete Class of 2024 Ranking will be released in September, prior to the start of the fall season.

Since the first class graduated in June 2021, PGA TOUR University alumni have earned 13 professional victories, including three wins by Pierceson Coody (No. 1, Class of 2022). Highlights from the Class of 2023 include Korn Ferry Tour victories by Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Ricky Castillo, as well as Ludvig Aberg’s T4 finish at the John Deere Classic on the PGA TOUR.

In all, five PGA TOUR University alumni are currently PGA TOUR members: Aberg (No. 1, 2023), Austin Eckroat (No. 3, 2021), Davis Thompson (No. 2, 2021), Trevor Werbylo (No. 9, 2021) and Kevin Yu (No. 4, 2021). On the Korn Ferry Tour, five alumni are currently among the top 30 on the points list who would earn PGA TOUR membership at season’s end, and on PGA TOUR Canada, three alumni are in the top 10 of the Fortinet Cup.