NORMAN, Okla. -- Florida Southern men's golfer
Max Barile was one of five finalists to be named for the 2026 NCAA Division II Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Workday. The five finalists are Barile, Lewis Beeden of Wingate, Conrad Brown of Western Washington, Cooper Tendick of West Florida, and Drew Zielinski of Lee. The winner will be announced by Nicklaus on Sunday, June 7 during his annual the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday press conference. The award will be presented to the recipient by Nicklaus and Workday.
Barile led the Mocs with eight top-10 finishes this season, including seven consecutive entering the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship. The redshirt senior from Land O' Lakes, Fla., earned his first collegiate victory by six strokes at the Las Vegas Desert Classic on March 3, recording a career-low 14-under 202 (68-69-65). Ranked fourth via Scoreboard Powered by Clippd and carding a 69.5 adjusted scoring average, Barile was named Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Golfer of the Year and received his second consecutive First Team All-SSC selection on May 5. A 2025 PING Third Team All-American and 2025 PING All-South Region honoree, Barile is looking to join a list of Nicklaus Award recipients from Florida Southern that includes John VanDerLaan (2018) and John Coultas (2016).
All five finalists will be competing at the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship May 18-22 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev.
Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion at Ohio State, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988. The award is now presented to the National Player of the Year in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA.
About the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday
The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday is held annually at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The Tournament, founded and hosted by Jack Nicklaus, is conducted each year with three goals in mind: to honor the memory of individuals living and deceased who have distinguished themselves in the game of golf; to showcase the world's best golfers competing on one of the most challenging venues in the world for the enjoyment of spectators; and to benefit many Greater Columbus Charities in alliance with the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation and numerous other local organizations. For more information, visit www.thememorialtournament.com or call 614-889-6700.
About Workday
Workday is the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. Workday unifies HR and Finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core to empower people at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver outcomes that matter. Workday is used by more than 11,500 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 65% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.
