“Pinch me.” Lee McCoy, a University of Georgia senior golfer and former Habersham Central standout, tweeted those two words after a Sunday that he will never forget.
The former GHSA State Champion was an amateur playing at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook’s Copperhead course in Palm Harbor, FL.
McCoy didn’t just compete in the tournament, but finished fourth. “[It’s] gonna be a day to remember,” he tweeted prior to his performance on Sunday. Perhaps what will make his experience unforgettable won’t be the fourth-place finish, but getting to play alongside the world’s top-ranked golfer in Jordan Spieth.
Not only did McCoy get paired up with Spieth in the final round, but he bested him with a 2-under-par-69, good enough for a fourth-place finish and four strokes ahead of Spieth, who has won two major championships. McCoy’s finish was the best by an amateur in a non-opposite field PGA Tour event since 1998, according to ESPN.
What’s more, McCoy left nearly $300 thousand on the table. As an amateur, McCoy saw none of the $292,800 that he would have won if he was a professional. Spieth had apparently warned McCoy not to look at the winnings’ list as they signed their scorecards. He looked anyway.
“I shouldn’t have looked,” McCoy told reporters. “It was a lot of money. I think I’ve got like $350 in my bank account right now, that’s mostly gas money. It hurt. But there’s so much going great for me right now I’m just trying to take it all in and I’m just really grateful to be standing here.”
In case you’re wondering, the winnings that McCoy had to turn down were split between the two golfers who tied for fifth place.
McCoy finished with a 280 for the weekend, making the cut on Friday and then shooting 66 on Saturday and 69 on Sunday. The UGA senior, who was an All-American selection by the GCAA and Golfweek following his junior season, broke the Bulldog’s single season scoring average of 70.08. McCoy has found much success since his days at Habersham Central, playing in the U.S. Open, Travelers Championship and the John Deere Classic, making the cut in the latter. McCoy won the 2012 GHSA 4A State Championship in his senior year at Habersham Central High School.
McCoy hardly had time to enjoy the dream come true, as he traveled over seven hours back to Athens to play in a 36-hole event with UGA on Monday, March 14.
(Featured Photo/ESPN)
