PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – Auburn’s Brendan Valdes captured his third collegiate win at the General James Hackler Championship (March 16-18), marking his second consecutive top-five finish in just as many weeks. With the victory, Valdes narrowed the gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the PGA TOUR University Ranking, as he now trails North Carolina’s David Ford by less than one point.

Valdes posted an impressive 7-under 65 in the final round of the tournament, carding an eagle and a birdie on Nos. 15 and 16, respectively, to win by one stroke over Duke’s Ethan Evans. Trailing Valdes and Evans was No. 10 Sebastian Moss (Louisville),who tied for third and re-entered the top 10 of the ranking. Notably sharing third place with Moss was the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world, Jackson Koivun (Auburn), who is one point away from earning his PGA TOUR card via the PGA TOUR University Accelerated program.

Wake Forest’s Scotty Kennon was the third player to improve his ranking via the General James Hackler Championship, as Kennon’s T7 finish was enough to push him to No. 25. Kennon returned to the top 25 for the first time since early February (Week 5) and has posted two consecutive top-10 showings.

Florida’s Ian Gilligan and LSU’s Algot Kleen each posted runner-up finishes in their events last week, improving to No. 3 and No. 9, respectively. Gilligan recorded his second runner-up of the spring at the Schenkel Invitational (March 19-23), falling to teammate Luke Poulter by one stroke. Kleen claimed his best finish of 2025 at the Pauma Valley Invitational (March 17-18), and via a bogey on his final hole, narrowly missed out on a playoff with champion Christiaan Maas from Texas.

The Pauma Valley Invitational field also included Arizona State, which featured No. 4 Jose Luis Ballester Barrio and No. 5 Preston Summerhays. Each player fell one spot in the ranking and rounded out the top five.

Additionally, No. 1 Ford won this week’s Valspar Collegiate (March 24-25), which earned him an exemption into the 2026 Valspar Championship on the PGA TOUR. Ford’s win will be reflected in next week’s ranking update.

PGA TOUR University Ranking

Week 12/2025