AU’s Michael Johnson & Team USA open Palmer Cup play Friday
AUBURN, Ala. (auburntigers.com) – Former Auburn All-SEC golfer Michael Johnson begins play in the Arnold Palmer Cup as a member of the United States team June 24-26 at the Formby Golf Club in Formby, England.
The annual Ryder Cup-style competition showcases the top 10 American college golfers and their counterparts from Europe.
Johnson, who was a first-team All-SEC and PING All-Southeast Region selection as a senior this year, joins fellow SEC golfers Zach Wright of LSU and Vanderbilt’s Will Gordon as members of Team USA.
“It’s an honor to represent the United States at the Palmer Cup,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a great experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. Formby is a great golf course that will be a good test of golf. I’m really looking forward to competing as a team and hopefully winning the Cup on foreign soil.”
The Birmingham, Ala., native had an outstanding senior campaign winning a school record three tournaments at the Primland Collegiate, Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate and the Schenkel Invitational en route to breaking the school record for single-season stroke average at 70.37. His five career wins are second only to Jimmy Green’s six for most in school history, while his stroke average ranked second in the SEC and sixth nationally this season.
Johnson, a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus Awards, joins Blayne Barber as Nick Clinard-coached Tigers to compete for the Palmer Cup with Barber earning the honor in 2012.
The Palmer Cup tees off on Friday with morning foursome matches beginning at 7:30 am local time followed by an afternoon four-ball match session at 1:30 pm. Singles matches commence Saturday June 25 at 9 am with the final round of singles matches set to be played on Sunday June 26 also at 9 am.
