Albin Bergstrom becomes fifth Conference Player of Year in Program history; Bulls await NCAA Regional announcement Wednesday
IRVINE, TEXAS, MAY 3, 2022 – University of South Florida junior Albin Bergstrom (Falsterbo, Sweden) was named the American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Year and was joined by
sophomore Run Youprayong (Bangkok, Thailand), who finished second in the conference championship, on the 2022 All-Conference Team.
Bergstrom, a unanimous selection as conference player of the year, set a USF program record firing 30 rounds of par or better on the year, including three in the conference championship as the defending champion finished fifth overall with a 7-under par total of 209 to mark his eighth top 10 finish of the year. He finished the regular season ranked No. 23 in the nation, after reaching as high as No. 4, with a 70.16 adjusted scoring average making him the second-highest ranked player in the state of Florida and the highest in the AAC by 37 spots.
Bergstrom set a program record reaching 86 rounds of par or better on his career this season and his current scoring average of 69.27 on the year over 11 tournaments and 33 rounds, including 19 rounds in the 60’s, is on pace to break his own program record for lowest season scoring average. The 2019 AAC Freshman of the Year, Bergstrom is making his third all-conference team appearance.
USF now has 18 all-conference selections and three players of the year (five overall) in nine seasons in The American. Bergstrom joined Claudio Correa (2018, AAC), Aksel Olsen (2016, AAC), Chase Koepka (2013, Big East) and Jim Fee (1985, Conference USA) among the Bulls’ previous conference player of the year honorees.
Youprayong fired a 5-under par 67 in the final round of the AAC Championship to lead a USF charge in the final round that saw he and the Bulls finish second at Southern Hills Plantation. Youprayong fired an 11-under total of 205 to tie for second with rounds of 71, 67 and 67. The sophomore earned his first all-conference team selection after finishing second on the USF team with a 71.61 stroke average, 17 rounds of par or better on the year and five top 25 finishes.
UP NEXT
The USF men’s golf team awaits selection to its eighth straight NCAA Regional. NCAA selections will be announced on Wednesday. USF has been part of every NCAA regional held since 2013 and has advanced to the NCAA Championships three times (1987, 2015 and 2016), reaching the NCAA match-play finals in 2015 before finishing sixth overall.
The Bulls are coming off a stellar final round at the AAC Championship in which they nearly equaled their own single-round tournament record (-18) set in 2021’s first round. USF fired a -17 total on Sunday at the 2022 AAC Championship with every player shooting 2-under or better on the day. The Bulls 271 on the day, the lowest round posted by any team in the tournament, saw USF charging on the back nine, but No. 2-seed SMU shot a 12-under 276 to hold on to its lead and claim the team title with a tournament record score of 29-under par 835.
NOTABLE
• Junior Albin Bergstrom currently has the Bulls’ best-ever career scoring average (70.24), more than a stroke better than Chase Koepka’s previous record mark of 71.53.
• Bergstrom’s 69.27 season scoring average is on pace to break his own USF record of 70.00 set in 2018-19.
• Bergstrom reached as high as the No. 4 ranking in early March and currently sits at No. 23. Chase Koepka owns the USF record of a No. 11 final season national scorer rating.
• Bergstrom is the highest ranked player the American Athletic Conference and second in the state of Florida.
• Bergstrom has 30 par or better rounds on the year and 86 on his career, setting a USF career and season record.
• Bergstrom also owns USF career records for scoring average (70.24), tournament low round (63, 2019-20), tournament low round to par (-9, 2019-20), tournament low 36-hole total (133, -11, 2018-19), and is second in wins (3) and low 54-hole total (201, -11, 2018-19).
About USF Men’s Golf
USF men’s golf program has captured 17 conference titles, including in 2021, and have seen players earn 19 All-America honors. The Bulls have won five of the last seven American Athletic Conference Tournament championships in wire-to-wire fashion, winning four-consecutive from 2015-18. The Bulls have had four individual conference champions, including Albin Bergstrom in 2021, and have earned eight straight NCAA Regional appearances, including a 6th place finish in NCAA Championship match-play in 2015. USF is led by Steve Bradley, who has been named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year five times since taking over the program in 2014. The Bulls have posted 20 tournament wins under Bradley entering the 2021-22 season, by far the most under any coach in program history.
Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
– #GoBulls –
