Former Tiger Byrd Named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year

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Clemson, SC-Former Clemson All-American Jonathan Byrd has been named

PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. The announcement was made Monday night

by the PGA Tour from Kapalua, Hawaii, the site of this weekend's

Mercedes Championship. Byrd is in the field that is comprised of

tournament champions from 2002.

Byrd finished the season ranked 39th on the PGA Tour Money

list, the highest finish among PGA Tour rookies in 2002. Byrd's

high point of the year came at the end of the season when he won the

Buick Challenge with a score of 261, 27-under-par in the next to the

last event. The native of Columbia won $666,000 with the victory and

finished the year with over $1,000,000 in earnings.

His 39th place finish will allow him to play in the 2003

Masters. He finished fifth in the final tournament of the year, the

Southern Farm Bureau Classic, moving him into the final top 40.

Statistically, Byrd finished second on the tour in eagles per hole,

and was ranked in the top 15 in birdies per round, putting, and

driving distance.

At Clemson, Byrd was an All-American in 1999 and 2000. He

was a starter on three Clemson ACC Championships teams and became the

first Tiger in history to be named first-team All-ACC four straight

years. He was also a two-time Academic All-American and was named

the IPTAY Athlete of the Year as a junior and senior.

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