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Aggie golf touts two All-Americans

Aggie golf touts two All-Americans
Posted at 5:40 PM, Jun 22, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-22 18:40:45-04

Aggie golfers Chandler Phillips and Brandon Smith were honored alongside the nation’s elite as the pair represented Texas A&M on the list of Division I PING All-Americans released by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Phillips, who received third-team All-America honors a year ago, was named to the All-America First Team to become just the fourth Aggie recognized as a first team All-American. Smith received honorable mention following his breakout 2017-18 campaign.

Additionally, Phillips was honored this week with a spot on the 2018 All-Nicklaus Team presented by Barbasol.

Joining Phillips on the list of First Team All-Americans were Shintaro Ban (UNLV), Broc Everett (Augusta), Doug Ghim (Texas), Nick Hardy (Illinois), Viktor Hovland (Oklahoma State), Theo Humphrey (Vanderbilt), Collin Morikawa (California), Justin Suh (Southern California), Matthew Wolff (Oklahoma State) and Norman Xiong (Oregon).

A three-time All-SEC selection, Phillips won four events individually during the 2017-18 campaign while helping the Aggies post a school-record six team wins. The Huntsville, Texas, native set the Texas A&M record for career tournament wins (6) as a junior and broke A&M’s record for single season stroke average (70.85), a mark he initially set a year ago.

Phillips got the season off to a hot start by winning the season-opening Badger Invitational (-12) and began the spring semester by becoming the first two-time winner of the John Burns Intercollegiate (-13). Phillips shared medalist honors at Aggie Invitational (-5) before breaking Texas A&M’s record for career tournament wins with a one-stroke victory, the sixth of this career, at the NCAA Bryan Regional (-11).

In addition to his four wins, he posted four other top 10s and only placed outside the top 20 once in 12 events during his junior campaign.

Smith, meanwhile, enjoyed a breakout season and became a key anchor of the Aggie lineup as a sophomore. The Frisco, Texas, native played in 12 events, compiling a 71.84 scoring average with 20 rounds of par or lower during 37 total rounds. He notched six top-10 finishes this season and came just a stroke away from winning the NCAA Bryan Regional where he finished as runner-up with a 54-hole total of 10-under par.

His impressive run during the postseason continued at the NCAA Championship where he helped Texas A&M advance to match play by standing out as the highest-finishing Aggie during the event’s stroke play portion, finishing in a tie for 11th. Smith carded A&M’s lowest round during the final three rounds of stroke play at the championship.

The pair of accolades brings the total of Texas A&M All-American selections under head coach J.T. Higgins to 18.