Feb. 22, 2008

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Head Coach Sam Puryear
Senior Ryan Brehm

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's golf senior Ryan Brehm was selected to the 2008 Ben Hogan Award watch list, released on Wednesday, Feb. 20 by Chesapeake Energy, in association with Colonial Country Club, The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). The Hogan, the most prestigious award in men's collegiate golf, is presented to the top amateur player in any level of college golf, encompassing their collegiate and amateur tournaments during the past 12 months.

Brehm, a Mid-Season All-American by Golf World and currently ranked No. 7 in the country by Golfweek.com, led the Spartans to three top-two team finishes in five fall tournaments, including the MSU win at the Fighting Irish Invitational. As an individual, Brehm has been equally impressive, winning or sharing the title in three of those five tournaments. The three-time All-Big Ten selection began the fall by tying for first at the Inverness Intercollegiate with a three-under par 210 (70-67-73). After a tie for 29th place showing at the Gopher Invitational, Brehm came back to tie for fourth at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, firing a one-under par 215 (74-71-70). Brehm, who is the Spartans' career scoring average leader at 73.26, finished the Fall strong with individual titles at the Fighting Irish Invitational and the Big Ten/Pac 10 Challenge. He topped the field in South Bend by five strokes with a five-under par 205 (72-64-69), tying his own school record with the second round 64. Closing out the Fall, Brehm shot a six-under par 210 (68-75-67) to come-from-behind on the final to top UCLA's Kevin Chappell, the country's No. 3 golfer according to Golfweek.

The list of 24 student-athletes will be narrowed to a semi-finalist group on April 16 and then three finalist will be selected on May 7 to attend the Hogan Award presentation on May 18 at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Brehm and the Spartans begin the 2008 portion of their schedule on Sunday, Feb. 24, as they host the Spartan Challenge on the Wanamaker Course at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Michigan State, ranked No. 14 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin team rankings, welcomes Grambling, Kent State, Michigan and Tennessee State for the 18-hole tournament. Tee times are scheduled between 8:21 a.m. and 8:57 a.m.

Joining Brehm on the trip will be senior Nathan Gunthorpe, junior Randy Hutchison, sophomore Jack Newman and freshman Graham Baillargeon.