Photo by: Northwestern Athletics
Svärd tabbed No. 19 in Latest PGA TOUR University Rankings
7/23/2025 9:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
EVANSTON, Ill. – PGA TOUR University has released its Preseason Ranking in advance of the 2025-26 college golf season, and Northwestern's Daniel Svärd is No. 19 on the first ranking of seniors in the Class of 2026.
Looking ahead to this season, the Wildcats are set to return six letterwinners from last year's team, including five student-athletes that helped the program win the Big Ten Conference title in 2023-24. The group is led by Svärd, a three-time All-Big Ten selection, who became only the third two-time Big Ten individual champion in program history (2022-23 & 2023-24).
The University of Virginia's Ben James tops the preseason ranking. Texas has two players in the top five – No. 2 Christiaan Maas and No. 4 Tommy Morrison – while Michael La Sasso, the reigning NCAA individual champion from Ole Miss, is No. 3, and Oklahoma's Jase Summy rounds out the top five.
In all, 16 schools and seven countries (China, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, United States) are represented in the Class of 2026 Preseason Ranking.
In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), PGA TOUR University ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible Tournaments include NCAA Division I men's team competitions, official PGA TOUR tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The Ranking Period for the Class of 2026 began Week 23/2024 and concludes June 1, 2026, following the final round of stroke play at the 2026 NCAA Championship.
The No. 1 player in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking next June will earn PGA TOUR membership, while players Nos. 2-10 will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2026 and players Nos. 11-25 will earn exempt membership for PGA TOUR Americas Segment II in 2026. Finishers Nos. 2-5 will be exempt into Final Stage of Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, while Nos. 6-25 will be exempt into Second Stage.
PGA TOUR University Preseason Ranking
Class of 2026
Looking ahead to this season, the Wildcats are set to return six letterwinners from last year's team, including five student-athletes that helped the program win the Big Ten Conference title in 2023-24. The group is led by Svärd, a three-time All-Big Ten selection, who became only the third two-time Big Ten individual champion in program history (2022-23 & 2023-24).
The University of Virginia's Ben James tops the preseason ranking. Texas has two players in the top five – No. 2 Christiaan Maas and No. 4 Tommy Morrison – while Michael La Sasso, the reigning NCAA individual champion from Ole Miss, is No. 3, and Oklahoma's Jase Summy rounds out the top five.
In all, 16 schools and seven countries (China, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, United States) are represented in the Class of 2026 Preseason Ranking.
In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), PGA TOUR University ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible Tournaments include NCAA Division I men's team competitions, official PGA TOUR tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The Ranking Period for the Class of 2026 began Week 23/2024 and concludes June 1, 2026, following the final round of stroke play at the 2026 NCAA Championship.
The No. 1 player in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking next June will earn PGA TOUR membership, while players Nos. 2-10 will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2026 and players Nos. 11-25 will earn exempt membership for PGA TOUR Americas Segment II in 2026. Finishers Nos. 2-5 will be exempt into Final Stage of Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, while Nos. 6-25 will be exempt into Second Stage.
PGA TOUR University Preseason Ranking
Class of 2026
| Rank | Name | University | Country |
| 1 | Ben James | Virginia | United States |
| 2 | Christiaan Maas | Texas | South Africa |
| 3 | Michael La Sasso | Ole Miss | United States |
| 4 | Tommy Morrison | Texas | United States |
| 5 | Jase Summy | Oklahoma | United States |
| 6 | Wells Williams | Vanderbilt | United States |
| 7 | Luke Potter | Texas | United States |
| 8 | Michael Mjaaseth | Arizona State | Norway |
| 9 | Zach Kingsland | SMU | United States |
| 10 | Mahanth Chirravuri | Pepperdine | United States |
| 11 | Filip Jakubcik | Arizona | Czech Republic |
| 12 | Frankie Harris | South Carolina | United States |
| 13 | Lance Simpson | Tennessee | United States |
| 14 | Jonathan Griz | Alabama | United States |
| 15 | William Sides | SMU | United States |
| 16 | Tom Fischer | Ole Miss | United States |
| 17 | Cameron Tankersley | Ole Miss | United States |
| 18 | Paul Chang | Virginia | China |
| 19 | Daniel Svärd | Northwestern | Sweden |
| 20 | Bryan Lee | Virginia | United States |
| 21 | Zachery Pollo | Arizona | United States |
| 22 | Benjamin Reuter | Georgia Tech | Netherlands |
| 23 | Matthew Kress | Florida | United States |
| 24 | Ethan Evans | Duke | United States |
| 25 | Cohen Trolio | Ole Miss | United States |
Players Mentioned
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