Oklahoma State Golf Star Preps for Nationals at PGA Tour Event

Not many collegiate golfers get to say that they tuned up for the NCAA Championships at a PGA Tour event. But not all collegiate golfers are Oklahoma State star Preston Stout.

Stout, the Big 12 player of the year and three-time Big 12 tournament champion, walked among the greats in professional golf this week at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.

Stout didn’t make the cut, he went under par on Thursday, firing a 3-under 68. He followed that with a 5-over-76 to finish with a 3-over 145. The cut line was 6-under. He was one of four amateurs in the field, including current U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell, who will start his collegiate career next fall at Georgia. He also missed the cut.

Preston Stout’s Terrific Season

After securing @OSUCowboyGolf's spot in NCAAs, Junior Preston Stout made his way to Dallas for his @PGATOUR debut @cjbyronnelson 🤜🤛

As a Dallas native, this tournament means more 💙

Presented by @Huntington_Bank pic.twitter.com/Ut4KoNHJKi
— PGA TOUR University (@PGATOURU) May 22, 2026

During the tournament, Stout learned that he was a Haskins Award finalist. He was previously named to the watch list. The Haskins Award is given to each year’s outstanding college golfer. The junior from Richardson, Texas, would certainly qualify. Voting on the award began on Friday and continues through June 1.

Stout and the Cowboys are heading to the NCAA Championships this week at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., which will be played May 29-June 3. Oklahoma State will seek to defend last year’s national championship. The junior will be central to making that happen.

At the recent Big 12 Championships, Stout became the first player in the conference’s history to win the individual title three times. He joined Lindy Miller (1976-78) as the only other OSU golfer to win three consecutive conference crowns, which was back in the program’s former Big 8 days.

Stout is college golf’s No. 3 ranked player and has won four tournaments in seven starts, including the Cabo Collegiate, the Maridoe Collegiate (shared with OSU’s Ethan Fang), the Mountaineer Invitational and the Big 12 Tournament.

He and the Cowboys were the runners-up at the NCAA’s Marana Regional last week, which punched their ticket to nationals. Individually Stout finished in a tie for 18th place with a three-round score of 218. He fired rounds of 67, 71 and 72. His teammate, Eric Lee, was the co-medalist after he shot 201 with scores of 69, 63 and 69.

If the Cowboys win at nationals, it will be their 13th national title. This is the 77th time they have advanced to nationals in the program’s 79-year history.

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