November 12, 2026 | Men's Golf
NEWS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini senior golfer Max Herendeen has been named as one of 25 collegiate standouts on the final fall watch list for the Fred Haskins Award, announced Thursday through Haskins Award media partners Golf Channel, Golfweek, and The Back of the Range.
Herendeen is the No. 1-ranked golfer in the NCAA Division I player rankings, with top-three finishes in three of four fall events to lead the No. 9-ranked Fighting Illini. The fall slate was highlighted by Herendeen's fifth career victory at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational at historic Olympia Fields Country Club. Herendeen finished third in the season-opener at the Sahalee Players Championship and closed the fall schedule with a tie for second at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational, while also tying for 15th at the Fighting Irish Classic. The Bellevue, Wash., native shot under par in nine of his 12 rounds during the Illini's fall schedule en route to a 288-17-9 head-to-head record and a team-leading 69.4 stroke average, on pace to break the Illinois single-season record.
Herendeen is a two-time PING All-American, earning second team honors in 2024 and honorable mention accolades in 2025 to become the first Illini golfer since Charlie Danielson to collect back-to-back All-America nods from the GCAA in his freshman and sophomore seasons. He ended the 2025-26 season by claiming his third straight All-Big Ten First Team selection, and his third consecutive GCAA All-Midwest Region nod. Herendeen competed for Team USA in his second straight Arnold Palmer Cup last summer. He entered the 2026-27 campaign ranked at No. 24 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, coming off an offseason that included an eighth-place finish at the Northeast Amateur Invitational, plus Sweet 16 appearances in stroke play at both the Western Amateur Championship and the U.S. Amateur Championship. He currently sits at No. 12 in the WAGR rankings, one spot behind his peak position.
Haskins Award Final Fall Watch List
Kihei Akina, BYU
Daniel Bennett, Texas
Carson Bertagnole, North Carolina
B.J. Boyce, UNC Greensboro
Adam Bresnu, Texas Tech
Johnnie Clark, New Mexico
Matthew Comegys, Texas
Ryder Cowan, Oklahoma
Thomas Curry, Arkansas
Max Emberson, Georgia Tech
Josiah Gilbert, Auburn
Ben Gregg, Texas Tech
Will Hartman, Vanderbilt
Max Herendeen, Illinois
Oscar Valdemar Holm Bredkjær, Clemson
William Jennings, Alabama
Finn Koelle, Washington
Emil Nielsen, Santa Clara
Gabriel Palacios, Utah
Logan Reilly, Auburn
Rudy Sautron, Tennessee
Niall Sheils Donegan, North Carolina
Preston Stout, Oklahoma State
Jack Turner, Florida
Yixiang Wang, Memphis
About the Fred Haskins Award
Beginning in 1971, the Fred Haskins Award is annually given to the top male U.S. collegiate D1 golfer as voted on by players, coaches, members of the college golf media, and past Haskins Award winners. Past winners of the Haskins Award have captured 33 major championships and more than 400 professional tournaments around the world. Named in honor of Fred Haskins, the award is managed by the Haskins Foundation to acknowledge the top male golfer at the end of the season and to match the ANNIKA Award, which acknowledges the top female Division I collegiate golfer.
