Oklahoma Christian’s Sam Johnston wins seventh Player of Week award

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 18, 2015) – Oklahoma Christian’s Sam Johnston continues to stake his claim as the best golfer in the Heartland Conference.

On Wednesday, for the third time this academic year and the seventh time in his stellar career, Johnston was named as the NCAA Division II league’s men’s player of the week. The honor came after the junior from San Diego earned co-medalist honors in the San Antonio Shoot-Out, the opening event of OC’s spring season.

Johnston overcame often bitterly cold playing conditions at TPC San Antonio to fire a 4-over-par 76 during Monday’s first round on the Canyons Course and another 76 during Tuesday’s second round, played on the AT&T Oaks Course, the site of the PGA Tour’s annual Valero Texas Open.

He closed his final round with four birdies over his final six holes, rallying for a share of the individual title. It was the sixth career individual win for Johnston, a two-time Division II All-America selection who ranks third on the program’s all-time list in that category.

Johnston won the Heartland weekly honor three times as a freshman and once as a sophomore. He is the only player to take the honor multiple times during the 2014-15 campaign. He also was named player of the week after finishing second in the National Christian College Athletic Association Central Region Championship in Owasso in September and winning the Newman Fall Invitational in Wichita, Kan., in October.

He ranks 38th in NCAA Division II (and third among Heartland Conference players) in stroke average at 72.19. He’s also fifth in Division II and tops in the Heartland in total birdies (55 in 16 rounds).