The University of Memphis men's golf team has a rising star amongst its ranks.
Sophomore Keven Fortin-Simard was named the National Men's Golfer of the Week by golfweek.com on Monday, after medaling in the Border Olympics this past weekend.
"I didn't expect this," he said. "I just went out and tried to play well, but this was a huge surprise, and obviously an honor."
He finished the tournament at 13-under par and one stroke ahead of Baylor's Ryan Baca. He also set a 54-round school record, shooting a 203 and leading the Tigers to a second place finish.
This isn't newfound success for Fortin-Simard. Since his freshman season he has medaled four times and has 10 top-10 finishes. This win is also his third straight top-six performance.
Coach Grant Robbins has been impressed with the development of Fortin-Simard since last season, and he said he is thrilled with the recognition both for his player and for the team.
"Keven deserves this," Robbins said. "It is hard to find a player anywhere who has been playing as hard and as well as he has over the past week, and he has a great attitude."
Robbins said that Fortin-Simard has been maturing as a player and is playing a key role in the team's success this spring. He said anytime you have a player playing that well, it always elevates the other members of the team.
"He is becoming a leader on the team, and the other guys are watching him and feeding off of his play," Robbins said.
Fortin-Simard doesn't view himself in the same light, however. He just wants to do his best to help the team succeed, and he doesn't think it is necessarily a question of leadership but more a desire to just go out and perform.
"I'm not much of a talker, I guess," he said. "I just lead by example with my play. I just want to play my best, and if I do, hopefully it will help the team as well."
The win in the Border Olympics was his second first-place finish in three tournaments this spring, and his third of the season. He doesn't attribute his success to anything in particular, other than just making shots when it counts.
"Everything has just been falling into place for me," he said. "I've been lucky enough to make the right shots at the right moments, and I've been able to make birdies when I needed them."
