College Golfer's 4th-Place Finish in Major Tournament Isn't a Completely Happy Moment — and There Are a Few Hundred Thousand Reasons Why

When the smoke cleared at the conclusion of Sunday's Valspar Championship golf tournament, first-place finisher Charl Schwartzel took home nearly $1.1 million. And the remaining top-five finishing golfers won prize money in excess of $250,000 each. Not too shabby, either.

All except for Lee McCoy.

Although the University of Georgia senior turned in an impressive fourth-place finish, McCoy had to forfeit all of his $292,800 in winnings. He's an amateur golfer, after all.

Lee McCoy takes his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament Sunday in Palm Harbor, Florida. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

And to top off, he bested by four strokes the Sunday performance of his playing partner that day — none other than Jordan Spieth, the No. 1 ranked golfer on the planet.

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Spieth tried to warn McCoy to not look at the winnings sheet when they were signing their scorecards, but McCoy didn't heed the advice — and regretted it.

"I looked," he told ASAP Sports. "I shouldn't have looked. Lot of money. Lot of money."

What's more, the pair of pros who finished behind him — Charles Howell III and Graham DeLaet, who tied for 5th place — split the nearly $300,000 McCoy would've won.

Image source: SBNation

A hefty sum for just about anybody — but a particularly significant number for a guy who boasts a wallet size most of his fellow college students are familiar with.

"I think I got like 350 bucks in my bank account right now, so it's mostly gas money," he told ASAP Sports, referring to the 7.5-hour drive back to his Athens campus that awaited him.

Not that any of this — save perhaps for his high finish — was any surprise to McCoy. He got to play in the tournament at Innisbrook's Copperhead Course in Tampa, Florida, by way of an exemption and signed on as an amateur hopeful. (And it didn't likely hurt that the course is near where McCoy grew up. Knowledge is power.)

And knowing his own pot of gold probably awaits after he turns professional, McCoy is at least happy to have been given a taste of the big time: "There's so much going great for me right now. I'm just trying to take it all in, just really grateful to be standing here."

(H/T: SBNation)