McClear, Kleu Earn Big Ten Honors

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Two University of Iowa men’s golfers earned Big Ten Conference honors on Wednesday morning. Senior Mac McClear was named second team All-Big Ten, while senior Ronan Kleu is a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.

Conference accolades are nothing new for McClear, who became Iowa’s first two-time Big Ten Champion last weekend. McClear was the league’s only unanimous first team All-Big Ten member in 2021 after taking home medalist honors at the Spartan Collegiate and Big Ten Championships that season.

He was an All-Big Ten Second Team recipient last season, repeating that feat again this year after winning three individual tournament championships.

The Hawkeye veteran was medalist at the Iowa-hosted Iowa Fall Classic on Oct. 17, 2022, as well as the Hawkeye Invitational on April 15, 2023.

McClear followed up the latter victory with a Co-Big Ten Championship performance at Galloway National Golf Club, tying with Northwestern’s Daniel Svard atop the leaderboard at 139 (-3) through 36 holes (the final round was postponed due to weather). With five collegiate medalist honors, McClear is now the winningest Hawkeye men’s golfer since 1976.

McClear was named Co-Big Ten Golfer of the Week on April 19, 2023, the third weekly conference honor of his career. He is also a two-time PING All-Midwest Team selection.

In two seasons with the Hawkeyes, Kleu has ranked second on the team in stroke average and top-25 finishes each year. The sportsmanship recognition is the first Big Ten honor of his career. Previously, Kleu was Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year at Columbus State.