CLEVELAND, Miss. -- Delta State University men's golfer Zach Zediker was named one of the five finalists for the 2018 Division II Jack Nicklaus Award, which goes to the National Player of the Year.

Zach Zediker earned top medalist honors at the 2018 Gulf South Conference by defeating the defending GSC and NCAA Division II champion Chandler Blanchet of West Florida. The Panama City, Fla. native won two other medalist honors this season, including the GSC championship and HSU invitational.

Zediker has been the leading man for the Statesmen all season with seven top 10 finishes and has only finished outside the top 10 in one tournament this year.

"Zach has been the on-course leader all year long for us," said head coach Easton Key. "He has put the team on his back tournament after tournament and basically won a tournament for the team by himself back in October."

The winner of the 2018 Jack Nicklaus Award will be announced May 31. The award presentation will be held at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio and presented by award namesake Jack Nicklaus. In addition to receiving the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award, the five honorees will compete in the Barbasol Shootout for an exemption into the PGA TOUR's Barbasol Championship, held July 16-22, at the Champions at Keene Trace in Lexington, Ky. The shootout will take place on June 2 at the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.

The five finalists are Chandler Blanchet of West Florida, Zach James of Southeastern Oklahoma State, Alex Scott of Grand Valley State, John VanDerlaan of Florida Southern and Zach Zediker of Delta State. Blanchet is the reigning Jack Nicklaus Award recipient.

"Zed has been underrated in the rankings all year and I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves and that others have taken notice," said Coach Easton Key.