LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Rasmus Ditzinger carded a final-round 70 to surge to the top of the leaderboard and win the 2026 MAAC Championship at Disney's Magnolia Golf Course. Ditzinger is the third Stag in the last four seasons to raise the McLeod Trophy as the individual MAAC Champion. Fairfield University Men's Golf finished fourth of 11 teams on the team ledger.
Ditzinger finished the 54-hole tournament with a 212 (-4) The unanimous All-MAAC First Team selection birdied three of his final four holes on Thursday to head to the clubhouse with the lead, then watched and waited as the Siena duo of Gavin Crowley and KC Nickel each posted a 214 (-2) to finish tied for second place. Ditzinger was the lone golfer of the 49 finishers to shoot par or better in all three rounds of the tournament.
Ditzinger joins teammate
Tadgh Burke (2025) as well as Killian McGinley (2023), Alex Taylor (2014), and Steve Burak (2013), Craig Anzlovar (1997, and Dan Dumais (1982) as the seventh Stag to hoist the McLeod Trophy.
In other action on Thursday,
Tadgh Burke fired a 70 (-2) to storm 14 spots up the leaderboard and land tied for 13th with a 222 (+6).
Peter Crowe finished tied for 28th at 229.
Drew Southwell and
Anthony Naples, who did not play all three rounds and did not factor into the individual leaderboard, turned in scores of 77 and 79 in the final round.
As a team, the Stags solidified their fourth-place finish showing with a 296 (+8) on Thursday to finish 10 strokes ahead of fifth-place Mount St. Mary's.
Iona took home the MAAC Championship with an 868 (+4) for the week to top second-place Sacred Heart by four shots.
As the individual MAAC Champion, Ditzinger earns an automatic berth at a 2026 NCAA Regional. He will learn his destination when the field is announced on Wednesday, May 6 at 2 p.m. on the Golf Channel. Fairfield Men's Golf will be represented at the NCAA Regional for the third time in four years with Ditzinger following McGinley in 2023 and the first-ever team appearance by the Stags as MAAC Champions in 2025.
The NCAA Regionals will be held at six sites from Monday, May 18 through Wednesday, May 20 with qualifying teams and individuals advancing to the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship at Omi La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. from May 29 through June 3.
