Jacob Bridgeman, a former Clemson golfer and ACC Golfer of the Year, won The Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California, on Feb. 22. Taking home $4 million, the biggest prize payout of the year so far, Bridgeman held off late Sunday pushes from names like Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott.

This doesn’t come as a surprise to those who have kept up with Bridgeman lately. He finished last season in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup, and his worst finish this year was tying for No. 18 at the Phoenix Open. He also notched two top-10 finishes: one in Pebble Beach and another at the Sony Open.

A week prior, during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Bridgeman was in contention on Sunday before coming up just short, finishing tied for No. 8. He pulled his approach on the 18th hole about 30 yards to the right and landed on the rocky Pacific beach.

To make his troubles even worse, he wasn’t able to get his third shot back up into the grass, and it instead ricocheted off rocks and back into the ocean. This misstep held up the eventual winner, Collin Morikawa, about 30 minutes before he could take his shot at the green. It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Bridgeman, however, because he still walked away with $515,000 and 148 FedEx Cup points.

A few days after the late drama at Pebble Beach, Bridgeman started hot at The Genesis Invitational — quickly killing any doubts about his ability to put the past in the past. On Feb. 19, he began with an eagle on hole No. 1 and finished the day tied for the lead at five under.

Bridgeman did not let up the following day on Feb. 20, shooting a 64 and tying with Marco Penge for first. However, that draw was short-lived when Bridgeman once again shot a seven-under round while Penge finished three over with a score of 74. Bridgeman went into Feb. 21 with a six-shot lead and was paired with none other than five-time major champion McIlroy.

Even with a six-shot lead, there was a lot of talk about whether Bridgeman could take home “Tiger’s Tournament,” especially considering he had never won on tour previously. Add a pairing with one of the biggest names in sports, and suddenly the stakes rose.

It was his trusty putter and approach game that helped Bridgeman take home his first-ever win. He finished at 18 under, just ahead of Kurt Kitayama and Rory McIlroy, who were hot on his heels at 17 under.

“I thought it was going to be a lot easier than that,” Bridgeman said after the grueling fight.

This win pushes him past Scottie Scheffler and Chris Gotterup for first place in the FedEx Cup standings. The US Open will take place from June 18-21 at Shinnecock Hills, New York, which happens to be the same state where another Clemson All-American golfer, Lucas Glover, won the 2009 US Open.

With Bridgeman now at No. 19 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he will certainly be one of the favorites in this big upcoming two-week stretch at Bay Hill and The Players Championship. And don’t forget about the major season coming up soon after that.

For Clemson and golf fans alike, everyone should expect to see his name around the top of the leaderboard, breaking more records and writing more headlines.