CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Senior Ben James added 2026 PING First Team All-America honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America to his collegiate resume on Wednesday (June 4). He is only the fifth collegiate golfer ever to be a four-time, First Team All-American and first since 2001.
NCAA Division I PING All-Americans
First Team
Kihei Akina, BYU
Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine
Ben James, Virginia
Filip Jakubcik, Arizona
William Jennings, Alabama
Jackson Koivun, Auburn
Christiaan Maas, Texas
Will Sides, SMU
Harry Takis, San Diego State
Preston Stout, Oklahoma State
James joins one of college golf’s most exclusive list that includes four-time First Team All-Americans – Gary Hallberg (Wake Forest, 1977-80), Phil Mickelson (Arizona State, 1989-92), David Duval (Georgia Tech, 1990-93), and Bryce Molder (Georgia Tech, 1998-2001).
After NCAA Championship stroke play, James locked up the top spot on PGA Tour University’s rankings, earning his PGA Tour card for the rest of the 2026 season and the entirety of the 2027 season. James’ final season as a Cavalier featured a pair of wins, first at the Ben Hogan Collegiate back in September and his second career NCAA Regional individual title in Winston-Salem in May. He broke his on NCAA Regional record by firing a 19-under, 294 at Bermuda Run Country Club.
James was competed in 11 tournaments in 2025-26 and finished in the top five in 10 of them. He owns the Virginia program records for wins (7) and top-10 finishes (35). James’ scoring average of 68.91 over the course of 34 rounds also established a new program single-season mark.