On the eve of Saturday’s second round of the GolfWeek Player of the Year Classic, reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion Mike McCoy received the Yancey Ford Award for his contributions to Senior Amateur golf.
The next day he demonstrated why he is a leader in the Senior Amateur match. McCoy shot a 3-under 69 at the Omni Orlando (Fla.) Resort to climb the leaderboard and enter Golfweek’s season-opening final round in second place.
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Reflecting on his play and competitive career over the past year, McCoy told Golfweek at the end of 2025 that he believes part of his competitiveness comes from a sense of always being prepared. McCoy enjoys the peace he finds during practice, which keeps his game sharp.
“I’m always trying to prepare for the next tournament,” he said. “I always feel ready. If I call and say, ‘There’s a big tournament this afternoon,’ I don’t panic. I feel ready, and I feel ready to play.”
McCoy’s round was last in the senior division, tying him with defending super senior champion Richard Carper in the lower rounds of the day. McCoy, of Norwalk, Iowa, had four birdies and one bogey. He had a similarly solid day in Friday’s opening round, but a triple-bogey 7 on the first hole pushed his score to 74.
Richard Carper at the 2026 Golfweek Player of the Year Classic.
McCoy is 1 under after 36 holes, trailing John Wright (Fairhope, Alabama), who is 3 under for the tournament. Wright was runner-up at the 2025 Dixie Senior Amateur and finished in the top 10 at last year’s Jones Cup Senior.
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Behind Wright, three others are tied with McCoy for second place. Among them is Chad Blanton of Cartersville, Georgia. Tony Wise of Georgetown, Kentucky; and Dave Bunker of Ontario, Canada.
Kevin Vandenberg, the 2025 Senior Player of the Year, also made big strides Saturday. After scoring 77 points in the first round, he rose to the top 10 with 71 points in the second round. Vandenberg has earned POY honors in this division the past three years and is the event’s defending champion.
Four-over Vandenberg will have to do quite a bit of work to seal a repeat on Sunday, while Carper began to distance himself against a field of super seniors on Saturday. With a round of 73-69, he had a five-stroke lead over the next closest player, Doug Stiles.
First-round leader Marcus Beck (Tallahassee, Fla.) fell to a tie for third place, six strokes back, on Saturday.
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In the Legends category, Greg Osborne of Lititz, Pennsylvania, moved to a three-stroke lead with even par. Osborn also earned POY honors in this category last season.
In the Super Legends division, Don Donatoni of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and Jack Mullin of Durham, North Carolina are tied for the lead with one over.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Mike McCoy claims, Richard Carper pulls away at Golfweek POY Classic
