Drew Zielinski played his first two years of college golf at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College before transferring to Division-II Lee University last season and becoming an All-America honorable mention.
Now a senior, Zielinski will soon be making his PGA Tour debut thanks to a historic victory on Tuesday.
Zielinski birdied each of his final three holes to shoot 6-under 66 and beat teammate and roommate Bennett McNabb by two shots at the Golfweek Fripp Island to Bermuda Invitational. But that wasn’t all; Zielinski’s first D-II individual title also came with a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship on Nov. 13-16 at Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton, Bermuda.
This is the first time that a winner of a D-II event has received a PGA Tour exemption.
Drew Zielinski had a special phone call from the @Bermuda_Champ tournament director after his victory at Fripp Island! pic.twitter.com/IXlGwu6N7H
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) October 21, 2025
“I’m just going to soak in this moment and look forward to what’s coming up next,” Zielinski told Golfweek afterward, adding of the exemption, “It was on my mind all day today, and I was just trying to focus on where I was currently, like where I was walking, just staying right here in the present. This opportunity was just unbelievable.”
Lee won the team title by 18 shots over Georgia Southwestern.