No one on the ISU golf team has been hotter than Jeremy Lyons lately.

The ISU senior has been taking full advantage of his last season of collegiate golf, racking up one top-10 finish after another.

After a slow start during the fall season, Lyons has come alive as of late, collecting four consecutive top-10 finishes. That streak includes his playoff victory to take the overall individual title at last week’s ASU Indian Classic in Jonesboro, Ark.

With his success, Lyons believes this may be his best season with the Cyclones in what was already a strong career.

“My stroke average is the best [I’ve had here],” Lyons said. “I’ve had three wins, one each year; hopefully, I can make it two this year.”

ISU head coach Jay Horton agrees that this has been Lyons’ best collegiate season.

“He’s played really solid and consistently all spring,” Horton said. “He’s playing as well as he has in college.”

Lyons has won a tournament in each of his two previous seasons, capturing titles at the Branson Creek Invitational as a sophomore and at the Fairway Club Invitational as a junior.

“My first one, I had actually played really well,” Lyons said. “I shot 69-66 and then came back with a 76, but I played really well.

“My next win was very comparable to this one [this season]. I wasn’t on my game, but I got the ball in the hole and did what I had to do. I got more out of my game than what I usually do.”

Lyons attributes much of his consistent play to the experience of having nearly four years of college golf under his belt.

“I don’t think I’m playing to my potential yet, but just the experience of being out there [makes you better],” Lyons said. “College golf is tougher than you think. Coming in as a freshman, you think you’re going to play better than you do.

“With school and everything, it’s a lot tougher than you think. It takes some getting used to — being on the road all the time and having a dual commitment with school and golf.”

With his success, Lyons is ready to take his game to a different level — professional golf.

Lyons plans to turn pro in July and play in events around the Midwest this summer. This fall, he will attempt to play his way though PGA Tour qualifying school and earn a spot on either the PGA Tour or the Nationwide Tour, a developmental league one step down from the PGA.

With the day quickly approaching when he will be playing for money, Lyons can still remember when he decided to pursue this career.

“I remember pretty much a specific day, fall of my sophomore year,” Lyons said.

“It was early on, and I had worked for my dad all summer. It was pretty crappy work — grunt work — and I came back to school and I was like, ‘You know what? I have this talent with golf — why not just work at it really hard and try to make a profession out of it?'”

Lyons has been able to gather information about professional golf from his coach, who still plays in tournaments.

“I’ve tried to help him a lot because I’ve been in the same situation that he is,” Horton said. “[We’ve talked about] pitfalls, things I did that worked well and things I did that didn’t work well. I’m just trying to prepare him for what to expect.”

Lyons appreciates the advice he has been given.

“We talk about it all the time — about things you have to do, what has to change and things you can’t fall into,” Lyons said. “He’s helped me a lot already with what I need to do when I turn pro.”

Horton believes his student has all the tools necessary to be successful.

“He’s proven to me time and time again that he can put up good numbers and compete,” Horton said. “You have to score, you have to get the ball in the hole quicker than other guys, and he has the ability to do that.”