Korn Ferry Tour
 
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 2, 2019
CONTACTS: Preston Smith, prestonsmith@pgatourhq.com, 706-844-2100
Sean Wildhack, seanwildhack@pgatourhq.com, 315-243-2751
 
Final-Round Leaderboard
 Pos.
 Name
 Scores
1
 Tom Lewis
 68-66-66-65—265 (-23)
2
 Fabián Gómez
 69-69-66-66—270 (-18)
3
 Kramer Hickok
 69-66-72-65—272 (-16)
4
 Three tied at
 275 (-13)

 

Tom Lewis wins Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance
as 25 players earn 2019-20 PGA TOUR membership
Scottie Scheffler claims top spot on Finals 25 and combined points list to earn fully exempt status and exemption into 2020 PLAYERS Championship

NEWBURGH, Indiana — Tom Lewis carded a final-round 65 to win by five strokes at the Korn Ferry Tour’s season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance. Lewis joined 24 other players in earning 2019-20 membership through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

The Korn Ferry Tour awarded the first set of 25 PGA TOUR cards for the 2019-20 season at the conclusion of the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz in August, with a second set awarded this week after the conclusion of the Finals.

University of Texas alum Scottie Scheffler earned the top spot on both The Finals 25 and the combined points list after a T7 finish on Monday, in addition to his win and T11 finish over his previous two starts. The 23-year-old earns fully exempt status on the PGA TOUR during the 2019-20 season as well as an exemption into the 2020 PLAYERS Championship. Scheffler becomes the first player to top both lists since Chesson Hadley in 2017.

“It’s great to be able to play in THE PLAYERS next year,” said Scheffler, who finished with 10 top-10s and two wins in 20 starts this year. “I have some family close by in Jacksonville so it will be nice to have them come out to the event. It’s awesome to be able to compete against one of the best fields in golf, and becoming fully exempt, to be able to set my schedule, that’s huge.”

Lewis lapped the field after two separate strings of three birdies in a row during the final round. After collecting birdies at the third and fifth, countered by a bogey at the sixth, Lewis tacked on six more from Nos. 8-10 and 15-17. His 29 birdies this week was five more than anyone else in the field.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play on the PGA TOUR,” said Lewis, who finished T11 in the 2019 Open Championship. “Obviously I’ve achieved some good things on the European Tour and hopefully I can achieve better things on the PGA TOUR. I’m looking forward to the year I’ve got ahead, just to see what the future brings.”

While Lewis wrapped up a dominant performance, several other players provided dramatic finishes coming down to the final putt. Local legend Chris Baker, who grew up in Brownstown, Indiana, saved par on the 72nd hole to earn his first PGA TOUR card after more than a decade as a professional. The par save came after a double bogey at the penultimate hole to put his status in doubt. Doug Ghim, the low amateur at the 2018 Masters Tournament, got up and down out of a greenside bunker to claim his first PGA TOUR card.

D.J. Trahan and Richy Werenski tied for the 24th spot, securing the final available cards with 186 points in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Justin Harding finished 26th in The Finals 25, just 0.125 points behind Trahan and Werenski.

Four of the 25 players who secured their PGA TOUR cards solely through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals will be rookies during the 2019-20 season. The top 25 are:

The Finals 25
Hometown
Finals Points
College
1. Matthew NeSmith*
North Augusta, S.C.
1,018
South Carolina
2. Tom Lewis*
Welwyn Garden City, England
1,000
3. Brandon Hagy
Santa Monica, Ca.
700
Cal
4. Kramer Hickok
Austin, Tx.
661
Texas
5. Fabián Gómez
Chaco, Argentina
633
6. Viktor Hovland*
Oslo, Norway
620
Oklahoma State
7. Brendon Todd
Pittsburgh, Pa.
505
Georgia
8. Beau Hossler
Mission Viejo, Ca.
482
Texas
9. Ben Taylor*
London, England
417
LSU
10. Anirban Lahiri
Pune, India
358
11. Grayson Murray
Raleigh, N.C.
333
Arizona State
12. Tyler Duncan
Columbus, Ind.
283
Purdue University
13. David Hearn
Brampton, Canada
283
University of Wyoming
14. Bronson Burgoon
The Woodlands, Tx.
281
Texas A&M
15. Chris Baker*
Brownstown, Ind.
263
Iowa State
16. Robert Streb
Chickasha, Okla.
257
Kansas State
17. Tom Hoge
Statesville, N.C.
247
Texas Christian
18. Cameron Percy
Chelsea, South Africa
243
19. Hank Lebioda
Orlando, Fl.
203
Florida State
20. Rob Oppenheim
Salem, Ma.
196
Rollins College
21. Cameron Davis
Sydney, Australia
193
22. Joseph Bramlett
Stanford, Ca.
189
Stanford University
23. Doug Ghim*
Des Plains, Il.
188
Texas
24. D.J. Trahan
Atlanta, Ga.
186
Clemson University
24. Richy Werenski
Springfield, Ma.
186
Georgia Tech

*=PGA TOUR rookie in 2019-20

The 25 players from the Korn Ferry Tour Finals will join the 25 players from the Regular Season points list on the PGA TOUR. The 25 from the Regular Season are below:

The 25
Hometown
Total Points
College
1. Scottie Scheffler
Dallas, Tx.
2,935
Texas
2. Xinjun Zhang
Guangdong, China
2,047
N/A
3. Robby Shelton
Birmingham, Ala.
1,816
Alabama
4. Harry Higgs*
Dallas, Tx.
1,491
Southern Methodist
5. Lanto Griffin
Blacksburg, Va.
1,414
Virginia Commonwealth
6. Mark Hubbard
Denver, Colo.
1,410
San Jose State
7. Ryan Brehm
Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
1,397
Michigan State
8. Kristoffer Ventura*
Oslo, Norway
1,383
Oklahoma State
9. Henrik Norlander
Stockholm, Sweden
1,327
Augusta State
10. Zac Blair
Saint George, Utah
1,272
Brigham Young
11. Bo Hoag*
Columbus, Ohio
1,243
Ohio State
12. Nelson Ledesma*
Tucuman, Argentina
1,212
N/A
13. Rhein Gibson
Edmond, Okla.
1,142
Oklahoma Christian
14. Chase Seiffert*
Panama City, Fla.
1,026
Florida State
15. Mark Anderson
Beaufort, S.C.
979
South Carolina
16. Scott Harrington*
Portland, Ore.
977
Northwestern
17. Michael Gligic*
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
920
N/A
18. Sebastian Cappelen*
Odense, Denmark
905
Arkansas
19. Vincent Whaley*
Atlanta, Ga.
902
Georgia Tech
20. Rafael Campos*
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
869
Virginia Commonwealth
21. Vince Covello*
Atlantic Beach, Fla.
826
North Florida
22. Michael Gellerman*
Edmond, Okla.
806
Oklahoma
23. Maverick McNealy*
Stanford, Calif.
796
Stanford
24. Tyler McCumber
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl.
791
Florida
25. Tim Wilkinson
Palmerston North, New Zealand
775
St. Peters

The 50 players are ranked, in alternating fashion from each points list, following the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. This order will be used to determine priority entry into PGA TOUR events for the upcoming season, which opens the week of September 9-15 with A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

  1. Scottie Scheffler
  2. Xinjun Zhang
  3. Matthew NeSmith
  4. Robby Shelton
  5. Tom Lewis
  6. Harry Higgs
  7. Brandon Hagy
  8. Lanto Griffin
  9. Kramer Hickok
  10. Mark Hubbard
  11. Fabián Gómez
  12. Ryan Brehm
  13. Viktor Hovland
  14. Kristoffer Ventura
  15. Brendon Todd
  16. Henrik Norlander
  17. Beau Hossler
  18. Zac Blair
  19. Ben Taylor
  20. Bo Hoag
  21. Anirban Lahiri
  22. Nelson Ledesma
  23. Grayson Murray
  24. Rhein Gibson
  25. Tyler Duncan
  26. Chase Seiffert
  27. David Hearn
  28. Mark Anderson
  29. Bronson Burgoon
  30. Scott Harrington
  31. Chris Baker
  32. Michael Gligic
  33. Robert Streb
  34. Sebastian Cappelen
  35. Tom Hoge
  36. Vincent Whaley
  37. Cameron Percy
  38. Rafael Campos
  39. Hank Lebioda
  40. Vince Covello
  41. Rob Oppenheim
  42. Michael Gellerman
  43. Cameron Davis
  44. Maverick McNealy
  45. Joseph Bramlett
  46. Tyler McCumber
  47. Doug Ghim
  48. Tim Wilkinson
  49. Richy Werenski
  50. D.J. Trahan

For more information on the Korn Ferry Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, please visit PGATOUR.com.

MONDAY NOTES:

* Monday’s weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 85. Winds N 6-12 mph.

* Tom Lewis became the first player since Sungjae Im (2018 Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay) to win in his first Korn Ferry Tour start.

* Lewis became the 11th 54-leader leader/co-leader to go on and win this season.

* Lewis finished the week ranked first in putts per green in regulation with 100 putts on 63 greens.

* Lewis and Kramer Hickok (3rd, -16) had the low round of the day on Monday posting 7-under 65s.

* Scottie Scheffler (T7, -12) finished the season with $565,338 in prize money, the third most in Korn Ferry Tour history.

* If Lanto Griffin had made his birdie putt on the 72nd hole, Justin Harding would’ve finished No. 24 in The Finals 25, with D.J. Trahan and Richy Werenski earning the final spots at T25. Instead, Griffin made par and Trahan and Werenski finished T24.

* This week’s purse was $1,000,000, with $180,000 going to the champion, Tom Lewis.

*Last season, Victoria National Golf Club ranked as the hardest course on the Korn Ferry Tour playing to an average of 74.49. The par-4 14th, par-4 18th and par-4 sixth ranked as the three hardest holes on Tour in 2018.

* The par-4 14th hole (471 yards) ranked as the toughest hole on the course over the week with a scoring average of 4.276. 

* The par-5 15th hole (548 yards) ranked as the easiest hole over the week with an average of 4.565.* Victoria National Golf Club Scoring Average:

           Front (36)           Back (36)             Total (72)            Cumulative

R1          35.557                  36.115                  71.672
R2          35.305                  35.932                  71.237                  71.467
R3          35.408                  35.566                  70.974                  71.303
R4          35.493                  35.920                  71.413                  71.330

   

For the latest information and updates on the Korn Ferry Tour visit www.pgatourmedia.com

Scores available at www.pgatour.com or on the Associated Press wire

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