Latest news with #KFT
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
A virus nearly killed him; now, Brett White just shot 59 and won his first Americas title
Make that two 59s in as many days on PGA Tour Americas. This time it led to victory. Brett White began Sunday's final round of the Commissionaires Ottawa Open seven shots behind leader Philip Barbaree Jr., who had carded 13-under 59 a day earlier at Eagle Creek Golf Club. Now it was White's turn to break 60, and while Barbaree closed in 70 to tie for 10th, White rocketed to 23 under, which earned him a spot in a three-man playoff with Danny Fisher and Nathan Franks. White had made 10 birdies on his first 17 holes on Sunday before he drained a 63-foot eagle putt for the third 59 in PGA Tour Americas history. HOW ABOUT THIS FINISH FOR 59!! 🤯 @BWhitey08 drains a 63 foot eagle putt for 59 and has the clubhouse lead @OttawaOpenGolf at 26-under! Then in extras, White birdied the par-5 18th hole twice to seal his first career Americas title and jump to third in points. White, 32, is eight years removed from nearly dying from viral encephalitis, which he contracted while a member of PGA Tour Latinoamerica. He spent three weeks in the hospital and had to relearn basic tasks, including talking and walking. His return to golf came about a year after his hospitalization, and he won the 2019 Nevada Open and 2020 Michigan Open as part of his comeback. He got through Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in 2021 to earn his KFT card for 2022, though he notched just two top-25s in 20 starts to lose his status. 'It's been a wild ride,' White told Golf Channel in 2021. 'Over a long journey, sometimes you go back and go, wow, I gotta be thankful for where I'm at. There was a point in the hospital where it was, hey, let's make sure you can be on your own; and then it was, OK, I want to be able to run around with my kids; then it was, let's play golf for fun; and it just kept on progressing. I've tried to get better every day, and I don't think I've stopped.' The top 10 players at the end of the PGA Tour Americas season receive KFT cards.
USA Today
15-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Masters, U.S. Open low amateur mounts major comeback to win Korn Ferry Tour event
The annual Korn Ferry Tour event at TPC Colorado may have helped set the stage for a new PGA Tour star. Rising pro golfer Neal Shipley put together the largest final round comeback in the event's history, firing an opening-nine 29 en route to a final-round 64 (8-under) to win The Ascendant presented by Blue on July 13. Shipley earned his second KFT win this year, finishing at 18-under par to all but lock up a spot on the PGA Tour next season. What a way to do it, too. Trailing by seven shots through three rounds, the low amateur at the 2024 Masters and U.S. Open came out hot on a sweltering summer day in Berthoud. Shipley birdied his first three holes and four of the first five before eagling the par-4 sixth and finishing with another birdie on No. 9 for a remarkable front-side 29. That instantly vaulted him atop the leaderboard heading into the back nine. That's because 54-hole leader Ross Steelman faltered with a first-nine 40 and final-group partner Kevin Dougherty couldn't muster enough birdies in a closing 69. Shipley cooled off coming home, surviving a double-bogey on the mammoth 773-yard par-5 13th hole to card a back-nine 35. With a birdie (and a vigorous fist pump to punctuate it) on the 18th hole, he was in at 18-under. But since he was in the fifth-to-last group nearly an hour before the leaders, Shipley had to await the final pairings for nearly an hour. While Dougherty and Jorge Fernández Valdés had chances, neither could birdie any of the final three holes at TPC Colorado to finish in a tie for second at 17-under. Shipley entered the event 10th in the Korn Ferry Tour standings this season. Three-time winners or top-20 finishers at season's end are guaranteed a promotion to the PGA Tour. The former Ohio State standout shouldn't have to worry about that now. After this win and his April triumph at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, Shipley is up to fourth on the KFT points list and in commanding position to earn his tour card. KFT money and points leader Austin Smotherman finished in a tie for fourth at 14-under, along with Steelman, Zach Bauchou, Cooper Dossey and Pierceson Coody. Former Ascendant champion Zecheng Dou (2022 winner) tied for 12th at 11-under. Local favorite Tom Whitney, an Air Force Academy graduate and former Fort Collins resident, led after 36 holes but faltered over the weekend and finished tied for 37th at 7-under par. Shipley's grand finale was indicative of a rollercoaster week at TPC Colorado. Despite his impressive final round, his four-round total of 17-under (270) marked the first time in The Ascendant's seven editions that the 72-hole event scoring record wasn't set or matched. Not that it will matter much to Shipley, a popular winner well known among golf fans after his amateur success last year at Augusta National and Pinehurst No. 2 in major championships. It's not hard to envision the 24-year-old rapidly ascending in the PGA ranks like Will Zalatoris, the 2020 TPC Colorado champ who parlayed that success to three runner-up finishes and seven top-10 finishes at major championships from 2020 to 2022. Here are all seven winners to date in The Ascendant at TPC Colorado: Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan, part of the USA Today Network.
NBC Sports
27-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Cole Hammer: 'Right thing' to turn self in for advice-giving, resulting in pair of DQ's at KFT event
Cole Hammer had never been disqualified from a tournament in his life. Until Friday, that is, when the 25-year-old Korn Ferry Tour pro called what ended up being a rules violation on himself during this week's Memorial Health Championship in Springfield, Illinois. Hammer's admission to rules officials eventually resulted in the disqualification of both Hammer and Hammer's playing competitor, Nelson Ledesma, after it was determined that Hammer had violated Rule 10.2a, which prohibits players from giving or asking for advice from anyone other than their caddie. The incident occurred during Thursday's first round on the par-3 17th hole at Panther Creek Country Club. Hammer had just hit 4-iron onto the green on the 232-yard hole and was watching his ball still in motion when he started walking toward his bag. That's when, according to Hammer, he crossed paths with Ledesma's caddie, Nico Torres, who then flashed four fingers, a universal signal for, '4-iron?' 'Out of instinct, I flashed '4' as well,' Hammer told via phone on Friday afternoon. 'It was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and I didn't think a whole lot about it until after the round.' That evening, Hammer reached out to a few peers for their opinion. Most felt like he was in the clear. After all, the rule against giving advice is often broken in professional golf, and usually without punishment. When caddies for Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland were scrutinized by those who felt they violated the rule during the 2023 Masters – rules officials determined they did not – Golf Channel analyst Paul McGinley called advice-giving 'not a serious breach among players,' adding, 'This is common practice on Tour. Whether you like it or not, it's common practice. It happens in every professional tournament around the world. It's not obvious always, so blatant.' One well-known PGA Tour veteran even texted Hammer on Thursday night, saying, basically, This happens every single day on Tour. But even then, Hammer was unsure that he could simply brush it off. 'I feel like I know the rules really well, and I've always tried to uphold them to the best of my ability,' Hammer said. 'It just didn't sit right with me last night, and when I woke up this morning, I felt compelled to go talk to the rules official and tell him what had happened.' Hammer sought out KFT rules official Claudio Rivas, who told Hammer he would get back with him after gathering more facts and meeting with chief referee Jordan Harris and a USGA representative to determine the proper course of action. Hammer shared with Rivas that he also didn't know if Torres had even seen his hand signal. Hammer added that he didn't alert Ledesma or Torres at the time because he didn't want to cause unnecessary worry if there ended up being no infraction. 'I didn't think that they would be disqualified,' Hammer said. 'I just thought since I was the one who gave the sign that I would be disqualified. And I thought that was worst-case scenario.' Rule 10.2a fully states: During a round, you must not: 1. Give advice to anyone in the competition who is playing on the course; 2. Ask anyone for advice, other than your caddie; 3. Touch another player's equipment to learn information that would be advice if given by or asked of the other player. The penalty is usually the general penalty of two strokes, but because Hammer and Ledesma had already signed their scorecards – Hammer for a 2-under 69, Ledesma for 73 – they were subject to disqualification under Rule 3.3. It took several hours for a final decision to be made, with the disqualification not coming until Hammer and Ledesma were six holes into their second rounds. Hammer had made a bogey to drop to 1 under while Ledesma was still 2 over for the tournament; the cut line is currently projected at 4 under. The Korn Ferry Tour confirmed the reason for disqualification but did not provide further details. Ledesma's response to which was then translated to English: 'The decision made is the correct one, according to the rules. I can't do much with it except accept it.' Ledesma added that Torres was 'shocked by the situation,' but accepted the mistake. 'I feel a lot better now that I at least got it off my chest because it was weighing me down,' Hammer said. 'It's just unfortunate that it's a caused a little storm around the tournament.' As for Hammer, he entered the week No. 73 in points. His T-23 last week in Wichita, Kansas, snapped a string of six straight missed cuts. Ledesma, 34, is No. 102 in points. 'This is something that's so abnormal to experience in a tournament, so I'm almost just going to have to cast it away like nothing happened,' Hammer said. 'It's a learning experience, and I think I'm in a better head space having called it on myself. … I'm by no means depressed about the outcome or nervous about the next stretch. If anything, I can play with a clean slate and a clear conscious and hopefully continue the play that I had in Wichita. 'There are plenty of events left, and I felt like doing the right thing and protecting the game would be better for me in the long run.'
NBC Sports
25-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Collin Morikawa parts with caddie Joe Greiner, employs former Cal teammate for Rocket Classic
Collin Morikawa is making another caddie change. After just five tournaments, Morikawa and looper Joe Greiner have split, Morikawa confirmed to Golfweek on Wednesday. Korn Ferry Tour player K.K. Limbhasut, Morikawa's former college teammate at Cal, will make a spot start on the bag for this week's Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club. Morikawa hired Greiner after parting ways with the only caddie of his pro career, J.J. Jakovac, following the RBC Heritage in late April. Greiner, who was Max Homa's longtime caddie, worked a couple tournaments filling in for Justin Thomas' regular caddie, Matt Minister, including at Harbour Town, where Thomas won. With Greiner as caddie, Morikawa notched three top-25s, though nothing better than T-17, at the Truist Championship, their first event together. The report did not state who Morikawa will have on the bag after this week. Limbhasut has made nine starts on the KFT this season and ranks No. 159 on the tour's points list.
NBC Sports
21-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Another 59 on Korn Ferry Tour! Myles Creighton chips in to break 60
Another Korn Ferry Tour round, another sub-60 score. This time it was Myles Creighton, who fired an 11-under 59 in Saturday's third round of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open. Creighton's performance, which was capped by a chip-in birdie, comes just two days after Adrien Dumont de Chassart shot 59 in Thursday's first round at Crestview Country Club. Unlike Dumont de Chassart's 59, Creighton achieved his score without preferred lies in effect. There have now been 15 scores of 59 or better in KFT history, seven of which have come in the past three seasons. It's also the second time that there have been two sub-60 scores in the same tournament, following the 2024 Astara Golf Championship, where Cristobal del Solar carded a record 57 in the opening round before Aldrich Potgieter followed with a 59 the next day. Creighton parred the par-4 first hole before rattling off four straight birdies. He bogeyed the par-4 eighth but sandwiched that with birdies at Nos. 7 and 9 to notch a front-nine 30. His inward 29 included four straight birdies as well, at Nos. 13-16, before his final-hole heroics at the par-4 18th. CHIP-IN FOR 59!!! Myles Creighton with a shot of the year contender. Creighton's 59 pushed him to 15 under for the tournament. He led by a shot when he finished his round, though the lead groups were just making the turn. Pierceson Coody eagled the par-4 11th to jump Creighton and move to 16 under. The 29-year-old Creighton, a Canadian who turned pro out of Radford in 2018, entered the week No. 74 in KFT points. This is his second season on the KFT after he finished second in points during the 2023 PGA Tour Latinoamerica campaign. His previous low round in PGA Tour-sanctioned competition was 62.
