After emotional Sunday, the stage is set for KFT finale
An emotional Sunday is in the books at the Korn Ferry Tour’s penultimate event.
A week after locking up his PGA Tour card, Frankie Capan III picked up his first Korn Ferry Tour title with a two-shot victory at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.
Meanwhile, Matt McCarty clinched No. 1 on the points list with one event, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, to play, meaning he’s guaranteed starts in next year’s Players Championship and U.S. Open.
And five more players became #TourBound – Karl Vilips, John Pak, Jackson Suber, Mason Andersen and Jeremy Paul – to push the number of PGA Tour cards clinched to 22. As a result, eight cards will be up for grabs at French Lick in two weeks. Sam Bennett is the current bubble man at No. 30, about 43 points ahead of Trent Phillips. Ricky Castillo, Noah Goodwin and Aldrich Potgieter are among the notables inside the number with one tournament left.
Perhaps the biggest drama of the week occurred around the top-75 bubble. Not only do just 75 players advance to the KFT finale, but those that punch their tickets to French Lick also clinch fully exempt status for next season on the KFT. Those who failed to advance Sunday at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course will begin next year with conditional KFT membership.
By Sunday evening, five players had played their way into the top 75 – and five players had played their way out:
IN
Cole Hammer – No. 79 to No. 66
Dan McCarthy – No. 87 to No. 68
Jacob Solomon – No. 78 to No. 69
Davis Shore – No. 81 to No. 71
Rick Lamb – No. 84 to No. 73
OUT
Cooper Dossey – No. 71 to No. 76
Matthew Riedel – No. 72 to No. 77
Shad Tuten – No. 73 to No. 78
Fabian Gomez – No. 74 to No. 79
Ryan Blaum No. 75 to No. 80
Hammer, a former world No. 1 amateur who won an NCAA team title at the University of Texas, said it was the most nervous he’d ever been, fighting to make the cut on Friday. He then turned in rounds of 68-69 on the weekend to tie for 13th. Hammer, 25, narrowly missed earning special temporary status last season on the PGA Tour before posting two top-10s in his first five starts this year on the KFT. He missed six straight cuts earlier this summer, though a T-16 at the NV5 Invitational in July got him back into position to make a playoff run, which he has.
Solomon also started strong only to slump late. He missed seven of eight cuts coming into this week. The 27-year-old Auburn product, however, birdied his last hole Sunday to card 5-under 66, and his T-17 finish was good enough to secure him at least a third straight season on the KFT.
“So many emotions because I’ve just struggled for like two months,” an emotional Solomon said afterward. “I just tried so hard, and it’s a hard situation for everybody trying to keep your job out here. It’s emotional. … I think I can play the PGA Tour, for sure. And I think I’m going to get there, but everybody’s timing is a little bit different.”
On the flip side, Tuten, 32, was among those falling just short. In Tuten’s case, it marked the second straight season that ended in heartbreak. He missed out on a PGA Tour card last season because of a two-shot penalty for playing from the wrong spot on the 15th hole of his final round at the KFT Championship. He then missed several months because of heart issues and only made 12 starts this year on the KFT.
Dossey, a 26-year-old out of Baylor, recorded 11 bogeys on the weekend, though he still managed to shoot a pair of 72s. However, he ended up T-67 and was the first man out, less than two points behind No. 75 Hank Lebioda.
“This is hard, you know,” Dossey said earlier this week. “We’re on the road for a long time, and my wife works really hard at home. It would mean a lot to secure full Korn Ferry next year. She believes in me, and it’s never been a timeline or anything. I’m not ever going to give this up. I say that, but I really don’t think I will. … I’ve always been a fighter.”