PGA of Canada

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley Ready for PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada

TPC Toronto
(TPC Toronto)

One of Canada’s top championship-tested venues is ready to host the PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf.

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North Course plays host to nearly 100 PGA of Canada’s members and apprentice professionals Sept. 17-19. Located north of Toronto in Alton, Ont., the North Course has been the site of a PGA TOUR Canada-Mackenzie Tour for the past two years, as well as host qualifiers for the RBC Canadian Open and the U.S. Open.

“It’s going to be so very exciting taking our PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf to such a tried and tested venue like the North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley,” said PGA of Canada President Mark Patterson. “This championship annually features some of the finest players in our association and this year is most certainly no different.”

Club de Golf Longchamp’s Marc-Etienne Bussieres looks to become the first player in the association’s history to win three-straight PGA Assistants’ Championships. He, however, will face one of the strongest fields this championship has ever seen with the entire top-five and 10 of the top 20 ranked players in the field at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley.

In addition to Bussieres, the stacked field includes:

  • The PGA of Canada’s No. 1-ranked player Bryn Parry
  • This year’s PGA Championship of Canada winner Dustin Risdon
  • Last year’s PGA Championship of Canada winner Pierre-Alexandre Bedard
  • Past PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada winners Billy Walsh and Brad Kerfoot
  • Notable names such as Lee Curry, Dennis Hendershott, Oliver Tubb, John Shin, Wes Heffernan, Riley Fleming, Thomas Keddy, Kent Fukushima, Victor Ciesielski, Alf Callowhill and Yohann Benson

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley is the first TPC property in Canada features three golf courses all ranked in SCOREGolf’s Top 100 Golf Courses in Canada list.

Designed by famed Canadian golf course architect Doug Carrick, the venue features a parkland-style layout that welcomes players with generous landing areas and naturally rolling fairways. While its width off the tee may be benevolent, deep greenside bunkers and undulating putting surfaces put a premium on approaching pins from the right angles, providing a challenge that rewards good shots but tests those who get out of position.

There will also be a 36-hole Inter-Zone competition compiled of four players on each team representing their respective PGA Zone, which is contested over the first two rounds.

PGA TOUR Americas

PGA TOUR’s international tours switch to points system in 2020

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PONTE VEDRA, Fla. –  The PGA TOUR’s three international tours—PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Series-China—will use a points-based system for its Orders of Merit, starting in 2020, the three Tours announced September 11. This will align these three Tours with the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour, which are both using points to measure players’ success. PGA TOUR Champions uses money earned by players for its regular season standings and then switches to a points-based standard when the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs begin.

The three international Tours are moving to this modified, consistent points system to assist fans and help avoid confusion with currencies used in the current Orders of Merit. Since their inceptions, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica has based its Order of Merit on the U.S. dollar, while the Mackenzie Tour has employed the Canadian dollar and PGA TOUR Series-China recognized the Chinese yuan.

“There has always been a bit of confusion among the three Tours regarding currency and the Orders of Merit, or money lists. This new format will streamline what we’re doing across the board and make it easier for fans to track player progress in a simple-to-understand way,” said Rob Ohno, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President, International Tours. “In 2020, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica will be the first international Tour to start its season and debut the points system, and the other two tours will follow once their seasons begin.”

With the launch of the FedExCup in 2007, the PGA TOUR moved to a points-based system. The TOUR’s sole focus is on points as players vie to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs and battle to win the FedExCup. In 2019, the 30th year of Korn Ferry Tour, the Tour changed to a points-based system, with PGA TOUR Series-China veteran Xinjun Zhang winning the regular season points title (1,962 points) and Scottie Scheffler winning the three-tournament Finals points title (1,267 points). Both players will be PGA TOUR members in 2019-20.

In 2020, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour and PGA TOUR Series-China tournament winners will receive 500 points each, and an enhanced 600 points will go to the winners at the season-ending tournaments for all three Tours.

“We’re very excited for this new method. It will provide a uniformity among our Tours and give our fans a new way of easily tracking their favorite players on whichever Tour they are following,” Ohno continued. “After 13 successful years using FedExCup points on the PGA TOUR and an extremely positive debut using points on the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour, it convinces us even more that this change is the correct way to go.”

Only professionals playing in tournaments will be eligible to receive points as amateurs are not able to earn official money or points. When amateurs do make the cut at a tournament, those available points will be vacated and not distributed to remaining professionals.

In the event of ties—an inevitability at any tournament—points will be distributed to those players using the same method currently employed to distribute prize money—each tying position averaged and distributed evenly to each player in that tying position.

This is how the points will be distributed among the top-15 players at a given tournament (ties excluded):

Position

Tournament Points

Last Regular Season Tournament/Last Full-Field Tournament Points

1

500

600

2

300

330

3

190

210

4

135

150

5

110

120

6

100

110

7

90

100

8

85

94

9

80

88

10

75

82

11

70

77

12

65

72

13

60

68

14

57

64

15

55

61

PGA TOUR RBC Canadian Open

Rory McIlroy named 2019 PGA TOUR Player of the Year

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Marcus Oleniuk/ Golf Canada)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR announced today that Rory McIlroy has been named the 2019 PGA TOUR Player of the Year as voted by the TOUR’s membership for the 2018-19 season. McIlroy will receive the Jack Nicklaus Award for winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year for the third time in his career (2012, 2014, 2019).

Sungjae Im was voted 2019 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year and will receive the Arnold Palmer Award, renamed in 2019 as a tribute to its namesake’s influence on countless young players and a fitting honor for its recipients, who will shape the game and the PGA TOUR for generations to come.

PGA TOUR members who played at least 15 official FedExCup events during the 2018-19 season were eligible to vote. The balloting process ended on September 6.

McIlroy, 30, of Holywood, Northern Ireland, won the FedExCup for the second time (2016, 2019), becoming just the second player to win the season-long race multiple times (Tiger Woods), and the first player to win THE PLAYERS Championship and the FedExCup in the same season. With three wins on the season (THE PLAYERS, RBC Canadian Open, TOUR Championship), McIlroy matched Brooks Koepka for the most on TOUR, and marked the third time he collected three or more victories in a single season. McIlroy also won the Byron Nelson Award for Adjusted Scoring Average (69.057) for the third time in his career and led the PGA TOUR in Top-10s (14) and Strokes Gained: Total (2.551).

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“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, my congratulations to Rory McIlroy on being voted the 2019 PGA TOUR Player of the Year by the TOUR’s membership,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “While there are a number of honors one can receive in this game, PGA TOUR Player of the Year has to be among the most satisfying as it comes directly from his peers. Rory’s season was a model of consistency punctuated by milestone victories and ultimately the FedExCup in Atlanta.”

After one start in the fall of 2018 (World Golf Championships/HSBC Champions), McIlroy opened the 2019 calendar year with top-sixes in his first five starts before winning THE PLAYERS for his 15th career PGA TOUR victory. He became only the third player to win THE PLAYERS, a major, the FedExCup and a World Golf Championships event in a career, joining Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson.

Six starts later, McIlroy made his tournament debut at the RBC Canadian Open, where he set the tournament record and won by seven shots, the largest winning margin of the season.

Three of McIlroy’s 14 top-10 finishes came at World Golf Championships events: Mexico Championship/2, Dell Technologies Match Play/T9 and FedEx St. Jude Invitational/T4.

McIlroy ended the PGA TOUR Regular Season at No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, claiming second place in the inaugural Wyndham Rewards Top 10, a $10 million bonus pool split among the top-10 finishers in the FedExCup Regular Season.

McIlroy entered the TOUR Championship at No. 5 in the FedExCup standings, beginning the FedExCup Playoffs finale at 5-under, based on the new FedExCup Starting Strokes system. With rounds of 66-67-68-66, McIlroy won the TOUR Championship and hoisted the FedExCup for the second time in his career.

McIlroy was selected for the honor over (alphabetically) Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar and Xander Schauffele.

Im, a 21-year-old native of Jeju, South Korea, was the only rookie to advance to the TOUR Championship and finished the season tied for 19th in the FedExCup standings. With his Rookie of the Year honors, Im joins Stewart Cink (1996-97) as the only players to be named the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in consecutive seasons.

For the season, Im made 26 cuts in 35 starts, becoming the first rookie in the FedExCup era to play 35 or more events. He recorded seven top-10s, highlighted by three top-fives, with his best finish of the season coming at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where he tied for third.

“Congratulations to Sungjae on being voted 2019 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year,” said Monahan. “His ‘Ironman’ season was remarkably consistent from start-to-finish, and his fellow players raved about his all-around game throughout the year. Like so many Korn Ferry Tour graduates, he arrived on the PGA TOUR prepared to compete with the world’s best, and his season was a reflection of a maturity beyond his 21 years.”

Im was selected for the honor over (alphabetically) Cameron Champ, Adam Long, Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff.

PGA TOUR Americas

Pendrith earns second Mackenzie Tour victory at Mackenzie Investments Open

Taylor Pendrith
Taylor Pendrith (Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada)

MONTRÉAL, Québec — Entering the final round of the Mackenzie Investments Open with a five-stroke cushion over Kyle Mueller, Taylor Pendrith made the turn on Sunday at Elm Ridge Country Club and the mood shifted from ‘will he do it?’ to ‘how many will he do it by?’

In the end, Pendrith tapped in for par on the final hole to shoot a bogey-free 67, giving him an eight-stroke victory and his second Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR title of the season and his career.

“It was definitely the best week of tournament golf I have ever played,” said Pendrith, who moved to second on the Order of Merit with the win. “I honestly don’t remember playing from the rough on the weekend, maybe once or twice, but my wedge game was dialled in, especially today.

“I kept my head down all day,” added Pendrith. “I figured I was leading but never knew by how much. I was debating hitting iron on No. 17, it’s a tough tee ball, but I decided to hit driver because it was downwind and I hit 8-iron on the green and made a two-putt birdie. After that I knew I was going to win.”

Pendrith’s commanding performance broke the Mackenzie Tour’s relative-to-par scoring record, previously held by Corey Pereira, who shot 26-under at last year’s ATB Financial Classic in Calgary.

“That was definitely the most under par I’ve ever been over four days,” said the 28-year old. “It was a great field out here and there are so many players who could compete on the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA TOUR, but to win by eight feels really good.”

With the eight-stroke victory, Pendrith matched the largest margin of victory in Mackenzie Tour history, a feat previously accomplished by Lee McCoy at the 2017 Canada Life Open and Hank Lebioda at the 2017 Mackenzie Investments Open.

“This just gives me tons of confidence,” said the Richmond Hill, Ontario native. “My game is really sharp right now, so If I can continue playing the way I have been then I have no doubt I will have a chance to win on the Korn Ferry Tour next year.”

The win adds an extra layer of excitement to an already compelling season-ending Canada Life Championship. While, historically, the Player of the Year Award and full Korn Ferry Tour exemption has been decided before the final event of the season, the top spot is still very much up for grabs.

“To be fully exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour next season would be a big relief,” said Pendrith, who sits just over $5,000 behind Order of Merit leader Paul Barjon “There’s still work to do next week in London, I know it’s super close, there’s three or four guys who could do it, so there’s a lot of pressure but it’s just golf and I’ll go make as many birdies as possible and see how it ends up.”

Pendrith, who has never shot a round higher than 68 in eight rounds at Highland Country Club, says it is his favourite course on the Mackenzie Tour.

“I love that place and I’ve played well there before,” said Pendrith. “My game is in a good spot right now, so hopefully I can keep the momentum going,” added Pendrith who’s best finish at the Canada Life Championship is a tie for 8th in 2015.

With the victory, Pendrith not only picked up his sixth Canada Life Canadian Player of Week award of the season, but also locked up the Canada Life Canadian Player of the Year award and will be recognized at the conclusion of the Canada Life Championship. This will be Pendrith’s second Canada Life Player of the year award after claiming the Dan Halldorson trophy in 2015 while finishing second on the Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit.

PGA TOUR Americas

Pendrith matches own course record, leads Mackenzie Investments Open by five

Taylor Pendrith
Taylor Pendrith (Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada)

MONTRÉAL, Québec — On Friday at the Mackenzie Investments Open, Taylor Pendrith was the only player to shoot 62 at Elm Ridge Country Club.

On Saturday, Pendrith matched Friday’s round with his second-consecutive 62 and was again the only player to shoot 62 at Elm Ridge Country Club.

In what he calls a “very similar round” to Friday, which included nine birdies, one eagle and a bogey, Pendrith, who entered the day tied for the lead, separated himself from the field and heads into Sunday with a five-stroke cushion over Kyle Mueller.

“It’s always hard to back up a really low round with another low one,” said Pendrith, who has shot 62 four times in his past four tournaments. “I feel really good and I’m hitting it great off the tee and taking advantage of having a lot of wedges in. Everything went my way today.”

Getting off to a hot start, Pendrith opened with four birdies in his first five holes, quickly jumping two-strokes ahead of Mueller.

“Everybody in our group played well,” said Pendrith. “Kyle (Mueller) and I both shot 4-under on the front and then after I made birdie on No. 11, I kind of just took off.”

After back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, Pendrith made par on Nos. 15 and 16 before hitting his second shot on the par-5 17th to 20 feet.

Watching Mueller drain a 30-foot putt on the same line, the Richmond Hill, Ontario native confidently did the same before closing his round out with a birdie on the final hole.

“The course is awesome, and I was able to hit a ton of fairways,” said the 28-year old Pendrith. “I was able to hit the ball close today and made some putts.”

Pendrith is seeking his second win of the Mackenzie Tour season, a win that would likely catapult him into the second position on the Order of Merit and give him a chance to become just the second Canadian to win Mackenzie Tour Player of the Year honours.

A win on Sunday would come in a different fashion than his maiden victory at the 1932byBateman Open in Edmonton a month ago, where he shot a course-record 63 on Sunday to erase a four-stroke deficit.

“I’m just going out there and playing golf,” said Pendrith, who managed the lowest back-to-back rounds on the Mackenzie Tour since Zach Wrights 62-61 start at the 2018 Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open. “Having the lead is nice, but I’m going to go play aggressive, I always have. I’m a pretty aggressive player and I’ll try to make as many birdies as possible and see how we do at the end.”

14 strokes ahead of fellow Canadian James Allenby, Taylor Pendrith is primed to earn his sixth Canada Life Canadian Player of the Year award of the season.

19th Hole

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley donates $265k to Credit Valley Conservation Foundation

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(TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley)

Caledon, Ont. – TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley announced on Wednesday night a donation of $265,000 to Credit Valley Conservation Foundation (CVCF) for the securement of the Capstone Property, part of Credit Valley Conservation’s land securement campaign.

The Capstone Property, a 44-acre parcel adjacent to TPC Toronto, will provide public access to Charles Sauriol Conservation Area while securing the optimum route of the Credit Valley Trail and protecting critical brook trout habitat.

The presentation was made by TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley President Chris Humeniuk during the Caledon Community Council Golf Tournament.

“Credit Valley Conservation’s efforts to secure and protect this critical property and enable access to this beautiful part of Caledon have been inspiring. We are thrilled to help complete this campaign and look forward to seeing people connect with this wonderful area right in our backyard,” said Humeniuk.

Partially forested with the Credit River meandering through, the Capstone property includes stunning cedar forests and incredible biodiversity, along with critical Brook Trout habitat. The property is the inaugural land securement initiative for the Credit Valley Trail, a 100-kilometre continuous, connected river valley trail from the headwaters in Orangeville through Caledon, Halton Hills, Brampton to the shore of Lake Ontario in Mississauga.

“CVCF is so grateful for TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley and the Humeniuk family for their support of our land securement initiatives,” said Terri LeRoux, CVCF Executive Director. “When the local community rallies to support these critical conservation initiatives, everybody wins. This generous gift for the Capstone will have a lasting impact on the Credit River watershed and its communities for generations to come.”

“This is a generous and welcome gift from TPC Toronto Osprey Valley and the Humeniuk family,” said Mayor Allan Thompson. “This donation will help secure a major addition to our natural and environmental heritage in Caledon. On behalf of Council and the community, we express our deepest thanks for this amazing contribution.”

The $265,000 represents a donation of $250,000 from TPC Toronto to go along with a $15,000 contribution of proceeds from this year’s Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates.

PGA TOUR Americas Team Canada

Rebecca Lee-Bentham makes history at Mackenzie Open

Rebecca Lee Bentham
Rebecca Lee Bentham (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Coming off a three-year break from elite competition, Rebecca Lee-Bentham is finding ways to keep golf interesting.

She’ll be the only woman in the field when the Mackenzie Investments Open tees off at Montreal’s Elm Ridge Country Club’s North Course on Thursday. It’s not the first time that Lee-Bentham has played against an elite male field, so the Golf Journalists Association of Canada’s 2013 female professional of the year knows what challenges the rain-soaked course will present.

“I’m getting no rolls so it’s all in my carry and I don’t carry the ball very far,” said Lee-Bentham. “It’s hard because we’re playing the same tees. We’re playing at 7,000 yards and I usually play at, I think 6,600 is the average in the LPGA. So when you add all that it is difficult because I’m hitting a lot longer clubs to the holes.”

Lee-Bentham has excelled against men before. She was on the men’s golf team at Toronto’s Northview Heights Secondary School with Albin Choi, Richard Jung and Daniel Kim, all of them now on pro tours. Lee-Bentham proudly notes that she won the regional high school championship while at Northview Heights.

The 27-year-old from Markham, Ont., also finished 10th at the Bermuda Grey Goose World Par 3 Championships in May, holding a first-round lead against a predominantly male field that included PGA Tour-winner Chip Beck, among others.

“Whenever I go out for a fun game it’s 95 per cent men,” said Lee-Bentham. “I’m always surrounded by them anyway. Yes it’s different because the Mackenzie Investment Open is a different environment where they’re all tour pros but I’m trying to focus more on playing the golf course rather than focus on how long they’re hitting it past me.”

Choi has total confidence in Lee-Bentham, who he believes has the skills to surprise people.

“I think she’s going to do a lot better than what people think,” said Choi. “The toughest part about playing in a men’s event is obviously just the yardage, the golf course is longer.

“But she’s going to just be hitting some longer clubs into the greens. She’s going to do a lot better than people expect.”

This year has been a welcome return to competition for Lee-Bentham, who retired as a player in 2016. She had been working as a golf coach and spending more time with her family and, in her own words, growing as a person. This season she has decided to play occasionally in elite competitions.

“My perspective on golf changed. Just seeing golf as a small part of life, it’s not everything,” said Lee-Bentham. “Before it was all of nothing. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I really cared about my performance and results. I put that in front of happiness.”

The Mackenzie Investments Open is the penultimate stop on the third-tier Canadian golf tour. The Mackenzie Tour’s season wraps up next week at the Canada Life Championship at Highland Country Club in London, Ont.

 

Amateur

CCAA Golf Championship returns to Champlain St. Lawrence

CCAA Golf

Cégep Champlain St. Lawrence will host the 2020 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Golf National Championships, presented by PING.

The Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) institution will host the event Oct. 12-16, 2020 at the Club de Golf Le Lorette in Loretteville, QC.

“The CCAA is excited to be returning to Quebec City and Club de Golf Le Lorette,” said Jim Knight, CCAA Golf Convenor. “Champlain St. Lawrence has hosted multiple CCAA Golf Championships in the past 10 years and this course is very familiar to our student-athletes.”

The Champlain St. Lawrence Lions last hosted CCAA Nationals in 2014, at Club de Golf Le Lorette. The institution also hosted in 2006 and 2013.

“The organizing committee at Champlain St. Lawrence has the experience of hosting CCAA Golf Nationals and are looking at elevating this event to showcase the countries best College and University golfers in the CCAA,” said Knight.

Club de Golf Le Lorette is one of the most reputable courses in the Québec City region. The 6,600-yard, par 72 course will offer CCAA golfers many challenges.

Since 2014, the course has undergone alterations and improvements, just in time for its 100th anniversary in 2020. Club de Golf Le Lorette, which has hosted numerous provincial and national events, will also play host to the Women’s Junior Nationals in Summer 2020.

The Lions golf program has been quite successful in the last 20 years, winning five provincial championships and four CCAA National Championships.

Of the four CCAA National titles, two of them have come on home soil. The Champlain St. Lawrence women’s team captured gold medals in 2006 and 2014.

The Lions are a source of great pride for Champlain St. Lawrence.

“Our golf program has a rich history of success ranking among the top teams in the country every year,” said Edward Berryman, Campus Director at Champlain St. Lawrence. “Our student-athletes benefit from the expertise of an outstanding coaching staff and we strive in providing them the best learning experiences possible.”

The 2019 CCAA Golf National Championships will be also be held in Quebec, hosted by Cégep André-Laurendeau in Sorel-Tracy, QC, from Oct. 14-18, 2019.

Korn Ferry Tour

David Hearn secures PGA TOUR card with final-round 66

David Hearn
David Hearn (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

NEWBURGH, Indiana — David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., rallied in the final round at the Korn Ferry Tour’s season-ending championship with a 6-under 66 to secure status for the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR season. He finished the championship in a tie for fourth at 13 under par, helping boost his ranking over the three-event final series to No. 13.

Fellow Canadian Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., fell just short, finishing outside the top 25. The 23-year-old relinquishes his current PGA TOUR status and will compete on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019-2020.

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.

Tom Lewis carded a final-round 65 to win by five strokes. Lewis joined 24 other players in earning 2019-20 membership through the Korn Ferry Tour 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
Brantford, 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
LPGA Tour

Brooke Henderson finishes tied for 4th at Portland Classic

Brooke Henderson
Brooke Henderson (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Australia’s Hannah Green overcame a three-shot deficit with a final round 5-under 67 Sunday to win the Portland Classic and deny teenager Yealimi Noh’s bid to become the third Monday qualifier to win on the LPGA Tour.

Green erased a three-shot deficit with two birdies over the final four holes at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. She finished at 21 under and won for the second time this season. She claimed the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June.

The 22-year-old Green, one of five two-time winners on tour this year, said she relied on her experience in winning her first major earlier this summer.

“I think I can definitely say that KPMG, having that experience, definitely helped me, especially the last five holes,” Green said. “Grinding out and making sure that I stayed patient.”

The 18-year-old Noh, who turned down an offer to play for UCLA and instead went pro in February, led by three strokes entering the final round and held the same margin after 14 holes. But, she struggled down the stretch and settled for a final-round 71 and 20 under.

Down three strokes after Noh made a birdie at the 14th, Green knew she needed to make a move.

“I guess that’s when you really need to hang in there,” Green said. “I was just really happy that I was hitting fairways and greens, like giving myself some opportunities. … I had some bad strokes out there and completely missed the hole, but when I was holing putts, you know, they are in the middle, so I was really happy about that. ”

Green closed within two strokes with a birdie at the 15th and was within one after Noh made bogey at No. 16. Green forged a tie at 21 under with a clutch birdie putt at the 17th.

“I felt like I was reading greens really well all day but towards the end, I wasn’t sure if I was over-reading them, so I had my caddie – I told him what point I was looking at, and I asked whether, what his opinion was and whether he thinks it was too much or too less,” Green said. “I think just hearing that confirmation to say, yeah, that’s the right line, is just what I needed. Especially on the putt on 17.”

Green made par on the 72nd hole and Noh, after hitting her second shot over the green and sending her third a good distance past the hole, made bogey.

“It was all going good till 16 I think, just the last two bogeys on 16, and 18, really hurts, because I was playing OK up until that,” Noh said. “I really thought I could hang in there, but just made a couple mistakes.

Noh was playing in her seventh tour event this year, with her best finish a tie for sixth at the Thornberry Creek Classic in early July. She was trying to join Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who won the 2015 Portland Classic, and Laurel Kean, a winner at the State Farm LPGA Classic in 2000, as the only qualifiers to win in LPGA history.

Brittany Altomoare carded a 69 and finished third at 17 under. Henderson (71) and Nasa Hataoka (66) tied for fourth at 15 under.