PGA TOUR

Ludvig Aberg birdied three of his last four holes for his second straight round of 61 en route to winning the RSM Classic by four strokes. With his birdie on the final hole, Aberg tied the PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record set by Justin Thomas at the 2017 Sony Open. It was his first career win in just his 16th start – his 11th as a pro, becoming the first PGA Tour University alum to win on tour. Aberg is the third rookie to win on tour this year, earning exemptions into the first three Signature Events in 2024 as well as the Masters. Mackenzie Hughes carded a bogey-free round of 63 for his first runner-up finish of the season and fourth top-10 result of the year. His 25-under 257 total equalled the lowest score by a runner-up in a 72-hole event and his final two rounds of 60-63 were just one stroke shy of equalling Aberg’s record closing 36-hole score. His third-round 60 tied his career-low. Hughes just missed finishing in the top 50 of the FedExCup Fall standings, moving up to No. 51 which gets him into two Signature Events in 2024 – the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. …Adam Svensson notched his fourth top 10 finish of the year and he’s just the second player to record a top-10 while defending his title at the event. His final round 62 equalled his season low which came during last year’s RSM Classic, which he went on to win.

NEXT EVENT: Hero World Challenge (Nov 30) 

LPGA TOUR

Amy Yang overcame a three-stroke deficit and birdied the final two holes to win the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship and with it the $2 million winners check – the largest in women’s golf. It was Yang’s fifth career title but the first she has won on U.S. soil. At age 34 she becomes the oldest winner on the tour this year. Yang’s 27-under 261 broke the tournament record by four strokes. Nasa Hataoka and Alison Lee finished tied for second. It was Lee’s third straight runner-up finish. Lilia Vu, a two-time major champion this year and No. 1 in the women’s world ranking, finished solo fourth which earned her Rolex Player of the Year honours over Celine Boutier, who finished tied for 16th. …Brooke Henderson carded her third straight top-15 finish and ninth of the season. She will end the year outside the top-10 in the world rankings for the first time since 2017.

NEXT EVENT: Grant Thornton Invitational (Dec 8)

CANADIANS ENTERED: Brooke Henderson & Corey Conners, Nick Taylor (with Ruoning Yin)

EUROPEAN TOUR

Nicolai Hojgaard birdied five of the last six holes to win the season-ending World Tour Championship by two strokes over a trio of golfers. It was his third career European title and enabled him to extend his streak of three straight years of winning at least one event. Hojgaard was two shots behind Tommy Fleetwood after a bogey at No. 12 before rattling off five straight birdies from Nos. 13 to 17 to take control of the tournament. Fleetwood, who needed to eagle the final hole to force a playoff, finished tied for second with Viktor Hovland and third-round leader Matt Wallace. The victory enabled Hojgaard to finish the season runner-up to Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai standings. McIlroy, who secured the season-long title for the fifth time in his career before starting the tournament, finished tied for 22nd. While Hojgaard was celebrating the most lucrative win of his career, his twin brother had a day to forget. On track to be one of 10 players to earn PGA Tour cards among those who are not already exempt, Rasmus Hojgaard hit his second shot on No. 18 into the water and had to settle for par. Matthieu Pavon made a birdie on the same hole that moved him past Hojgaard in the rankings, leaving the Dane on the outside looking in by less than 27 points. …Aaron Cockerill did not qualify for the season-ending tournament but he sits a career-best 76th in the Race to Dubai rankings to retain his tour card for 2024.

NEXT EVENT: Joburg Open (Nov. 23)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Aaron Cockerill 

G4D TOUR

Englishman Mike Browne claimed the season-ending G4D Tour Season Finale @ DP World Tour Championship by three strokes over a trio of golfers including Canadian Kurtis Barkley. Inclement weather forced Friday’s round to be cancelled, reducing the event to just 18 holes. Despite a double bogey on the final hole, Browne’s 1-under 71 was enough to finish ahead of Barkley, Brendon Lawlor and World No. 1 Kipp Popert, who had a total of four wins in the expanded second season of the G4D Tour. It was the fifth runner-up result for Barkley who finished the year ranked third in the world.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Three of the eight Canadians who entered the first stage of qualifying for the Champions Tour are moving on to the final stage next month. Alan McLean, who made three tour starts this year, finished tied for fifth at the qualifying event in Florida. He will be joined in the final stage by Dennis Hendershott, who used a final round 66 to climb 19 spots in order to be among the top 18 to advance, along with David Morland IV. …Hall of Fame baseball pitcher John Smoltz was also among the group of players advancing to the final stage after finishing tied for 14th. In three previous first-stage appearances, Smoltz had never finished better than tied for 54th. …The final stage will see just five tour cards handed out for the 2024 season.

NEXT EVENT: Champions Tour Qualifying – Final Stage (Dec 5)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Dennis Henderschott, Alan McLean, David Morland IV

Calgary, Alta. – Étienne Papineau finishes his PGA Tour Canada season with a Korn Ferry status card for the first time in his career. He finished 4^th in the Fortinet Cup rankings.

Papineau has been a Team Canada member for six years. Native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu just outside of Montreal and alumni of West Virginia University.

He started off his season strong when he won the season opener the Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist. He finished runner-up at the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open. He also finished 4 times in the top 5.

Étienne will receive conditional status on the Korn Ferry tour. The top five finishers are also exempt into the final stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying School. Since he is the top Canadian finisher in the standings he will receive an exemption into the 2024 RBC Canadian Open.

“If I just keep doing what I’m doing … There are some little details that I need to work on and get better at, but golf game-wise, I think I’m trending in the right direction. So just adjust those little details and the stuff that I would like to work on, and I think we’ll be there one day.” Said Papineau when asked about his future on the PGA Tour.

Etienne Papineau is in the home stretch.

There are two events left on the PGA Tour Canada schedule and Papineau sits third in the Fortinet Cup standings, the top-ranked Canadian on the third-tier tour.

If he can hold on to his spot, he’ll be promoted to the Korn Ferry Tour. If Papineau can move up to the top spot, he’ll also earn an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open.

“It’s part of my goals to move up,” Papineau said Wednesday from Brainerd, Minn. “Obviously, I want to get to the PGA Tour, but if I can get on the Korn Ferry Tour next year, that will be a definitely a big step up.

“I’ve been working for that for a long time. It would definitely mean a lot and it would be definitely a big step in my career.”

Papineau, from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., is one of several Canadians in the field for this week’s CRMC Championship at Craguns Legacy Course in Minnesota.

Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald is fourth on the PGA Tour Canada’s standings and also in a strong position to advance his career.

The tour’s season wraps up next week at the Fortinet Cup Championship on the Talons course at Calgary’s Country Hills Golf Club.

Papineau has earned 944 points this season, thanks to two top-10 finishes including a win at the Royal Beach Victoria Open on June 18.

He’s 266 points behind American Sam Choi, the overall points leader on the PGA Tour Canada.

“I think just being really consistent over the summer has been great for me,” said Papineau. “I think that’s why I’ve had good performances.

“We’re just trying to keep it going.”

Surprisingly, Papineau also credits a couple of off-season injuries for his success. He took several months off to heal his foot and his knee before returning to play in March.

He said that the forced rest was helpful for him with the grind of a professional golf season.

“I think that helped me reset back to zero and start all over again,” said Papineau, who works with Golf Canada’s men’s coach Derek Ingram and University of Montreal coach Pierre Dugas. “When I got back to it, we created a good game plan with my coaches, and I’ve been following it.”

GRANT THORNTON INVITAITONAL – Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners will be partners at the Grant Thornton Invitational, a unique event that will have players from the LPGA and PGA Tours compete together in a co-sanctioned tournament for equal prize money of US$4 million. They both represented Canada at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Grant Thornton Invitational is Dec. 4-10 in Naples, Fla.

LPGA TOUR – Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., and Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., are in the field at this week’s Portland Classic. Henderson tied for 13th at the CPKC Women’s Open in Vancouver on Sunday to move her up to eighth in the LPGA Tour’s rankings. Szeryk missed the cut in Vancouver, dropping to 91st in the standings.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Ben Kohles became the first two-time winner of the Korn Ferry Tour season on Sunday when he seized on Ben Silverman’s mistake on the final hole of regulation and beat him with a birdie in the playoff in the HomeTown Lenders Championship.

Kohles, from Texas, who won in Chile at the start of the month, closed with a 3-under 67. It looked like it would come up short until Silverman took double bogey on the 18th hole and to fall into a playoff.

Silverman, from Thornhill, Ont., was also looking for his second win of the year.

Kohles and Silverman now are Nos. 1 and 2 on the points list and assured of finishing in the top 30 to earn PGA Tour cards for next season.

Kohles won for the fourth time on the Korn Ferry Tour. His previous two wins were more than a decade ago.

SAVANNAH, Ga. – For the first time at the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage, the Korn Ferry Tour will provide live streaming coverage of the final round from The Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia. Live streaming will be available Sunday, November 7 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports App and GolfChannel.com, with coverage highlighting a bubble group seeking guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts for 2022.

The Final Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, commonly known as Q-School, is the last phase of the competitive process for obtaining status on the Korn Ferry Tour for the following season. The medalist(s) at the Final Stage of Q-School receives fully exempt status for the upcoming season, while finishers 2-10 (and ties) receive guaranteed starts through the first 12 events of the season, and finishers 11-40 (and ties) earn guaranteed starts through the first eight events of the season.

“As we continue exploring innovative ways to connect with our fans, we’re excited to provide live tournament coverage of the final round of Q-School Final Stage for the first time,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin. “The livestream broadcast will provide another valuable opportunity to showcase some of the incredible stories of our players, as well as highlight the grueling, yet rewarding, journey our players face as they compete and work their way to the Korn Ferry Tour.”

After being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Q-School has returned in 2021, with pre-qualifying, First and Second Stages contested in recent months at various sites across the United States. Final Stage of Q-School is set for November 4-7 at The Landings Club’s Marshwood and Magnolia courses in Savannah, Georgia. This marks the first year The Landings Club will host Final Stage of Q-School.

The livestream will seek to tell the unique stories of Q-School as players bid for a top-40 finish. Play-by-play host Brian Katrek will be joined in the booth by analysts Andres Gonzales, a former Korn Ferry Tour player, and APGA golfer Doug Smith. They’ll be joined by on-course reporters Gary Christian and James Nitties, as well as Teryn Gregson, who will handle the post-round interviews.

In addition to the livestream’s availability on the NBC Sports App and GolfChannel.com, the first 30 minutes of the broadcast will also be live on the Korn Ferry Tour’s social media channels, including Twitter and Facebook, from 10 – 10:30 a.m. ET on November 7.

For more information about the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, please visit PGATOUR.com.

The 2021 season of the Korn Ferry Qualifying Tournament season saw several worthy players take their shot at advancing through pre-qualifying, First and Second Stage and Final Stage at various sites across the country. The final stage of Q-School was contested at The Landings Club in Savannah, Ga from Nov. 4-8.

American Zack Fischer became the first two-time medalist in the modern era (since 2013) of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage, breaking a four-way tie for medalist honors with a 12-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole. Fischer watched as final-group playing partner Andrew Kozan’s 8-foot birdie putt slid past the cup, thus securing his second Final Stage win. The 32-year-old Texan carded a 2-under 69 Monday on The Landings Club’s Marshwood Course and finished at 14-under par.

With the victory, Fischer, who topped a field loaded with future PGA TOUR winners at the 2013 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage, secured fully exempt status for the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season

Canadians Albin Choi and Drew Nesbit advanced to the final stage with Choi finishing 5-over, and Nesbit recording a score of plus-8.

Canadian results are as follows:

Final Stage

Stage Two

Stage One

For more information on the Korn Ferry Qualifying Tournament click here.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The PGA TOUR announced today the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2022 schedule, which features 26 tournaments across four countries and 18 different states with the season culminating at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance in September.

“True to its mission, the Korn Ferry Tour continues to identify, develop and prepare golf’s next stars to compete on the PGA TOUR from day one,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “The immediate success we’ve seen from the likes of Sungjae Im and Scottie Scheffler and now Will Zalatoris, the last three recipients of the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, is indicative of the quality and talent on the Korn Ferry Tour.”

The Korn Ferry Tour’s 2022 schedule will feature the return of international events after they were cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Korn Ferry Tour will kick off its 2022 slate with The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay (January 16-19) and The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club (January 23-26), followed by the return of the Panama Championship (February 3-6) and Country Club de Bogota Championship (February 10-13). 

The Lake Charles Championship, set for March 24-27, will make its debut on the Korn Ferry Tour’s schedule after being postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, and again in 2021 due to the impact from Hurricanes Laura and Delta along the Louisiana coast. 

“After recently concluding the Korn Ferry Tour’s super season in dramatic fashion, we’re excited about what lies ahead in 2022, including a significant increase in purses, the return of four international events and the debut of the Lake Charles Championship,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin. “The Korn Ferry Tour is experiencing unprecedented growth and fan engagement and these key additions will add to this momentum as our athletes chase their PGA TOUR dreams in 2022.”

During the 2022 season, the Korn Ferry Tour will see its purses rise, as regular season events increase to a minimum purse of $750,000. The purse for the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna – the Tour’s regular season finale – will increase to $850,000. By the 2023 season, all regular season events will feature a purse of at least $1 million, while the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna will increase to $1.25 million and all three events in the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Finals will increase to $1.5 million.

Today, the Korn Ferry Tour announced a partnership with NV5, a leading provider of compliance, technology, and engineering consulting solutions for public and private sector clients supporting sustainable infrastructure, utility, and building assets and systems, to become the title sponsor of the Korn Ferry Tour’s event in Glenview, Illinois for at least the next five seasons. The tournament will now be known as the NV5 Invitational presented by First Midwest Bank and will be played May 26-29.

The Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna will continue to serve as the Korn Ferry Tour’s regular season finale and will be played August 11-14 in Omaha, Nebraska. Following the conclusion of the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna, where 25 PGA TOUR cards are awarded to the top 25 players in the Korn Ferry Tour’s regular season points standings, the Tour begins the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

The Korn Ferry Tour Finals commence with the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron – which announced a historic $2.9M charitable donation during their 2021 event – and will be played August 18-21 in Boise, Idaho. Players then head to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (August 25-28), which recently announced a five-year extension of the tournament at The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course. The season concludes at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana on Sunday, September 4, 2022.

The regular season finale and the three Korn Ferry Tour Finals events will represent four of six tournaments broadcasted on GOLF Channel in 2022. GOLF Channel’s broadcast coverage of the Korn Ferry Tour will begin with the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation (June 9-12), which will feature the debut of the PGA TOUR University presented by Velocity Global Class of 2022. The Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank (August 4-7), the penultimate event of the Korn Ferry Tour regular season, will also be broadcast on GOLF Channel.

In addition to the six tournaments slated for GOLF Channel broadcasts during the 2022 season, the Korn Ferry Tour will also stream live coverage of the Veritex Bank Championship, which will be the first live Korn Ferry Tour tournament coverage available to fans during the 2022 season.

“Providing Korn Ferry Tour fans with more content and additional live coverage is extremely important to our Tour right now, and we’re excited to deliver live coverage from the final two rounds of the Veritex Bank Championship, one of our best-in-class events, on Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16,” Baldwin said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Adam Svensson crept up the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship leaderboard all week and finally pounced Sunday, posting a 4-under par 67 to turn a two-stroke 54-hole deficit into a two-stroke victory. Svensson’s winning total, a 17-under 267, lowered the tournament scoring record (270 by Harris English in 2011 and Peter Uihilein in 2017) by three strokes.

Svensson played the front nine of The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course at 5-under par in the final round, birdieing Nos. 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9. The Surrey, British Columbia native did not make a single birdie on the back nine, but he avoided disaster with par saves at Nos. 11 and 14, made his only bogey at the par-3 13th, and closed the round with four consecutive two-putt pars.

“I was only two back, but I knew I had to play well today,” Svensson said. “If you’re 5-under on the front, you’re playing pretty well. I said to myself, ‘Just par in, or at least one more (birdie) coming in and see what happens. Just don’t make bogeys because you don’t want to give the tournament away.’”

The victory was Svensson’s second of the 2020-21 season and third of his Korn Ferry Tour career. In Svensson’s previous victory this year, which came in a playoff at the 2021 Club Car Championship at The Landings Club, he played the final 10 holes of regulation at 5-under par. This time around, he played the last 10 holes of regulation at even par.

Svensson starred at Barry University and won the 2013-14 NCAA Division II Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award as a sophomore; he turned professional in February 2015, the spring of his junior season, and won the 2015 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage by seven strokes in December. It would be two Korn Ferry Tour seasons before Svensson’s first victory, though. A win at the 2018 The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club propelled Svensson to a 14th-place finish on the regular season money list and a PGA TOUR promotion.

The Canadian finished 167th in the 2019 FedExCup standings, sending him back to the Korn Ferry Tour for what became the 2020-21 season. Svensson secured a return trip to the PGA TOUR two weeks ago, as he finished 11th in the regular season points standings.

Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., finished tied for 10th, while Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver finished tied for 18th, and Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished tied for 34th.

Five other players secured PGA TOUR cards by crossing the 210-point threshold the Korn Ferry Tour is currently using as its fail-safe number for players to finish inside The Finals 25.

Bronson Burgoon rose to the top spot in The Finals 25 with a T2, securing a return to the PGA TOUR via the Korn Ferry Tour for the fourth time. The 34-year-old Texas A&M University alum previously earned a TOUR card via the 2015 regular season standings and the 2017 and 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

Alex Smalley, a 24-year-old Duke University alum, secured his first PGA TOUR card with a T4. The Greensboro, North Carolina resident made four TOUR starts during the 2021 season, logging a pair of top-25s, a T29, and a T47.

Callum Tarren, a 30-year-old native of Darlington, England, jumped to fifth in The Finals 25 with a T4. It will be the first trip to the PGA TOUR for Tarren, who turned professional in 2014, won the 2018 PGA TOUR China Order of Merit to earn Korn Ferry Tour status for the first time, and needed to earn starts for the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour season via Q School.

Vincent Whaley, a 26-year-old Georgia Tech alum, will play his third consecutive PGA TOUR season following a T4 Sunday. Whaley previously earned a PGA TOUR card via a 25th-place finish in the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour regular season points standings.

Scott Gutschewski is headed back to the PGA TOUR for the first time since 2011. The 44-year-old logged a T10 at last week’s Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron, and rose to a T18 Sunday with a final- round 4-under 67. The Omaha, Nebraska native previously earned PGA TOUR cards via the Korn Ferry Tour in 2005, 2008, and 2010.

“I talked (my wife) into flying out and driving down to Evansville with me, so that will be fun. We’ll have a little celebration and it will be a fun drive.”

The three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals conclude with next week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance at Victoria National Golf Club in Evansville, Indiana.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Stephan Jaeger and Vincent Whaley electrified fans Saturday at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and reached 15-under par for the tournament, giving the pair of multi-season PGA TOUR players a one-stroke lead after 54 holes at The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course.

Jaeger entered the day with a share of the 36-hole lead, but early struggles left the Munich, Germany native scrambling as he tumbled down a congested leaderboard. The short-game maestro kept the round together with par save after par save until he closed the front nine with consecutive birdies. But as Whaley posted a 6-under 65 and reached 15-under par, it appeared Jaeger would end the day without a share of the lead for the first time this week.

Undeterred by the rocky start or three-stroke deficit, Jaeger climbed tenaciously to the top of the leaderboard once again, birdieing three of the final four holes for a bogey-free 5-under 66. And just like two weeks ago at the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna, the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour regular season finale, Jaeger sank a riveting birdie putt at the 18th green and walked into the sunset with a 54-hole lead in hand.

For the fifth time this season, Jaeger holds at least a share of the 54-hole lead, and Sunday’s final round will be the sixth time he plays in the final group this season. It will also give Jaeger yet another run at a Three-Victory Promotion, which would grant him fully exempt status for the upcoming 2021-22 PGA TOUR season, no matter what happens at next week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.

In addition to the status which comes with a Three-Victory Promotion, a win Sunday would give Jaeger the strongest possible grip on the No. 1 ranking in The 25 points standings. It would also be the seventh win of his Korn Ferry Tour career, a total which would tie Jason Gore’s all-time record.

Jaeger came tantalizingly close to the historic victory at the 2021 Visit Knoxville Open this past May, brushed with it again when he lost a playoff at the 2021 REX Hospital Open this past June, and again as he played the first 10 holes at 3-over par and faded to a T4 in the regular season finale two weeks ago.

Even after those near-misses, and with questions about a Three-Victory Promotion and seventh career win arising yet again, Jaeger has not grown tired of discussing either topic.

While Jaeger thrilled the gallery with the putter, Whaley delivered the shot of the tournament at the par-4 14th – which, along with the par-4 11th, played as the toughest hole relative to par Saturday. Whaley had 142 yards to the flag at the 473-yard par 4; he landed a pitching wedge within two feet of
the hole, and watched from the fairway as it spun back into the cup for an eagle.

“I was kind of stalled at that point, so that was helpful,” Whaley said. “I knew I was somewhat up (the leaderboard), but I needed a few more coming in to really get towards that final group, so that was huge.”

Whaley, who grew up in McKinney, Texas and played alongside Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler on the state’s golf circuit, also made birdies at Nos. 1, 6, 12, and 15. The Georgia Tech alum’s 65 tied Adam Svensson for the lowest score of the third round.

Canadian Svensson is in fourth at 13 under, while Canadians Stuart MacDonald and Michael Gligic are both tied for 24th, and Taylor Pendrith is tied for 49th.

Whaley played the 2020 and 2021 seasons on the PGA TOUR following a 25th-place finish in the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour regular season points standings. The 26-year-old posted a solo second and T3 in 2019, but his only professional wins to this point are mini-tour events.

Having learned several lessons from his two seasons on TOUR, Whaley hopes those experiences will leadto his first Korn Ferry Tour victory Sunday.

“The first year (on the PGA TOUR) was a big learning experience. I don’t know how ready I was for it, to be honest,” said Whaley, who finished 183rd in the 2020 FedExCup standings, and 140th in 2021. “But I felt like I got a lot better, especially this season. I haven’t won out here and I’ve only really been in contention twice, so that’s all I want to do… I’m just going to try to win the golf tournament.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do… win at this level. That’s all I really care about.”

The Golf Canada Foundation has opened applications for bursaries to provide Canadian professional golfers with financial assistance for upcoming Q-school tournaments in support their journeys to the LPGA and PGA TOUR.

These bursaries are being made available this year in recognition of the increased travel expenses that many players have incurred due to the impact of COVID-19. For example, host family housing has not been available at many events, thus creating increased expenses for players. 

Canadian professional golfers who anticipate expenses attempting to qualify for the 2021-2022 season on any tour that is affiliated with the PGA TOUR, European Tour, or LPGA tour are welcomed to apply through this link.

The application will be open until Monday, September 20 at 5pm ET. Bursaries will be awarded by mid-October in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $7,000, depending on a player’s competitive results and projected expenses.

For more information, please contact Emily Phoenix (ephoenix@golfcanada.ca).