PGA TOUR

It was more of a coronation than a competition as Scottie Scheffler capped off one of the best years in golf by winning the Tour Championship and capturing the FedEx Cup. Scheffler, who started the tournament with a two-stroke lead, was briefly challenged in the final round after back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 but three straight birdies at the turn re-established his lead as he went on to a four-stroke victory over Collin Morikawa. Scheffler finishes the year with eight wins – seven on the PGA Tour – including the Masters, The Players Championship, and an Olympic gold medal. He also had a pair of runner-up finishes and finished out of the top 10 three times in 19 starts. It is the greatest year since Tiger Woods won eight times in 2006. The $25 million prize for winning the FedEx Cup pushed Scheffler’s season earnings, including bonuses, to just under $62.3 million. Morikawa, who started the Championship six strokes behind Scheffler, collected $12.5 million for his runner-up finish. If you remove the starting strokes format, Morikawa finished with the lowest 72-hole score, one better than Sahith Theegala and two better than Scheffler. Theegala, who started the week with a seven-shot deficit, finished third to pick up $7.5 million. He likely would have finished in a tie for second were it not for a two-stroke penalty he called on himself on the third hole of the third round, which in the end cost him approximately $2.5 million. …Taylor Pendrith earned $905,000 in bonus money which marks the second biggest payday of the year after earning more than $1 million for winning The CJ Cup in May. Only Shane Lowry (T9) finished higher than him among first-timers at the event. It was his 11th top-20 finish of the season. Pendrith is expected to be named a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup when final selections are announced on Tuesday.

NEXT EVENT: Procore Championship (Sep 12)

PGA TOUR AMERICAS

Frederik Kjettrup made a 23-foot eagle putt on the final hole to win the CRMC Championship by two shots. It is the Dane’s third win of the year and earns him immediate promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour for the rest of this year and all of next season. The 24-year-old is the first player to achieve the Three-Victory Promotion since the international tours were included in 2020. Kjettrup’s first two wins came in his first two career starts on the PGA Tour Americas at The Beachlands Victoria Open and the ATB Classic. Rookie Bryce Lewis carded a bogey-free career-low round of 61 that included four birdies over his final seven holes to finish runner-up. Neal Shipley, the Masters and U.S. Open low-amateur, had three birdies over four holes down the stretch before making a bogey on the final hole to finish solo third – his second straight top-three finish. …Team Canada member Stuart Macdonald picked up his fourth top-15 result of the season and goes into the final tournament of the year No. 7 on the points list. …Matthew Anderson goes into the Fortinet Cup Championship No. 3 on the points list. …The top 10 players after next week’s season-ending tournament earn exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025. … The top 80 will retain their membership in PGA Tour Americas for 2025.

NEXT EVENT: Fortinet Cup Championship (Sep 5)

CANADIANS ENTERED: Matthew Anderson, Chris Crisologo, A.J. Ewart, Thomas Giroux, Jimmy Jones, Stuart Macdonald, Brendan MacDougall, Drew Nesbitt, Lawren Rowe, Joey Savoie, Jeevan Sihota, Noah Steele

LPGA TOUR

Haeran Ryu came from four strokes back to force a playoff and make par on the first extra hole to win the FM Championship. It is her second career LPGA victory but she has won five times on the Korean ladies’ tour. She is the fourth LPGA sophomore to win this season. Ryu carded a career-best 62 to take a six-stroke lead into the weekend before struggling to a third-round 78 on Saturday, leaving her in sixth place and four back of Jin Young Ko. On Sunday, Ryu roared back with birdies on her first four holes and six of her first eight. Ko, the former world No. 1, had a chance to win the tournament on the final hole but missed an eight-foot birdie putt. It’s her sixth top-10 finish of the year and second runner-up result. Ruixin Liu of China, who made the cut on the number on Friday, birdied her first seven holes of the final round and finished solo third after carding a career-low 64.

NEXT EVENT: The Solheim Cup (Sept. 13)

EUROPEAN TOUR

Niklas Norgaard squandered a four-shot advantage and survived three botched chip shots before finishing birdie-par to win the Betfred British Masters by two strokes. It is the Danish player’s first career European Tour title. Norgaard, who was the co-leader after 54 holes in this event last year before eventually finishing in seventh, was up by four shots on Sunday as he played the 15th hole. Shockingly he needed four chip shots to reach the green and settled for a double bogey to cut his lead in half. Norgaard settled himself down and responded with a birdie at No. 17 before making par on the final hole for the win. South African Thirston Lawrence, who got to within one shot of the lead, finished runner-up. There were no Canadians entered in the event.

NEXT EVENT: Omega European Masters (Sept 5)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Aaron Cockerill

G4D TOUR

The English team of Kipp Popert and Heather Gilks came from two shots back to capture the inaugural G4D Tour Nations Cup at Betfred British Masters by four strokes. It is Popert’s third G4D tournament title of the season and 11th of his career. The Irish duo of Brendan Lawlor and Fiona Gray carried the lead into the final round but double bogeys on the sixth, ninth, 10th and 14th dropped them to second place in the team event. The Canadian duo of Kurtis Barkley and Natasha Stasiuk, who was making her G4D Tour debut, finished fourth after starting the final round in third place. The mixed team event was the first of its kind on the G4D Tour featuring 12 of the world’s best golfers with disability.

NEXT EVENT: G4D Tour @ BMW Championship (Sep 16)

EPSON TOUR

Yahui Zhang of China had four birdies to offset five bogeys and a double bogey in challenging conditions to hang on for a one-stroke victory at the Four Winds Invitational. It is the 18-year-olds first career win after collecting six top-10 finishes this year. The victory vaulted her up to No. 1 in the Race for the Card standings and earning her LPGA Tour card for next season with only four tournaments remaining. Lauren Stephenson and Fatima Fernandez Cano finished tied for second. Fernandez Cano was one of only three players in the top 10 to post rounds of par or better on Sunday.

NEXT EVENT: Guardian Championship (Sep 6)

CANADIANS ENTERED:  Jillian Friyia (a), Leah John, Maddie Szeryk, Brigitte Thibault, Selena Costabile (reserve)

As Ellie Szeryk lined up her final putt to seal the win at the B.C. Women’s Open, she spied longtime friend Brooke Rivers lurking around the green with a bottle of water.

Sure enough, when Szeryk made the putt, the chase was on with Rivers trying to douse her with water.

“I ran as far as I could, but she still got me quite good,” Szeryk said with a laugh. “But it was fun. In golf you usually do that to your really good friends when they win. 

“So it was really sweet that she did that. It’s like an unspoken honour.”

Szeryk beat Rivers by four strokes at Pitt Meadows Golf Club on Sunday in their professional debuts. Both golfers also earned berths at the CPKC Women’s Open, July 25-28 at Calgary’s Earl Grey Golf Club.

“It was just really nice to be able to have followed through on something that I had been thinking about,” said Szeryk. “It’s not always easy to golf. It’s just three rounds and you have no idea what the course is like and how it’s going to play.”

Earning their way into the national women’s championship, rather than relying on a sponsor’s exemption, was a relief to both players.

“I knew that there’d be a good opportunity for that,” said Szeryk, from London, Ont. “It’s been on my mind the last couple of months, like since I signed up. 

“I knew I needed to make sure I had my game right so I could take advantage of it because I knew that they weren’t going to be a lot of sponsored exemptions for this Canadian Open.”

Rivers agreed.

“It does feel really good to earn the exemption spot on my own through good play,” said Rivers, from Brampton, Ont. “It also feels a little more rewarding while being there because you feel like you had done everything in order to put yourself there.”

Rivers added with a laugh: “It’s a little bit easier when booking travel that you don’t have to do it the week before.”

Both Szeryk and Rivers turned pro after the conclusion of the NCAA golf season. They’re both spending time with family and practising before the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada tees off at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont., on July 2.

“I’m really excited to turn pro, and it’s something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” said Rivers, who played one season at Wake Forest University. “It’s something I’ve been working toward my whole life. 

“I just felt that I was in a position where I was ready to turn pro and I was ready to start competing.”

Golf Canada announced the early commitments to the 50th playing of the Women’s Open on Monday, with eight of the current top-10 and 83 of the top-100 players on the Race to the CME Globe Standings entered in the national women’s championship.

The 156-player field will be competing at Earl Grey Golf Club for the first time in tournament history. It will be the seventh time that Alberta hosts the Women’s Open and first time since 2016.

LPGA TOUR — Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is in the Dow Championship three days after making Canada’s Olympic golf team for a third time. Maddie Szeryk, Ellie’s older sister, just missed out on beating Sharp to the Olympics by 1.41 points in the women’s world golf rankings. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., No. 14 in the world, is also in the field at the Midland Country Club in Midland, Mich. They will be joined by Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., and amateur Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto.

EPSON TOUR — Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., is the top-ranked Canadian playing in the Dream First Bank Charity Classic. She’s 120th on the second-tier Epson Tour’s points list. She’ll be joined at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City, Kan., by Vancouver’s Leah John (160th), as well as Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., and Kate Johnston of Ayr, Ont., who are unranked.

PGA TOUR — Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., is the top ranked Canadian at No. 30 on the FedEx Cup standings. He will be in the field at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, where he finished tied for second in 2022. Adam Svensson (76th) of Surrey, B.C., Ben Silverman (113th) of Thornhill, Ont., and Roger Sloan (194th) of Merritt, B.C., are also in the field.

KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is No. 23 on the Tour’s points list heading into the Memorial Health Championship. Edmonton’s Wil Bateman (33rd), Etienne Papineau (50th) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., Sudarshan Yellamaraju (100th) of Mississauga, Ont., and Jared du Toit (118th) of Kimberley, B.C., are also in the field at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Ill.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames leads the Canadian contingent into the U.S. Senior Open Championship. He’s No. 1 on the Charles Schwab Cup money list with two victories so far this year. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., is 25th on the list and also in the field at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I. David Morland IV of Aurora, Ont., is also playing the event.

AMERICAS TOUR — Matthew Anderson of Mississauga, Ont., remains the atop the points list of the third-tier Americas Tour heading into this week’s ATB Classic. He’s one of 18 Canadians playing Northern Bear Golf Club in Strathcona County, Alta.

Canadians Etienne Papineau and Myles Creighton have already noticed that the fields on the Korn Ferry Tour are deeper than the events they’re used to playing. But they’re hanging in there two tournaments into the second-tier circuit’s season.

Papineau and Creighton are in the Korn Ferry Tour’s top 30 entering The Panama Championship this week, after earning their way onto the circuit from the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada. 

Papineau, who is 25th on the points list, said although there are great players on the third tier of men’s professional golf, it’s apparent that everyone is an excellent player on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I feel like any player can win at any time, to be honest,” said Papineau from Club de Golf de Panama in Panama City on Wednesday. “Every player is really good. I mean, they’re all here for the same reason: to get their PGA Tour card.”

Creighton won the PGA Tour Latinoamerica’s Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship in Colombia last season and finished second overall in that circuit’s order of merit to move up to the Korn Ferry Tour. He agreed with Papineau that the Latinoamerica and Canada Tours — now merged into the PGA Tour Americas starting this year — had solid players at the top of their rankings but were more inconsistent down the standings.

“I think if you ran a PGA Tour Americas event on the courses that we played in the last two weeks, I think the winning score would be very similar,” said Creighton. “It’s just maybe to finish 20th or 25th is like a couple shots better, or to make a cut, it’s very marginally different. 

“You grow with it, as well. You don’t tend to notice that the competition is a little tougher, because you’re becoming a better player and you’re adapting to that.”

Papineau, from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., tied for 44th at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on Jan. 17 to start the year and followed that up with a tie for 14th at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on Jan. 24.

Creighton, from Digby, N.S., tied for 25th at the Great Exuma Classic and followed that up with a tie for 27th at the Great Abaco Classic. 

Although the way he plays his game remains the same, Papineau said he’s changing his approach off the course.

“I would say in my preparation, I think I’ll be able to be more careful with that,” he said. “It’s a longer season than PGA Tour Canada. We have 25 events during the season. 

“It starts much earlier so I’m going to be playing pretty much all year up until October.”

Both Canadians are on the Korn Ferry Tour with limited status that only guarantees them spots in the first eight events of the year. There will be a reshuffle after the first four tournaments and, if they’re high enough in the standings, they’ll have their membership extended. 

If they’re still in the top 30 at the end of the year they’ll earn cards on the PGA Tour, the top men’s golf circuit in the world.

“It’s so important to get off to a good start right from the beginning,” said Creighton. “You want to play well early and put yourself in a good position early to then build off that. You don’t want to be playing from behind in that sense. 

“It just gives you a little comfort knowing that you’ve made a cut, you’ve accumulate a couple of points, and you’re in a good spot to start the year.”

Papineau and Creighton will be joined at Club de Golf de Panama by Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont., Edmonton’s Wil Bateman and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont. Yellamaraju is tied for 95th on the Korn Ferry Tour rankings, while Gligic and Bateman have yet to play on the second-tier circuit this season.

Three Canadians have earned 2024 Korn Ferry Tour membership following the final round of the PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry on Monday in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont. finished T14 at 4-under. Étienne Papineau of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que. finished T38 at 1-under, and Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S. finished T45 at even par. They will join fellow Canadian Wil Bateman on the Korn Ferry Tour to start the 2024 season.

Yellamaraju recorded rounds of 71-69-68-68-276 to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for next season after successfully making his way through both second stage and final stage of Q-School.

Papineau previously earned 2024 Korn Ferry Tour membership by finishing fourth overall in the 2023 Fortinet Cup standings on the PGA TOUR Canada (now PGA TOUR Americas). Papineau’s T38 finish at Q-School with rounds of 74-67-68-70-279 improves his Korn Ferry Tour status for the coming season.

Creighton also previously earned his 2024 membership by finishing second on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (now PGA TOUR Americas) season point rankings. Creighton shot rounds of 70-68-72-70-280 to finish inside the cut line of players who are awarded Korn Ferry Tour cards through Q-school and improve his status for 2024 as well.

Three other Canadians were competing in Ponte Vedra at final stage including, Stuart Macdonald who finished at 7-over, Thomas Giroux at 9-over and Jared Du Toit at 10-over. They will have conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2024.

Harrison Endycott of Australia finished atop the leaderboard at 15-under, Americans Trace Cowe (11-under) and Brian Hale Jr. (9-under) finished second and third, while Raul Pereda of Mexico and Hayden Springer of the United States finished tied for fourth at 8-under to earn their 2024 PGA TOUR cards.

The top five players and ties earned their full status for 2024 on the PGA TOUR. The next 40 finishers and ties earned exempt status through multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, with the first 25 finishers and ties being subject to the third reshuffle (12 guaranteed starts), and any remaining finishers within the category being subject to the second reshuffle (eight guaranteed starts).

This marked the first time since 2012 that PGA TOUR cards were awarded during the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School. The field of 168-players played two rounds at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and two rounds at Sawgrass Country Club. The final round was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed due to heavy rain in northern Florida.

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.