19-year-old Aldrich Potgieter shoots second sub-60 score in as many days on Korn Ferry Tour

Potgieter is the youngest player to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

The kids are good.

A day after Cristobal Del Solar became the first golfer to shoot 57 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, a 19-year-old has also shot a sub-60 round on the same course.

Adrich Potgieter, who won the Korn Ferry Tour’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic two weeks ago, has now shot the 10th sub-60 round in Korn Ferry Tour history with his 11-under 59 during the second round of the Astara Golf Championship at the Pacos Course at Country Club de Bogata in Colombia.

Potgieter is the youngest player to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

“I had to play well, I knew I had to play well to be able to shoot this low,” Potgieter said. “It was just kind of the confidence to hit the ball, get it close, make putts. Not many mistakes, I think that was a big thing, trying to eliminate the mistakes and just try to keep the ball in play. There’s not much danger on the short course, so just try to shoot under the 60s, try to get as low as I can, but definitely looking at that.”

The Pacos Course is the shortest on the Korn Ferry Tour, playing at 6,254 yards, as well as being nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. However, narrow fairways and tricky greens always create challenges for players, and there had never been a sub-60 score until Thursday.

And now, for the second straight day, a player has recorded a sub-60 round.

Potgieter went out in 7-under 28, playing the back nine at the Pacos Course. Then on the front, he added five more birdies, including three in a row on his final three holes, to shoot 59.

Ten birdies, one eagle and even a bogey, but it was enough to record the 12th sub-60 score in Korn Ferry Tour history. It’s also the first time there has been two sub-60 scores at one PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

Potgieter sits at 16-under 125 after two rounds in Colombia, one shot in front of Del Solar, who followed up his record-setting performance with a 2-under 69 on the Lagos Course.

“I was kind of trying to get to that 57, so I was trying to push myself, but then kind of realized that we’re still in a golf tournament, we’re not playing a fun round out here,” Potgieter said, “so I was kind of trying to concentrate when I made those last three birdies, which helped a lot.”

This weekend, play shifts to the Lagos Course for both rounds, a par-71 layout that measures 7,237 yards.

Meet Mr. 57: Get to know Cristobal Del Solar, the record-setting player who shot a 57 on the Korn Ferry Tour

His cousin was the first Chilean to win on the LPGA and he almost considered a tennis career.

No matter the tour, sub-60 rounds are usually few and far between in professional golf. Last week Joaquin Niemann fired a 59 at LIV Golf Mayakoba. A day later Wyndham Clark shot a 60 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Cristobal Del Solar laughed at those rounds and said hold my scorecard on Thursday. The 30-year-old Chilean made history with a dazzling 13-under 57 during the opening round of the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Pacos Course at Country Club de Bogata to card the lowest score ever in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. It’s the first time in the history of professional golf that someone has shot 57 on a par-70 layout, and it’s the ninth sub-60 round on the Korn Ferry Tour. In 2019, David Carey shot 11-under 57 on the Alps Tour at the Cervino Open.

If you aren’t familiar with Del Solar, get to know Mr. 57 with some fun facts below.

Cristobal Del Solar makes history, shoots first 57 at any PGA Tour-sanctioned event

Cristobal Del Solar made history Thursday in Bogota, Colombia.

Cristobal Del Solar made history Thursday in Bogota, Colombia.

The 30-year-old, who went to college at Florida State, shot 13-under 57 during the opening round of the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Pacos Course at Country Club de Bogata. It’s the first time in the history of professional golf that someone has shot 57 on a par-70 layout, and it’s the ninth sub-60 round on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The score is the lowest ever in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

“Incredible, man,” Del Solar said. “Honestly, I was just playing. I didn’t even know what I was at. Actually, I asked my caddie on the 18th after hitting my 18th tee shot, we were just walking and I told him, I was like, hey, am I going to break 60, because I’ve never broken 60 before. He was like, you’re going to break a little bit more than 60. Yeah, I mean, I played really good golf. I drove the ball well, chipped it well, putted well. Yeah, I mean, I’m happy. It was a great round.”

Del Solar tied history with an 8-under 27 on the front nine, the lowest nine-hole score in Korn Ferry Tour history. He had six birdies and an eagle on the 330-yard par-4 ninth.

On the back nine, the Chilean added another eagle at the par-5 12th to move to 11 under after 12 holes. Birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 moved him to 13 under thru 15. Pars on the last three holes saw him sign for his record-setting 57.

Cristobal Del Solar of Chile holds his official scorecard which features his score 57 during the first round of the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard at Country Club de Bogota on February 08, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

The Pacos course is the shortest on the Korn Ferry Tour, playing at 6,254 yards, as well as being nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. However, narrow fairways and tricky greens always create challenges for players, and there had never been a sub-60 score until Thursday.

“It had to be a specific type of course to kind of do this stuff,” Del Solar said. “Obviously if it’s difficult, the score’s going to be higher. I haven’t even broken 60 practicing on my home course, and my home course is pretty difficult. I’m excited. I mean, maybe if I play from the women’s tee I’ll break 60 someday there. But I’m just happy, it was a great round.”

In 2019, David Carey shot 11-under 57 on the Alps Tour at the Cervino Open.

Del Solar has played three events on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. His lowest round before the 57 on Thursday was a 67.

Last week, Joaquin Niemann shot 11-under 59 in the opening round of LIV Golf Mayakoba en route to his victory. Last year, Bryson DeChambeau shot 58 at LIV Golf Greenbrier. The only 58 in PGA Tour history was Jim Furyk at the Travelers Championship in 2016.

Now, Del Solar has his own piece of history.

Isaiah Salinda wins Korn Ferry Tour’s Panama Championship by a whopping eight shots

Salinda started the final round tied for the lead.

Isaiah Salinda entered the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Panama Championship tied for the lead at 7 under with Wil Bateman.

By Sunday afternoon, Salinda was hoisting the trophy after winning by a staggering eight shots. It’s the largest margin of victory on the circuit in seven years.

Salinda bogeyed the third hole but then birdied Nos. 4, 6 and 11 before an eagle on 12. He then punctuated his win with a birdie on the closing hole to get to 12 under and post a 65 to seal first professional victory.

Bateman shot a 73 and tied for second at 4 under alongside Keenan Huskey and Trent Phillips.

Salinda once shot a 62 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. He was a member of the 2019 Stanford team that won the NCAA championship.

19-year-old Aldrich Potgieter becomes youngest winner on the Korn Ferry Tour

Golf is supposed to be difficult. But it’s seemingly not for these kids.

Golf is supposed to be difficult. But it’s seemingly not for these kids.

Three days after 20-year-old Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap won the PGA Tour’s American Express, 19-year-old Aldrich Potgieter became the youngest winner on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Potgieter won the 2024 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club at 10 under, two shots better than Quade Cummins and Kyle Westmoreland.

At 19 years, four months and 11 days, Potgieter slides Jason Day into the No. 2 spot on the list. Day was 19 years, seven months and 26 days old when he won the 2007 Legend Financial Group Classic.

Potgieter, the 2022 Amateur champ, is the fourth golfer still in his teens to win on the Korn Ferry Tour. Sungjae Im, Akshay Bhatia and Day are the others.

“I was just trying to make the cut… improve on the status. I didn’t expect this today,” Potgieter said. “I was looking at the leaderboard a couple times and just trying to move up, move up slowly and give myself some chances on the putting green. I felt really comfortable, gave myself those opportunities and holed some of them.”

2024 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic
Aldrich Potgieter hits a tee shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2024 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in the Bahamas. (Photo: Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

Potgieter, who turned professional last summer, started the final round five shots back of Westmoreland but birdied three of his first four holes to get started. A bogey on seven was followed by an eagle on eight. He then birdied four of his last six holes to shoot a 65.

“We saw Nick Dunlap won last week, and that was a reminder that it can be done,” he said.

This was the second event on the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2024 schedule. Each of the first two tournaments had a Sunday-to-Wednesday format. The circuit continues next week in Panama before heading to Colombia, Argentina and Chile.

The first U.S. event is April 4-7 in Savannah, Georgia.

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Ben Kohles named 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year

Kohles will make his 2024 PGA Tour debut at this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii.

Ben Kohles was named the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, it was announced Wednesday.

The 33-year-old finished No. 1 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List behind his two victories: the astara Chile Classic and HomeTown Lenders Championship. Kohles also recorded eight top-10s, including four in the final five events of the season. Kohles made 23 starts throughout the 26-event season, posting the fourth-lowest scoring average on tour (68.80).

By virtue of his No. 1 finish on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, Kohles earned fully exempt status for the 2024 PGA Tour season, as well as exemptions for the 2024 U.S. Open and 2024 Players Championship. It marked Kohles’ third time earning PGA Tour membership, as he previously earned a Tour card following the 2012 and 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour seasons.

Both of Kohles’ wins came in April. Kohles’ victory at the astara Chile Classic marked his first PGA Tour-sanctioned title in over 10 years, dating to his rookie season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2012. Four weeks after his win in Chile, Kohles won the HomeTown Lenders Championship following a two-hole sudden death playoff, earning his fourth career Korn Ferry Tour victory.

Kohles turned professional in 2012 after a highly decorated collegiate career at Virginia, where he was a two-time All-American and back-to-back winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year award in 2010 and 2011. He became the first (and remains the only) player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win each of his first two starts, as he won at the 2012 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and Cox Classic.

Kohles will make his 2024 PGA Tour debut at this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii.

How to watch the Monday finish at the 2023 PGA Tour Q-School

Golf Channel and Peacock will have live final-round coverage.

It’s going to be a Monday finish at the 2023 PGA Tour Q-School.

The field in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, started with 165 golfers. After 16 withdrawals, there are now 149 remaining fighting for a 2024 PGA Tour card.

Only the top five and ties will earn those precious rewards.

More than four inches of rain pounded the area Saturday night into Sunday morning and left Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass and Sawgrass Country Club, the two host courses, unplayable.

The top 10 on the leaderboard after three rounds:

  • 1. Harrison Endycott, -12
  • 2. Blaine Hale, Jr., -10
  • T-3. Spencer Levin, -8
  • T-3. Trace Crowe, -8
  • T5. Raul Pereda, -7
  • T5. Hayden Springer, -7
  • T-7 Chris Petefish, -6
  • T-7. Danny Walker, -6
  • T-7. Kyle Westmoreland, -6
  • T-10. Julian Suri, -5
  • T-10. Isaiah Salinda, -5
  • T-10. Wesley Bryan, -5

How to watch

The final round will finally start at 8:45 a.m. ET on Monday.

The viewing options are Golf Channel (TV) and Peacock (streaming) starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.

What else is at stake

After the top five and ties is determined, the next 40 finishers and ties are exempt for multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, guaranteeing them between eight to 12 starts depending on their finish. The next 20 finishers and ties earn exempt status for the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA Tour Americas season in addition to conditional Korn Ferry Tour status. All remaining finishers outside the aforementioned categories earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas membership for 2024.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak contributed to this article.

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From cocky kid to grizzled vet, Spencer Levin keeps chasing a return ticket to the PGA Tour

In 2021, he “took a break” from alcohol. One week turned into two, and two weeks turned into more than two years.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Spencer Levin planned on sleeping on a college buddy’s couch for one night ahead of the Monday qualifier for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Veritex Bank Championship in April, and if he didn’t make it, he’d fly home. He ended up sleeping on the couch all week, not only qualifying by sinking a decisive birdie putt on the final hole but winning the tournament six days later for his first victory in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event after 17 years and 10 months of trying.

It might be the most under-appreciated victory of 2023 – his first since 2008 on the Canadian Tour, not long after Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on one leg and back when Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” was the No. 1 song on the charts and Swede sensation Ludvig Aberg was all of eight years old.

Levin, 39, began the final round in Dallas trailing leader Brett Drewitt by six shots. He caught the Aussie on the 71st hole, then birdied the last for a 63 at Texas Rangers Golf Club – and a four-round total of 20-under par.

“I didn’t think I was going to win the tournament until I did,” Levin said.

Spencer Levin had a decorated amateur career and finally won a PGA Tour-sanctioned event on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023 after nearly 18 years of trying.

What a long, strange trip it had been to the winner’s circle. Levin already was the definition of cocky growing up in Sacramento and his confidence grew during the summer of 2004, when he finished second in the Pacific Coast Amateur (losing in a playoff); tied for 13th place at the U.S. Open (the best finish by an amateur in 33 years) at Shinnecock Hills; reached the third round of the U.S. Amateur at Winged Foot; and won the California Amateur, Scratch Players Amateur, and Porter Cup. Greatness was predicted for him.

While his pro career never reached those lofty heights, he’s earned close to $10 million over 17 seasons and climbed to 60th in the Official World Golf Ranking in early 2012. He came close to winning a handful of times, most notably losing a playoff against Johnson Wagner at the 2011 Mayakoba Golf Classic. Levin averaged 28 starts a year, making 139 cuts, but when he lost his card after the 2016-17 season, he took the demotion hard. He made only five cuts in 22 starts and lost his exempt status. His playing opportunities were few and far between over the ensuing four seasons, dwindling to zero Korn Ferry starts in 2021 and ’22.

By his own count, Levin fell one shot short in at least five KFT Monday qualifiers in 2022, as well as a spot in the U.S. Open by a single stroke. A bogey on the 72nd hole at Final Stage of the KFT Qualifying Tournament deprived him of guaranteed starts in the first eight events this year.

Yet he never wavered in his belief that he could still compete with the best in the world even if his reality had become “Just trying to find a place to play and get into tournaments,” he said.

“He never, ever thought it (pro golf career) was done,” Don Levin, Spencer’s father, swing coach, and confidante told NCGA Golf Magazine in its fall 2023 issue. “He never entertained the thought of that.”

Levin’s victory in April secured him a KFT card for 2024. However, he was unable to remain in the top 30 on the season-long money list and earn an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour, so he’s back at the final stage of Q-School this week chasing a top-5 finish (and ties), which is what it will take to be awarded a Tour card.

“Once you’ve had a taste of it, you want to keep doing it,” he said of playing on the PGA Tour again.

But Levin isn’t the same cocky kid with the visor, popped collar and dangling cigarette who first took the golf world by storm. He crushed out his last cigarette in 2017, the day after his paternal grandfather died of emphysema. In February of 2021, he “took a break” from alcohol. One week turned into two, and two weeks has turned into more than two years.

Spencer Levin watches his drive on the second hole during the final round of the 2017 Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. (Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)

“It was just something I did to improve my life,” he said. “I was at home, I didn’t really have a tour to play on, and I thought, well, how can I just try to at least improve myself.”

He’s filled the void by hitting the gym regularly, which he had never done before. He’s also prioritized family – he’s the father of three. He’d like to earn his card this week – he’ll play two rounds each at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club – and have another shot at the big time and some unfinished business trying to win. He’s planning to putt conventionally at Q-School with an old Odyssey putter, a grip he began practicing with last month after his wacky Happy Gilmore style of holding the putter much like one would grip a hockey stick cooled off.

Levin’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain and the perspective of a grizzled veteran.

“When I was 23-24, my whole career and life hinged on this week,” Levin said. “I still want to make it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s no longer life or death.”

The return of five cards at PGA Tour Q-School has ‘everyone and his brother here to give it a try’

“If you screw up it’s like, oh my gosh, I’ve got to wait a whole ‘nother year.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Ever since his grandfather Arnold Palmer died in 2016, Sam Saunders hasn’t found a replacement to be his swing coach. But anytime his game does go a bit haywire, his first call is to his pal Eric Cole, who had a breakthrough season on the PGA Tour in 2022-23 and has climbed to No. 41 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“He still likes me to reach out to him and I do,” Saunders said. “He gets me back on track.”

Saunders had Cole as a caddie on the PGA Tour when he played in the big leagues previously and Cole was still battling to find his game on the mini-tours. It’s a role that Cole likely would have reprised this week as Saunders attempts to earn a promotion to the promised land via PGA Tour Qualifying School.

“If he wasn’t on his honeymoon he would’ve done it,” Saunders said. “I was like, ‘Dude, you can’t get divorced two days after you get married.’ He told me at his wedding, ‘Go get one of the five cards this week. My life will be so much better if you are out there with me. Just get it done.’ And, yeah, it would be a dream come true for the two of us to play on the PGA Tour together.”

After a decade of solely awarding varying levels of Korn Ferry Tour membership, final stage of PGA Tour Q-School marks the first time since 2012 that there are PGA Tour cards on the line. Upon conclusion of the 72-hole tournament, which begins on Thursday and will see the field play two 18-hole rounds – at both Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass and Sawgrass Country Club – the top five finishers and ties will earn PGA Tour membership for 2024. Once again, the opportunity exists for a player in the field of 165 to go from obscurity to passing “Go” and collecting way more than $200 on the PGA Tour.

“Everyone and his brother are here to give it a try,” said veteran pro Rob Oppenheim, who first played in Q-School in 2001.

“Even if there was one card you’d come because it’s such a cool opportunity,” said Saunders.

Heartache and jubilation will both make an appearance on Sunday. Paul Azinger, the 1984 medalist, once described Q-School as “climbing up a cactus backwards, naked.” Erik Compton, who is in the field this week, said, “It was no place for women or children,” and retired pro Joe Ogilvie may have said it best when he mused, “Shakespeare would have written one hell of a tragedy here.”

It’s a competitive field with 19 Tour winners, veterans trying to improve or regain status and newbies who need directions to the locker room and are excited to have some status for next season and trying to better it.

The next 40 finishers and ties are exempt for multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, guaranteeing them between eight to 12 starts depending on their finish. The next 20 finishers and ties earn exempt status for the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA Tour Americas season in addition to conditional Korn Ferry Tour status. All remaining finishers outside the aforementioned categories earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas membership for 2024.

For Saunders, he already has secured full status on the Korn Ferry Tour for next season so he has nothing to lose.

“I’m playing with house money,” he said. “Finishing sixth place does nothing for me in terms of positioning. I can fire at pins, I can play more aggressively than some other guys.”

It’s been a long time since Patton Kizzire has needed to play Q-School. After the stark reality hit him at the RSM Classic last month that he had failed to finish in the top 125, he shed tears at the realization that he would no longer be fully exempt. At No. 129, he’ll still have conditional status playing out of the Nos. 126-150 category, but the chance to secure full status is too compelling to pass up.

“All it is is an opportunity for me to move up,” he said.

The purse this week is a modest $510,000, with $50,000 going to the medalist, but Saunders said a paycheck is the farthest thing from anyone’s mind.

“That’s what makes it so pure. You’re playing for your entire career or an entire year,” he said.

“It’s kind of like the Olympics. People work their tails off for four years and then they have their one event and if you screw up it’s like, oh my gosh, I’ve got to wait four more years. Obviously the wait in golf isn’t that long, but if you screw up at Q-School and leave with limited status you feel like, oh my gosh, I’ve got to wait a whole ‘nother year – if I can make it back to this point – so it’s incredibly difficult.”

The weather could be dicey: cold, wind and rain are in the forecast. If such conditions prevail, there will be no faking it.

“It’s about embracing the suck sometimes,” said Ryan Gerard, “because it’s going to suck for a few days out here.”

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2 pro golfers suspended for betting on PGA Tour events

Neither player placed a bet on tournaments in which they were participating.

The PGA Tour announced Friday two members of the Korn Ferry Tour were suspended for violating the PGA Tour’s Integrity Program.

Vince India and Jake Staiano were suspended for placing bets on PGA Tour competitions, the release stated. Neither player placed a bet on tournaments in which he was participating.

India is suspended from PGA Tour-sanctioned competition for six months, with the suspension beginning Sept. 18, 2023 and is through March 17, 2024.

Staiano is suspended from PGA Tour-sanctioned competition for three months. His suspension began Sept. 11, 2023 and is through Dec. 10, 2023.

The PGA Tour said it wouldn’t comment further on the suspensions.

India, 34, has played in 176 events during his career on the Korn Ferry Tour. This season, he made 22 starts and missed 11 cuts while withdrawing from one event. His best result was a pair of T-21 finishes.

Staiano, 26, has played in 17 events on the Korn Ferry Tour in his career. This season, he made eight starts, making three cuts with his best finish being T-19 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am.

India’s pgatour.com bio page states his total career earnings are $662,823, while Staiano’s page indicates he has earned $30,910.