Category: Korn Ferry

Chad Campbell, three Korn Ferry Tour pros are latest to test positive for coronavirus

Four more professional golfers tested positive for COVID-19 during the pre-tournament testing process and withdrew from tournaments.

Another day, another PGA Tour player announced as testing positive for COVID-19.

This time it is Chad Campbell, who was the first alternate into this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. Campbell, who last competed at the Charles Schwab Challenge, withdrew from the tournament and has to spend the next 10-14 days in self-isolation, per Tour rules, which follow CDC guidelines.

Campbell tested positive during the pre-tournament screening process and becomes the fifth member on the Tour to contract the coronavirus and third in as many days to withdraw from the Detroit Tour stop, joining Dylan Frittelli (Sunday) and Harris English (Monday).

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“While the positive test result is unnerving, I am incredibly grateful to be asymptomatic and feel physically well and my thoughts are with anyone dealing with COVID, directly or indirectly,” he said in a Tour release. “I support the Tour’s protocol during this time and will be quarantining myself to protect others until I am well. I am looking forward to competing again once it is deemed safe for me to make my return.”

The Korn Ferry Tour also announced that at the conclusion of its on-site testing process, members Brandon Wu, Taylor Montgomery and Jonathan Hodge have withdrawn from the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes prior to Wednesday’s first round after testing positive for COVID-19.

A total of 247 players have undergone on-site testing since the Korn Ferry Tour’s resumed play on June 11, and to date, Wu, Montgomery and Hodge are the only tour players to test positive via on-site testing.

“These positive test results serve as a distinct reminder that we all need to continue to be vigilant in this ever-changing climate. We will further reinforce the elements of our health and safety plan to all constituents, and deliver our full support to those who test positive for COVID-19,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin.

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Could Korn Ferry Tour make its way back to Jacksonville?

After a couple years away, the recent events in the Jacksonville area proved the region is worthy of a return to the Korn Ferry schedule.

Although success was hard to measure with no fans and no corporate hospitality, two Korn Ferry Tour events in a row played in Jacksonville, Florida, over the last two weeks might be a signal that the tour could return to the area on a permanent basis.

Korn Ferry president Alex Baldwin is open to the idea.

“We’re not going to rule anything out,” she said on Saturday as Chris Kirk was on the course wrapping up a one-shot victory over Justin Lower in the King & Bear Classic, at the World Golf Village course. “We are open to it. We’re still evaluating how 2021 looks like and we’re open to various scenarios.”

Baldwin said a more likely possibility is that if the Korn Ferry Tour returns to the Jacksonville area, it would be in 2022.

But first, a title sponsor would have to be found who would willing to put up at least $400,000 per year for a multi-year deal.

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“We would love to see it … we would like to see more Korn Ferry tournaments across the country,” said Adam Renfroe, the executive director for the King & Bear Classic and the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass, which was won the week before by Luke List at the Dye’s Valley Course. “It requires the right partner [title sponsor] with the right motivations to be sustainable in this market. It doesn’t have to be local but it would have to have a market presence here. We’ll talk to anyone who’s interested.”

The Korn Ferry Tour was last played on the First Coast in 2018, with the season-ending Tour Championship at the Atlantic Beach Country Club. It was played there twice (losing one year in 2016 because of a hurricane cancellation) and before that was at Dye’s Valley from 2013-2015.

The Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open was played at the Valley from 2010-2012 and morphed into the Web.com Tour Championship when the local corporation, which was started by Jacksonville native Dave Brown, signed on to be the umbrella sponsor for the entire tour.

About a month after the last Web.com Tour Championship, Brown sold the company to Siris Capital Group, a private equity firm. Even though there were three years remaining on the title sponsorship contract, Siris told the PGA Tour it was not interested in renewing and they mutually canceled the contract, with Korn Ferry stepping in as the umbrella sponsor.

The Tour Championship was moved to Victoria National in Newburgh, Indiana, and United Leasing signed a 10-year presenting sponsor deal.

The two tournaments were played at the Valley and King & Bear as part of the revamped schedule in which five new tournaments were added on an on-off basis to give players more opportunities to ply their trade, after losing three months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Two events will be played at the TPC San Antonio next month and the 2020 calendar year will end with an event at Orange County National near Orlando.

Both tournaments in St. Johns County were played without fans (as will be the case with the next four) and there was no corporate presence. In that way, financial success wasn’t a consideration.

However, the golf was scintillating. List had to make difficult two-putts from long distance at the Valley to ensure a one-shot victory over Joseph Bramlett and Shad Tuten; and Kirk shot 26-under to hold off Lower, who birdied four of his last five holes.

The field carved up the King & Bear on a week of light wind and sunny skies, with Vince India setting a record at 25-under through 54 holes and the course record being broken twice and tied five times.

In addition, Bramlett locked up a tie for third when he made the first albatross in history at the par-5 18th hole of the King & Bear.

The other measure of success is that the Korn Ferry Tour got through two weeks without a player, caddie or tournament staff member testing positive on-site for COVID-19.

Baldwin had high praise for the TPC Sawgrass and Honours Golf staff (which manages the King & Bear and Slammer & Squire at the World Golf Village) for getting their courses and clubhouses ready for tournament golf in a short window — plus two the gated communities, which also supplied dozens of volunteers.

“We can’t thank these communities and clubs enough for their support in welcoming us,” Baldwin said. “They went to extraordinary measures to bring this to fruition.”

Renro said one thing working to the advantage of bringing the Korn Ferry Tour back to the First Coast is the number of golf courses available.

“That’s the easy part,” he said. “This market has to many great courses and we could have played these events at any number of sites. That’s certainly not the issue.”

But he said in addition to a title sponsorship, local corporate hospitality packages and support for a pro-am would be necessary.

“We would need support from the local market, equal to the amount we get from a title sponsor,” Renfroe said. “Sponsorship is always the hardest element to find.”

It would seem a natural for the PGA Tour to have a tournament from each of its major tours, in its home market. Next year, the Furyk and Friends Classic at Timuquana returns the PGA Tour Champions to the First Coast for the first time since 2002.

Renfroe said that would be an ideal situation but said much of the corporate dollars for golf tournaments flow into The Players Championship, the Tour’s “Gold Standard” event.

It also remains to be seen how fast the economy bounces back from the coronavirus pandemic.

“Of course you’d love to have a tournament from all three tours here,” he said. “The area is growing more and more and eventually might support three events.

Chris Kirk ends five-year victory drought at King & Bear Classic

Third-round leader Vince India closed with a 76, 14 shots higher than his Friday score, when he tied the course record with a 62.

Chris Kirk birdied the 72nd hole on Saturday to win the Korn Ferry Tour’s King & Bear Classic, by one shot over Justin Lower.

Both winner and runner up found some emotional solace in their respective finishes on a sultry Saturday at the King & Bear Classic.

Chris Kirk, a four-time PGA Tour winner who had not played on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2010, birdied the 72nd hole on a 3-foot putt to beat Justin Lower by one shot at 26-under-par 262.

Kirk (67) got up-and-down off a bank on the right side of the green, off what he called a “scraggly little lie,” and converted the birdie to win his third career Korn Ferry title and first victory since the 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge.

Lower (66) birdied his last three holes and four of his last five to make the finish interesting. His two-putt birdie at No. 18 tied him for the lead until Kirk completed the hole.

Joseph Bramlett (64), had a tie for the lead for about 45 seconds when he made the first albatross at the 18th hole, knocking a 6-iron into the cup from 230 yards out. He finished tied for third at 23-under with Will Zalatoris (68).

Vince India, who had dominated the tournament for 54 holes and entered the final round with a four-shot lead over Kirk, made bogeys at Nos. 6 and 7, then added two more on the back for a shocking 76, 14 shots higher than his third round in which he tied the course record with a 62.

India finished in a tie for sixth, as did Jared Wolfe (69) of Nocatee, at 21-under.

Both Kirk and Lower saw their weeks as personal victories.

Kirk took more than three months off last year to cope with alcoholism, which he was was the product of being consumed too much by his passion for the game and burning desire to win, as the expense of all else — including his wife and three sons.

SCORES: The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village

“It gives me a deeper sense of appreciation and gratitude,” he said of the victory. “I’m just a completely different person than I was two years ago. When you’re completely out of control of your own life, it changes things. I didn’t touch a club for three-and-a-half months and was able to some help and get back on the right track. Taking that break and getting some people was able to give me some perspective that this [golf] is maybe not as important as we make it out to be.”

Lower, who admitted to being in a bad place mentally after a string of poor finishes earlier this season, held back tears twice during his post-round interview.

When asked what it meant to rally from four consecutive missed cuts to taking a seasoned PGA Tour winner to the last shot on the last hole, Lower’s voice broke and he wiped his eyes.

“Just happy,” he said. “Just happy.”

Kirk took advantage of India’s collapse to take the lead at the turn, but then gave it right back with a double-bogey from the fairway at No. 10, three-putting from 6 feet.

“I didn’t do a whole lot wrong,” he said of the hole. “It was an unfortunate situation but I needed to hit a better (first) putt.”

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Vince India breaks Korn Ferry Tour 54-hole mark, eyes 72-hole record

Ex-Iowa standout has missed only five fairways this week, is 12 of 13 getting up-and-down and not required more than 26 putts in a round.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Vince India has a goal and he didn’t mind sharing it.

“I want 30-under [par],” he said after another dominating day at the Korn Ferry Tour’s King & Bear Classic on Friday. “That would be pretty cool.”

It would also match the Korn Ferry Tour record for 72 holes.

India already has the 54-hole mark in relation to par and as the field has proven this week, almost any number is possible.India and the rest of the leaders continued their assault on the King & Bear course in the third round and with four birdies on his last six holes, the University of Iowa graduate tied the course record with a 62 and finished at 25-under-par 191, four shots ahead of four-time PGA Tour winner Chris Kirk (64), and six shots clear of Will Zalatoris (66), Justin Lower (67) and Dawson Armstrong (67).
Jared Wolfe (63) and Wes Roach (67) are tied at 18-under.

SCORES: The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village

India, who was one of four players who tied the previous course record of 63 that Brett Coletta set early in Wednesday’s first round, signed for his 62 just minutes after Austin Smotherman shot that number, finishing on the front nine.But indicative of how low the scores are this week is that Smotherman could only work his way up to a tie for 13th at 16-under.

“Going off the back nine, in the third round. … no pressure,” said Smotherman, an SMU product who holds the course record of 60 at Trinity Forest in his hometown of Dallas.

India has missed only five fairways in three rounds, and is 12 of 13 getting up-and-down for par after missing the green. He has not required more than 26 putts in a round this week.

“Stick to my plan,” he said. “Fairways and greens. There are a lot of opportunities. I’m putting so well that I feel like I can make it from anywhere. As long as I get it on the green I feel like I have a good birdie shot.”

India broke the 54-hole record of 24-under held by Arjun Atwal (2008 Chattanooga Classic), Tommy Gainey (2010 Chiquita Classic) and Martin Piller (2015 Albertsons Boise Open).

His 191 tied for fifth-lowest in Korn Ferry Tour history.

Two players have shot India’s goal of 30-under for 72 holes: Daniel Chopra in the 2004 Henrico County Open and Stephan Jaeger in the 2006 Ellie Mae Classic. Chopra’s score came on a par-72 course.

The field averaged 68.175 in the third round (3.825 under par), the lowest in relation to par on the Korn Ferry Tour since the second round of the 1997 Puget Sound Open.

India kick-started his round with a 15-foot eagle putt at No. 5, then birdied the rest of the holes on the front nine for a five-hole streak at 6-under.
He made a bogey at No. 12, but then birdied Nos. 13, 14, 16 and 18 — missing a 6-foot eagle attempt at the last.

Trying to keep pace was Kirk, who couldn’t get into the field at the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage this week, and dropped down to play his first Korn Ferry tournament since 2010, when he was second on the money list to earn a PGA Tour card he has never relinquished since then.

“There’s a ton of really, really great players out here, a ton of really good young guys who just smash the ball,” Kirk said. “I felt that way 10 years ago when I made the step up to the PGA Tour and it doesn’t feel like there is much difference this week. I see the same exact thing. The cut was 6-under and it was almost 7-under. These guys know how to make some birdies.”
Wolfe tied the course record early and was in solo second at the time he finished.

It didn’t take long for him to drop four spots.

“It’s been a fun week so far, fun to see the ball go where I want it to go,” said Wolfe, whose score on Friday was 16 shots lower than his second-round score last week at the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass, where he missed the cut after a 79 at Dye’s Valley.

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Vince India, Brett Coletta remain tied for Korn Ferry lead after another day of low scores

Vince India and Brett Coletta remain tied for the lead at the Korn Ferry’s second event back after the coronavirus break.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The course record was tied again — twice — and red continued to be the primary color for the Korn Ferry Tour’s King & Bear Classic in Thursday’s second round.

With more mild weather forecast for the final two days, there appears to be nothing stopping the field from continuing its assault on the course that was co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, but is taking a beating the two charter members of the World Golf Hall of Fame likely never envisioned.

And for all of the low scores and sensational shots, the top of the leaderboard remained the same as at the end of the first round: Vince India (66), a University of Iowa graduate, and Australian Brett Coletta (66) are tied at 15-under-par 129.

MORE: Leaderboard

Dawson Armstrong, noted for having won 13 ASUN Player of the Week awards when at Lipscomb University — a record in that conference for any sport — threatened both the leaders, the course record and the magic number of 59 while playing in the final group.

Armstrong overcame an opening bogey with back-to-back eagles at Nos. 4 and 5, and was 10 under during a 10-hole stretch to get within one shot of the lead through 13 holes.

He bogeyed No. 17, then two-putted the par-5 18th for birdie and a 63 to tie India, Coletta and Wes Roach for the course records they set or tied so far this week.

Armstrong muscled his way into a tie for third with Mickey DeMorat (64), who hails from nearby Melbourne, and Justin Lower (65), who birdied three of his last five holes.

Armstrong said he wasn’t thinking 59 or course records.

“I was thinking (make the) cut,” he said. “We weren’t worried about scoring, just hitting good shots.”

And how good were these shots?

After a booming drive at the short par-4 fourth hole, Armstrong had only a wedge from 57 yards to the green, and he knocked it in the hole.

On the par-5 fifth hole, he took an unconventional line off the tee over the sixth green, with the ball curving left onto the fairway. He had 135 yards in and wedged to within 12 feet. He made the putt and then birdied six of his next eight holes.

“It was really, really fun,” he said of his second round this year with back-to-back eagles (he did it at the Bogota Championship).

India made his only bogey of the tournament so far at No. 9 — his finishing hole — and had two streaks of three birdies within four holes in each side. He has missed only two fairways this week.

After playing the first 11 holes at 1 under, Coletta caught fire on the back nine with five birdies among his last seven holes, four of them on putts of eight feet or shorter.

The two shared the lowest 36-hole scores in relation to par on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, and matched the 129s (12-under) Camilo Villegas and John VanderLaan shot at the Country Club of Bogota Championship in January.

Dawson Armstrong is standing on the 18th green lookin over an eagle attempt. (Stan Badz/PGA Tour)

The group at 13-under was led by Roach, who has conditional PGA Tour status and played five full seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour. He birdied Nos. 17 and 18 for a 63 and his slice of the course record.

Also at 13 under are four-time PGA Tour winner Chris Kirk (65), who is making his first start on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2010 when he won twice and finished second on the money list; Will Zalatoris (66), the 54-hole leader last week at the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass; and Callum Tarren (65), a native of England who landed at Virginia’s Radford University.

Davis Riley (66) second on the 2020 Korn Ferry money list, leads five players at 12-under.

The field broke 70 for the second day in a row with an average of 69.222. The 6. under cut was the lowest of the season on the Korn Ferry Tour and was the 16th time in its 26-year history that the cut was 6- or 7-under.

The wide fairways and large greens were stress-free targets.

“It was fun out there again today,” said India, who tied for 10th last week in the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass and has shot 70 or lower his last seven rounds. “It will probably come down to a putting contest on the weekend. The greens are rolling really well and they’re fairly easy to read. You’re going to have a lot of opportunities with the widths of the fairways and how many short irons you’re going to have. So it will be a shootout.”

India was able to shrug off his closing bogey, a three-putt from 40 feet.

“It’s always really hard to follow up a good round with another one,” he said.

“I think it was just a little impatience got in the way,” Coletta said of a slow start that included his only bogey of the tournament so far, after he drove into a divot at No. 8. “I wasn’t mad about the front nine at all. It was definitely a little more windy out there and definitely hot out there.”

Brett Coletta during The King & Bear Classic, Round 2. (Will Brown, St. Augustine Record)

Roach said there’s no reason for a player to take his foot off the gas as the winning score is tracking towards the 23 under Andrew Novak shot in February at the LECOM Suncoast Classic near Sarasota that is the lowest winning score of the season.

“You’ve got to be pretty aggressive,” he said. “The landing areas in the fairways are pretty generous. You hit your driver hard, keep it in play and make a bunch of putts. With four reachable par-5s and a lot of wedges in your hands on some par fours you’re going to make a lot of birdies.”

DeMorat said there was such a thing as being too risky and players could simply let the birdies come to them.

“I tried to keep the ball in play and have a lot of birdie opportunities,” he said. “It’s mostly staying patient and trying to eliminate the mistakes more than anything. You’re going to have a lot of birdie opportunities but you can be too aggressive. I’m going play it safe when I need to and take advantage of the par-5s.”

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Brett Coletta, Vince India each fire course records to lead Korn Ferry Tour King & Bear Classic

Brett Coletta and Vince India book-ended course records about seven hours apart on Wednesday and shared the lead in the King & Bear Classic.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Brett Coletta and Vince India book-ended course records about seven hours apart on Wednesday and shared the lead in the Korn Ferry Tour King & Bear Classic.

Coletta, an Australian playing in the first group of the day to tee off No. 10 at the King & Bear course, birdied three of his first four holes and knocked in a 10-foot eagle putt at No. 18 after his approach shot slammed against the top of the flagstick, and finished with a 9-under-par 63.

India, a rare University of Iowa graduate at the upper levels of professional golf, teed off about two hours after Coletta finished and birdied five of his last seven holes to match the record previously held by Hugh Biaocchi in the 2002 Legends of Golf, Thongchai Jaidee in a 2003 PGA Tour second-stage qualifier, and Austin Hitt in a 2017 U.S. Amateur qualifier.

“I didn’t know it was a course record until [he was informed in scoring] so I’m pretty happy with that,” said Coletta, an Australian who also set his professional record for 18 holes. “It is nice to be in the first group out. … good pace of play out there for us. I got off to a real hot start and that followed through the whole round, really.”

Coletta missed only one fairway and hit all 18 greens. India missed only one fairway and two greens.

“I gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdie and was pretty committed to my target,” said India, who tied for 10th last week in the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass. “Obviously that gave me a little confidence. I think my plan is going to minimize bogeys because you’re going to make birdies out here, four, five six a round. If you limit yourself to one bogey, or play bogey-free, you’ll make up a lot of ground on some people.”

On an unseasonably moderate June day in northeast Florida, with light wind throughout, Coletta and India finished two shots ahead of seven players at 7-under 65: Jared Wolfe, No. 6 on the Korn Ferry points list; Will Zalatoris, the 54-hole leader last week at Dye’s Valley; Ryan McCormick, who had to Monday qualify last week and then gained the King & Bear field by trying for 14th; Air Force Academy graduate Tom Whitney; former LSU players Zach Wright; Canadian Taylor Pendrith; and Justin Lower.

On a day when the course co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus was ripe for the taking, 15 players are at 6-under, led by Davis Riley, second on the Korn Ferry points list, John Chin, seventh in points, and four-time PGA Tour winner Chris Kirk.

There are 23 players within three shots of the lead entering the second round.

The scoring average of 69.577 was the lowest first round on the Korn Ferry Tour this season.

“Obviously a fun day,” said Wolfe, who missed the cut last week at the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass at 14-over. “The greens were receptive. They were drying out a little but the wind wasn’t really a factor until [he had six holes left].”

Coletta has been aching for some good fortune. He missed three cuts and withdrew in his only four starts this season before the Korn Ferry Tour was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic, and last year made only 8-of-22 cuts.

But when he does reach the weekend, good things often happen. If his eight made cuts last year as a Korn Ferry rookie, Coletta finished among the top-12 five times, with three top-10s.

“It is about taking your time and pacing yourself out there, because it is such a long season,” he said.

A little luck also helps. One example was at No. 18, when Coletta stepped on a 3-iron from 230 yards out. The ball came in hot and smacked into the top of the pin, then fell to within 10 feet.

He made the eagle putt, then turned and birdied four of his first seven holes on the front nine, his back.

India birdied four of five holes on the front, then birdied five of his last seven. His last two birdies were inside the leather on any weekend game, 6 inches at No. 17 and 1 foot at No. 18.

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Luke List gets off to quick start, holds on to capture Korn Ferry Challenge

Luke List rediscovered his winning touch after eight years in capturing the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.

Luke List rediscovered his winning touch after eight years in capturing the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.

Luke List doesn’t necessarily need to win on the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s been safely exempt on the PGA Tour for the last five seasons and the 35-year-old Vanderbilt graduate and Augusta, Georgia, resident has won more than $7.2 million in career earnings.

However, he’s not taking a victory at any level for granted, especially since it’s been eight years since his last professional title at the Korn Ferry’s South Georgia Classic.

List got off to a quick start and remained steady after that for a 67 on Sunday to win the Korn Ferry Challenge at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course by one shot over Joseph Bramlett (68) and Shad Tuten (67) at 12-under-par 268.

List, who couldn’t get into the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge on his FedEx Cup number (124th this season), played in a Korn Ferry event for the first time since 2015 and made it count, earning $108,000 for the victory. He will return to the PGA Tour next week at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

KORN FERRY CHALLENGE: Leadeboard

“Obviously, I would love to have been at Colonial, but I was glad I was here, and it was a perfect storm,” he said. “I’m excited for the rest of the year. There are so many young talented players [on the Korn Ferry Tour] and they’re ready to win faster than ever. I feel like my learning curve was a lot longer, but kids now, they’re ready to go. It feels good.”

He doesn’t expect any of his friends on the PGA Tour to downplay his victory.

“They know it’s competitive out here and a win in a win,” he said, calling the talent on the Korn Ferry Tour “mind-boggling.”

List birdied three of his first four holes to overtake 54-hole leader Will Zalatoris (who shot 71 to drop into a tie for sixth at 9-under). List made only one bogey and seemed in command when he had a two-shot lead with three holes to play.

He never relaxed, nor could he afford it. Tuten birdied four of his last five holes, capped by a 4-foot putt at No. 18, to cut List’s lead to one. Bramlett then birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to join Tuten at 11-under.

List was able to keep an eye on Bramlett, since they were in the final threesome with Zalatoris. But he had no idea of the mayhem Tuten was creating ahead of them.

Tuten, who is an Augusta native and former player at Georgia Southern-Armstrong in Savannah, said a pep talk from caddie Johnny Lehman after bogeys at Nos. 10 and 12 got his blood up.

“I was getting down on myself a little bit but Johnny said, ‘hey, you’re only four back with five to play, so let’s go get it,’” Tuten said.

He then smacked a 4-iron from 208 yards, against the wind, to within 25 feet below the hole at the par-3 14th, and drilled the putt into the cup.

“I [told Lehman] that if I can somehow make 2, we can get it running because the rest of the holes are downwind and we can be aggressive,” Tuten said. “I was just firing at flags after that.”

Tuten birdied No. 15 from 10 feet and two-putted the par-5 16th for birdie. He barely missed a 15-foot birdie attempt at No. 17, then attacked the flag at No. 18 to give himself the chance if List bogeyed the hole.

List and Bramlett, playing in the final group, both hit the fairway at No. 18 and a healthy breeze carried their wedge shots 40 feet past the hole. Bramlett sent his birdie attempt wide left and List 2 feet past the hole, and both made par.

Bramlett, who also is an exempt PGA Tour player, joined Tuten in posting his best career Korn Ferry finish.

“I hung in there very well today,” said Bramlett, who birdied Nos. 7 and 9, then derailed himself when he hit his tee shot at the par-3 11th hole into the water and made a double bogey.

He still battled back to make it too close for List’s comfort.

“It was tough conditions compared to the last couple of days,” Bramlett said. “It was very windy and hard to gauge the wind through the trees. I had one bad club selection [his 5-iron at No. 11] … but otherwise I had 17 pretty good holes. Hats off to Luke. I tried to scare him but couldn’t quite catch him.”

After his opening salvos, List played the last 14 holes at even par. He got up-and-down for all four times he missed a green.

List also had a knack for starting quickly. On the three days he began his round at No. 1, he had six birdies and no bogeys on the first three holes.

“When the wind is up, the back nine is more challenging,” he said of the Valley Course, which played over-par (71.477) for the first time all week. “I was fortunate I was able to get off to a good start each day. I got some momentum going early. The wind was swirling and gusting pretty hard, with a lot of cross winds.”

The Korn Ferry Tour now moves 27 miles south and west for the King & Bear Classic, at the second World Golf Village course. The tournament will begin on Wednesday and run through Saturday, to give the players an extra travel day for the Utah Championship the following week.

It will be the first high-level professional tournament at the King & Bear — which was co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus — since the PGA Tour Champions Legends of Golf was played there in 2002.

Two Monday qualifiers will be held at Marsh Landing and Palencia. The top-four players at each event will earn a spot in the King & Bear Classic.

Just as in the Korn Ferry Challenge, no fans will be allowed to attend.

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An inspired Joseph Bramlett comes up 1-stroke short at Korn Ferry Challenge

Joseph Bramlett, one of four Black golfers on the PGA Tour, was trying to be second player of Black heritage to win on the Korn Ferry Tour.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Walking up the 17th fairway after sticking his approach shot 15 feet from the hole, Joseph Bramlett wheeled to his caddie and with an impish grin said, “How cool is this?”

For three months while golf hit the pause button due to concerns with COVID-19, Bramlett itched not simply to get back to competition, but to get in the trophy hunt and he gave it his all in his bid to catch eventual Korn Ferry Challenge champion Luke List.

“My stomach was going crazy and my adrenaline was pumping, and I felt like I could hit my driver 400 yards,” Bramlett said. “That rush is what I’ve missed and it was so great to do it again today.”

Bramlett would sink the birdie putt en route to shooting a 2-under 68 at Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass, and finished tied for second place with Shad Tuten with a 72-hole aggregate of 11-under 269.

KORN FERRY CHALLENGE: Leaderboard

Bramlett, 32, surged into contention on Saturday, shooting 6-under 64, the low round of the day, and trailed the 54-hole leader Will Zalatoris by one stroke. The Stanford product carded birdies at Nos. 7 and 9 to keep the heat on List, who grabbed the lead with an early birdie binge to start his round.

Bramlett’s one mistake came at the par-3 11th hole. Bramlett held two clubs in his hand on the tee as he did often for much of the round on a gusty day. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who followed the final group on the back nine, joked that he usually grabbed three clubs. But Bramlett chose poorly, going with a 5-iron instead of a 4-iron and his ball splashed into the water fronting the green.

“We thought the wind was a little more left-to-right, but it was probably much more into our face than we thought,” he said. “Just the wrong club.”

The double bogey dropped him three strokes back, but Bramlett made it interesting with consecutive birdies at 16 and 17 to cut his deficit to one stroke.

Bramlett, who has PGA Tour status this season, began the week as the fourth alternate at the Charles Schwab Challenge and originally flew to Fort Worth, Texas before settling for a spot in the Korn Ferry Challenge field when it appeared he wouldn’t get into the stacked field at Colonial.

Bramlett hit 16 of 18 greens on Sunday, but his putter let him down. He missed several chances for birdie on the closing nine that could’ve been the difference.

“I tried to scare him, but couldn’t quite catch him,” said Bramlett, who is scheduled to compete next week at the King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village.

Bramlett, who is one of four African-American players on the PGA Tour,  was attempting to become the second player of Black heritage to win on the Korn Ferry Tour. (Cameron Champ won the 2018 Utah Championship.) It marked his best result on the Korn Ferry Tour since the 2019 Pinnacle Bank Championship in July, where he tied for fourth. Bramlett took solace that the experience of playing in the last group and feeling the nerves of being in contention again will only help him down the road.

“I learned that I’m pretty close,” he said. “I think all of the things that I’ve been working on in my game are heading in the right direction and I hope that I can keep that up this summer.”

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Late birdies enable Will Zalatoris to top another packed leaderboard at Dye’s Valley

Will Zalatoris birdied two of his last three holes to lead the Korn Ferry Challenge at 10 under.

It will be another crowded leaderboard on Sunday in the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass.

They’re calling it the Korn Ferry Challenge.

It will be a challenge, all right … whoever wins on Sunday at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course will have earned it against one of the deepest fields in Korn Ferry Tour history.

Wake Forest graduate Will Zalatoris finally emerged on top after nine other players led or shared the lead at some point. He birdied two of his last three holes and with a 65, took a one-shot lead at 10-under-par 200.

James Bramlett, attempting to become only the second African-American to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, shot the day’s low round with a 64 — with a 6-under 29 on the back nine — and is tied for second at 9-under with fellow PGA Tour member Luke List (65), Chase Wright (66) and Lee Hodges (67).

Shad Tuten (67) and Theo Humphrey (67) are tied at 8-under. There are 10 players within three shots of Zalatoris and 15 within four shots.

Scores | Monday qualifier | Camilo Villegas leads after Round 2

After a third round that began with the players who made the cut on 1-under-par number still only five shots off the lead, the field spread out a bit more on Saturday — but not by much.

“It’s anybody’s ballgame,” Zalatoris said. “I’ve got a one-shot advantage, but you don’t even look at it as sitting on a lead. I’ve still got to go get it tomorrow. I’ve shot 10-under the last three days on a pretty tough golf course and I feel like every aspect of my game is clicking. If I win, great, if not, it’s still a learning experience. The ultimate goal is just to get better every day.”

Bramlett may have some added pressure. He will be trying to won the same day that one of his best friends in golf, Harold Varner III, will be contending at the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Bramlett, Varner, Cameron Champ and Tiger Woods are the only African-Americans on the PGA Tour.

For a few holes on Saturday, both Bramlett and Varner led their respective tournaments.

“I feel extra inspired this week to play well, especially seeing Harold doing what he is doing,” Bramlett said. “Harold is doing it at Colonial on the biggest stage and to see what he is doing definitely adds a level of inspiration for me. I honestly want to catch him. If he is going to win, I want to win too. I want to get on it.”

Bramlett torched the back nine at the Valley (his front), beginning with a 40-foot birdie putt at No. 10. He dropped two more birdies, at Nos. 13 and 15, then holed a 9-iron from 172 yards out for an eagle-two at the par-four 18th hole.

How hard was that? The 17th is a converted par-5 hole and playing 500 yards. It’s the hardest hole on the course this week, averaging 4.371.

Nowhere close to being done, Bramlett then birdied No. 18 on a 12-foot putt, turned, and made two short birdie putts at Nos. 1 and 3 before he cooled off with two bogeys among his last four holes.

List will join Zalatoris and Bramlett in the final group. List hasn’t played on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2015, when he qualified for the PGA Tour, but wasn’t able to get into Colonial based on his current number at 124th on the FedEx Cup points list.

No matter. List is playing hard and birdied two of his last three holes to get into the last threesome.

“I would love to be at Colonial, but I kind of took it as a positive being here just to get my feet wet again,” he said. “I worked hard the last month of so, so it has been nice to see some good shots and good putts go in.”

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Chris Kirk, Tyler McCumber among field for King & Bear

The 156-player field for next week’s King & Bear Classic is set.

The 156-player field for next week’s Korn Ferry Tour King & Bear Classic is set, with two notable additions who were not in the field at Dye’s Valley this week: Tyler McCumber of Ponte Vedra Beach, who has PGA Tour status and is not in the field for the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, S.C., and four-time PGA Tour winner Chris Kirk.

The event will be held at World Golf Village in St Augustine, Florida.

McCumber qualified for the PGA Tour off his money list standing on the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour. Entering the Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, he had made nine of 12 cuts this season.

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Also playing at the King & Bear is past Tour winner Johnson Wagner. Mike Weir, an eight-time winner, did not enter.

The tournament will begin on Wednesday and conclude on Saturday, giving players an extra travel day to Utah for the next tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule.