Tag: 2022 Puerto Rico Open

Ryan Brehm defies the odds, capturing the Puerto Rico Open to keep his PGA Tour card

While others struggled with the wind, Brehm calmly maneuvered the course, all with his wife Chelsey on his bag.

The winds were howling. The palm trees were swaying. The galleries were growing.

But Ryan Brehm seemed unfazed by it all.

Needing a top-two finish to maintain his PGA Tour status, the former Michigan State star navigated a figurative minefield at Grand Reserve Golf Club with ease on Sunday, all despite tremendous stakes. While others struggled with the wind, Brehm calmly maneuvered the course, all with his wife Chelsey on his bag.

Ranked 773rd in the world coming into the week, Brehm closed things out in style, firing a bogey-free final round 67 to finish the tournament at 20 under, capturing the Puerto Rico Open by a comfortable margin for his first PGA Tour victory.

Brehm was playing in the last event of his minor medical exemption, meaning he would have been forced to return to the Korn Ferry Tour with a finish of third or lower. This was his 68th start on Tour.

But on Sunday, knowing he’d nearly completed the incredible feat, Brehm and his wife talked about taking things one shot at a time, and he looked surprisingly cool and collected amid the chaotic conditions.

Max McGreevy (14 under), favorite Brandon Wu (13 under) and Tommy Gainey (also 13 under) were the closest to Brehm, but none really mounted a charge to challenge the 35-year-old.

Brehm turned pro in 2008 after helping lead Michigan State to three Big Ten titles, and he later served as an assistant and even interim head coach for the Spartans.

Brehm’s last victory came on the Korn Ferry Tour at the 2019 LECOM Health Challenge at Peek’n Peak Resort in Findley Lake, New York, just outside Buffalo. He defeated Tim Wilkinson in a playoff that day.

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Ryan Brehm needed a miracle in Puerto Rico to keep his PGA Tour status. He’s 18 holes away from getting it

With just 18 holes to play, Brehm has put himself in position to maintain Tour status.

For Ryan Brehm, a trip to balmy Puerto Rico this week has been anything but a relaxing vacation.

Playing on the final week of a medical exemption at the Puerto Rico Open, Brehm needs to finish either first or solo second to retain his PGA Tour status the rest of this season. A victory also would include a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Anything outside the top two Sunday means he’s headed back to the Korn Ferry Tour, where he’s a two-time winner.

With just 18 holes to play, however, Brehm has put himself in position to maintain Tour status, finishing with birdies on two of the final three holes and moving into a three-stroke lead after three rounds at Grand Reserve Golf Club.

Playing with his wife, Chelsey, on his bag this week, the former Michigan State star fired a 68 on Saturday and sits at 15 under, three shots up on Michael Kim and four strokes ahead of a pack of four players.

After Brehm has acknowledged all week the pressure that’s accompanied this event, he’s thrilled with the position he’s in through three rounds.

“Obviously, if you would have given me that at the start of the week I’d have taken it,” Brehm said. “There’s just so much golf left. I mean, honestly, all Chelsey and I are trying to do is make one good swing after another and march along. That’s really all we’re trying to do.”

Brehm’s last victory came on the Korn Ferry Tour at the 2019 LECOM Health Challenge at Peek’n Peak Resort in Findley Lake, New York, just outside Buffalo. He defeated Tim Wilkinson in a playoff that day.

“You know, I’m just not the same person I was then. I’ve done a lot of growing, and tomorrow I’ll draw on some experiences on the golf course, for sure,” he said. “It’s going to feel different, all the inner feelings are going to be different and I’m just going to have to take them as they come.”

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2022 Puerto Rico Open: David Skinns’ second round results

2022 Puerto Rico Open: Former Vol David Skinns’ second round results

The Puerto Rico Open is taking place March 3-6 at Grand Reserve Country Club (Old) in Río Grande, Puerto Rico.

Former University of Tennessee golfer David Skinns is part of the field.

Skinns finished second round play +3 and did not make the cut. Ryan Brehm (-11) is leading following the second round.

The former Vol earned his PGA TOUR card by winning the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna at The Club at Indian Creek in Omaha, Nebraska on Aug. 15, 2021.

Skinns played at Tennessee from 2001-05, appearing in 46 tournaments. He came to Tennessee from Lincoln, England.

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Ryan Brehm takes step towards first PGA Tour win with 36-hole lead at Puerto Rico Open

Brehm finds himself just two more days away from his first win on Tour.

What do you get when you mix 36 holes of bogey-free golf with a 3-3-3 second-round finish? The 36-hole lead at a PGA Tour event.

Midway through the 2022 Puerto Rico Open – an opposite-field event to the elevated Arnold Palmer Invitational – Ryan Brehm finds himself just two more days away from his first win on Tour and first victory since the 2019 LECOM Health Challenge on the Korn Ferry Tour. The 35-year-old fired a 5-under 67 on Friday, aided by a birdie-eagle finish at Grand Reserve Golf Club.

“It was kind of boring until the end,” said Brehm of his round. “I feel like I had to scramble quite a bit, had some difficult up-and-downs, got them up and down, made a few good putts for par, kept the momentum going and finished with a birdie-eagle, made a bomb on the last hole. You add it up, it’s pretty good.”

Michael Kim, Satoshi Kodaira and Max McGreevy are in hot pursuit, just one shot back at 10 under. Callum Tarren rounds out the top five at 9 under.

“As much as you want to take a giant leap at the start, I’m definitely one to take a lot of steppingstones, for sure,” said McGreevy, who fired his career-low on Tour on Friday with an 8-under 64. “This is just one of those in that direction that’s just going to gain more confidence for myself and for my game and I’m excited for the next steppingstone. Hopefully another low round tomorrow and keep building on those steppingstones and hopefully keep giving myself chances.”

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2022 Puerto Rico Open: David Skinns’ first round results

2022 Puerto Rico Open leaderboard: Former Vol David Skinns’ first round results

The Puerto Rico Open is taking place March 3-6 at Grand Reserve Country Club (Old) in Río Grande, Puerto Rico.

Former University of Tennessee golfer David Skinns is part of the field.

Skinns is +3 and tied for 90th following first round play. Michael Kim and Chase Seiffert are tied for first (-7) following the first round.

The former Vol earned his PGA TOUR card by winning the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna at The Club at Indian Creek in Omaha, Nebraska on Aug. 15, 2021.

Skinns played at Tennessee from 2001-05, appearing in 46 tournaments. He came to Tennessee from Lincoln, England.

Follow us at @VolsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of University of Tennessee athletics. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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