This will be the fifth year for the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational.
The Farmers Insurance Open, the PGA Tour’s fourth event of the 2024 season, shifts to the South Course at Torrey Pines for Friday’s third round and Sunday’s final round.
That once again leaves the North Course wide open for the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour, which was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf.
This will be the fifth year for the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational, which features an 18-player field playing a 36-hole tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
This event is the first on the APGA Tour’s 2024 schedule and with the PGA Tour’s Farmers event wrapping up on Saturday, Golf Channel will stay through Sunday with live coverage of the final round of the APGA event for a third straight year, starting at 5 p.m. ET.
The total purse is $100,000, with $30,000 going to the winner.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate five great years of competing at Torrey Pines in the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational,” said APGA Tour Co-Founder Ken Bentley. “The experience of competing on a world-class golf course in PGA Tour conditions is invaluable for our players, along with the learning opportunities that come with interacting with Tour players throughout the week.”
The APGA Tour says: “The support of the APGA Tour and its players are part of an ongoing effort from Farmers Insurance to help advance its commitment to growth in the game of golf. The national insurer provides support for APGA Tour and the APGA Foundation to help provide assistance for players at all stages of their journey.”
“Usually when celebrities do tournaments or events they show up and leave … the guys all believe Billy is in their corner.”
Billy Horschel gets it.
Is he cocky? Maybe, but no one should question that as soon as he made it, Horschel began figuring out how he can give back to the game that has provided him so much.
This week, the third annual Billy Horschel APGA Invitational is being contested (Oct. 18-20) at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, where 18 of the top APGA Tour players will compete for three days and have the chance to network and engage with key sponsors and industry leaders. Horschel also hosts an AJGA event too, and in both situations he doesn’t simply lend his name to the billboard and show up for the prize-giving ceremony.
“Usually when celebrities do tournaments or events they show up and leave,” said Ken Bentley, one of the founders of the APGA Tour. “Following the first round of the first tournament Billy did for us he was on the putting green playing putting games with the guys for dollars. They were on the green until dark. Billy gave each player his phone number and email address and said he was going to do all he could to see that the guys got to the next level. In telling the guys this he had the same level of determination and commitment in his eyes that he has when he’s trying to win a tournament. The guys all believe Billy is in their corner.”
So, what made Horschel “get it?” And why did he choose the APGA as a way to give back? His longtime instructor Todd Anderson offers insights while explaining Horschel’s higher purpose.
“He’s not the kind of person that does it to get notoriety for it, he does it because he cares and because he wants to make a difference in the people he comes in contact with, and I really respect that about him,” Anderson said. “I see other people going out there trying to do things to get attention, but he doesn’t do that. He wants to see the minority professional golfers succeed and be a part of the PGA Tour. He wants to help develop junior golfers by giving them opportunities that he didn’t have. He does a lot of things for charity to help other people, just because he really cares, not so you or anyone writes a story about it, but because he wants to make a difference in the people that he’s around and the things that he sees that need to be changed.”
Ask Horschel and he will tell you that he gives his time, money and resources for a variety of reasons.
“COVID happened,” he explained. “A lot of guys were struggling to have a place to play. I got to know Willie Mack and we have something in common in that his family wasn’t well off and mine wasn’t either. Some of our experiences were different but I thought to myself, if I hadn’t gotten an opportunity to go to Florida and play well and get sponsorship opportunities from equipment companies, where would that money have come from for me? My parents couldn’t have supported me. Maybe some friends would’ve supported me for a year or two but where would that financial aid have come from? If things had played out differently for me, I could’ve been in their (APGA members) shoes. That was the first thing.”
Billy Horschel poses for a picture with eight APGA Tour members during a visit to PGA Tour Academy in 2018.
Horschel barely takes a breath before he delves into the second reason he chose to support the APGA, and his response is telling.
“For the game of golf, we’ve made strides but we can still make golf more inclusive,” he said. “To grow the game, we need to get more minorities in. That’s where there is room for growth. That’s just a fact. That’s what the numbers say. It was a perfect scenario because I thought these guys have the ability to change the way golf is looked at and change the way who plays it and change the opportunities in people’s lives. The one way to do that is to support them and make a tournament that allows them to play for more money, and bring in sponsors that are looking to change their charity side and be a part of it. They can meet these guys and see how good they are. One of these guys – Willie is going to be on Tour in a year or two – but they are going to change the way golf is.
“There is someone who is African-American and sees me play golf, that’s cool. But if they see someone who looks like them play golf that’s going to percolate interest more. That’s just a fact,” Horschel continued. “And then when he sees that Willie has a similar background to the way we were raised, if he can make it, I can make it. I want to be involved in golf because I want to do what he’s doing. That’s why basketball and football have been so successful. That’s why it was something I wanted to be part of and have a little bit of a piece of trying to help grow the game of golf. Am I going to be the one that is going to get more minorities involved in the game of golf? Probably not. But I can support the guys that will have a bigger influence on getting them involved in golf and backing those guys to be successful and hopefully with their success they are able to have an outreach to grow the game of golf. Whether you play professionally or recreationally, it can open so many doors. Even if these guys don’t make it, they can have connections with people in the business world that can help them on the next path in life. It’s huge to be able to influence someone’s life and make it better for them down the road.”
There are currently just three Black golfers on the PGA Tour: Tiger Woods, Cameron Champ and Joseph Bramlett.
Mack III, who played at Bethune-Cookman, a historically Black college in Daytona Beach, Florida, is a two-time winner of Horschel’s event and earned his Korn Ferry Tour card in December. Horschel sent the first congratulatory text. “No one in professional golf has done more for me than Billy,” Mack said.
Horschel recalls meeting Mack at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2019, where Mack and some of the other APGA members showed him a picture they’d taken at TPC Sawgrass when they had toured the PGA Tour Academy there.
“I was shocked I didn’t remember it,” Horschel said. “Willie and Kamaiu (Johnson) started working with my teacher. Hanging out with them, listening to their stories all played a part in me wanting to support their journeys.”
Shortly before Mack headed to Q-School, he was working with Anderson and mentioned to Horschel how he hadn’t been able to play as much due to an injury to one of his fingers.
“I said to him, ‘This is probably a blessing in disguise that you got hurt. You’ve been going a lot the last couple of years. You haven’t had a time to recharge your batteries and come back with a new focus.’”
After Horschel texted congratulations, Mack wrote back, “You were right. That talk after my lesson was massive.”
Mack struggled this season on the Korn Ferry Tour but recently advanced through the first stage of Q-School and is hard at work on his game. He’s not going for the three-peat this week at Horschel’s APGA event but told him he may pop out to root the guys on. That means someone else will go home with the trophy and a check for $50,000 from the $150,000 purse.
“I have a number in mind that I want the purse to get to,” Horschel. “I want to keep making it bigger and better.”
It’s been quite a year for Marcus Byrd on the APGA Tour. Record-setting, in fact.
On Tuesday, Byrd took home the trophy for the fourth time this year, the most in the fledgling tour’s history, as he shot a 4-under 67 to win APGA at Valhalla Golf Club.
Byrd, 26, topped Ryan Ellerbrock, who was making his APGA Tour debut, by three strokes to secure the victory. Quinn Riley and Rovonta Young finished four shots off the pace in a tie for third.
“The last six months have been incredible, but it’s been non-stop. I feel like I’ve gotten these opportunities and haven’t performed the way I wanted,” Byrd said, in reference to a few PGA Tour appearances that haven’t led to much success. “I took some time off after the John Deere Classic and it’s really helped with this win today. My goals now are Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in the fall and to win the APGA Tour Lexus Cup Point Standings.”
Marcus Byrd. Photo: Courtesy APGA Tour.
The four victories in a season eclipse the previous mark of three held by both Willie Mack III and Tim O’Neal. Mack is now on the Korn Ferry Tour full-time and O’Neal has full status on the PGA Tour Champions.
Next up is the APGA Two-Man Classic at TPC Louisiana in New Orleans, starting on July 30, followed by the APGA Ascension Classic in St. Louis follows on August 8-10 at Glen Echo Country Club.
The regular season then concludes with the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship at TPC Sugarloaf from August 13-15.
Marcus Byrd started the year as a winner and that trend has continued all season long.
The 25-year-old won for the third time in four starts this season on the APGA Tour after claiming the event at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, on Tuesday. Byrd shot rounds of 66-67 to win by two shots at 9 under over Chase Johnson, who shot the low round Tuesday with an 8-under 63, and Jarred Garcia, two finished T-2 at 7 under.
Byrd won the season-opening APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines, as well as the APGA Florida and APGA Scottsdale. He also earned exemptions for three PGA Tour events: the Genesis Invitational, Honda Classic and Wells Fargo Championship.
“The PGA Tour experience is definitely a huge help. It’s cool to see how hard those guys work. I learned about being calm and to stay within myself,” said Byrd, who earned $7,500 of the $25,000 purse. “I overcame adversity there and overall with the PGA Tour experience, I now understand what I need to do.”
The event at TPC Deere Run was also the debut of the 2023 Cisco Junior Series, which consists of four tournaments where 18-and-under minority players compete at APGA Tour events. Jayden Lizama won the boys division after rounds of 71-73, while Staci Pla won the girls with rounds of 71-74.
The APGA Tour returns to play with APGA Tour at Valhalla, July 23-25, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Johnson registered two eagles and four birdies on the back nine, notching his seventh APGA Tour win.
If the name Kamaiu Johnson rings a bell, it may be because of a rule mishap at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational when he was DQ’d for signing an incorrect scorecard. The situation made waves and was widely talked about.
However, what Johnson did Tuesday at TPC Scottsdale will also have people talking, as he set a new APGA Tour record for the lowest round in the tour’s history and tied the course record at the Champions Course.
Johnson fired a final-round 10-under 61 to win the APGA at TPC Scottsdale event. He broke loose from a four-way tie after the first round and finished with a four-stroke victory. Johnson registered two eagles and four birdies on the back nine, notching his seventh APGA Tour win.
“I was just trying to stay in the moment down the stretch. Wasn’t sure where I was, but I was comfortable because the other leaders were in my group,” Johnson said. “Last week, I was 13 over after two days on the Latinoamerica tour, and today 16 under. I’ve never experienced anything like that. It just shows you what kind of a funny game it is that we play.”
He also takes home the first-place prize of $7,500 from the $25,000 purse.
By Wednesday morning, Johnson was teeing it up across the country in Gainesville, Florida, at a U.S. Open local qualifier at Mark Bostic Golf Course.
Next up on the APGA Tour is APGA at TPC Deere Run May 28-30 in Silvis, Illinois, with APGA at Valhalla to follow July 23-25 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Hall started the day eight strokes back and proceeded to go 4 under after five holes.
With birdies on his final two holes, longtime APGA Tour standout Kevin Hall captured the APGA at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on Tuesday.
Hall shot 8-under 64 in the final round to card a two-shot victory, his second win of the season. It’s his sixth APGA Tour victory and second time he has won twice in a season. The first time was in 2016, when he was named Player of the Year.
The 40-year-old from Cincinnati overcame complete hearing loss resulting from a childhood case of H-flu meningitis. He went on to become the first Black golfer to play on Ohio State’s golf team, even winning medalist honors at the 2004 Big Ten Championship.
Hall started the day eight strokes back and proceeded to go 4 under after five holes, highlighted by a 10-foot eagle putt on the 495-yard par-5 fifth.
“My mindset is always the same, but I’m more consistent now. My putter has awakened,” said Hall through his mother, Jackie Hall, following the round. “I knew I had to go get it, make as many birdies as I could. After the hot start, I told myself, ‘No stupid mistakes.'”
A four-way tie for second included Chase Johnson, Varun Chopra, Salvador Rocha Gomez and Andrew Fernandes, all finishing at 4 under.
The victory vaulted Hall to first place in the Lexus Cup Point Standings with 1,498 points after four regular-season events. He moved ahead of APGA star Marcus Byrd, who has a sponsor exemption at the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship starting Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
His 74-64—138 earned him the winner’s check of $7,500 from the purse of $25,000.
APGA at TPC Scottsdale May 7-9 in Arizona is the sixth event of the 2023 season with APGA at TPC Deere Run to follow May 28-30 in Silvis, Illinois.
The 156-player field for the PGA Tour’s next designated event will be finalized on Friday.
The 156-player field for the PGA Tour’s next designated event, the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship, won’t be finalized until Friday evening, but the tournament announced two special names on Wednesday.
The APGA Tour’s Marcus Byrd and Quinn Riley have both accepted sponsor exemptions for next week’s event, May 4-7, at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Byrd will make his fourth start on Tour, and third of the season after teeing it up in consecutive events at the Genesis Invitational (playing on the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption) and the Honda Classic (after winning the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines).
“I’m truly honored to play in the Wells Fargo Championship this year and thank everyone involved for the opportunity,” said Byrd, a 25-year-old graduate of Middle Tennessee State and three-time winner on the APGA Tour. “Being from D.C. and seeing the event last year inspired me, and I’m so thankful to play this year in Charlotte. From First Tee to support of the APGA Tour, I appreciate Wells Fargo’s commitment to championing young golfers.”
Riley finished first atop the APGA Tour rankings in 2021-22 and earned an exemption into last year’s John Deere Classic. The Duke University grad will make his third start on Tour at the Wells Fargo.
“This is a dream come true for me, and I’m extremely appreciative of Wells Fargo giving me the opportunity to play a PGA Tour event in my home state of North Carolina,” said Riley, a native of Raleigh. “I know Wells Fargo has supported where I got my start in golf at First Tee and now it has come full circle to being here at the Wells Fargo Championship.”
Players who have already been announced for the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship include Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young.
Wyatt Worthington II earned his first APGA Tour victory Tuesday, holding off Marcus Byrd to win the APGA Las Vegas event at TPC Las Vegas.
Worthington, a PGA of America teaching professional who has competed in two PGA Championships, including last year at Southern Hills, shot 7-under 135 over 36 holes to beat Byrd by two shots. Worthington shot 7-under 64 in the first round, and an even-par 71 on Tuesday was enough to earn a two-shot victory.
Byrd carded rounds of 68-69 en route to his runner-up finish. Salvador Rocha Gomez was the only other golfer to finish under par. He carded a 1-under 141.
“It feels great and it’s also a relief,” Worthington said of his first APGA win. “It’s a notch on the belt against extremely tough APGA Tour competition. Now, I have to keep getting better and better.”
Worthington, from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, earned $7,500 for the win.
Wyatt Worthington II won his first APGA Tour event in Las Vegas on April 11. (Photo: APGA Tour)
Next up for Worthington is the PGA Professional Championship April 30-May 3 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. The top 20 finishers of more than 300 players qualify for the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club from May 18-21.
The APGA Tour is back in action on April 30-May 2 with APGA Tour at PGA Golf Club in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
I’m going to be around the best players in the world so I want to learn as much as I can, pick their brains,” said Byrd.
Get familiar with the name Marcus Byrd, golf fans. You’ll see a lot of him over the next month.
Last week Byrd was announced as the 2023 Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption for the PGA Tour’s upcoming Genesis Invitational, Feb. 16-19 at Riviera Country Club, and he celebrated by winning the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational on Sunday at Torrey Pines.
Byrd was the first-round leader after he opened with a 1-over 73 and then cruised to a five-shot win after a 3-over 75 in the final round. A former star for Middle Tennessee State and 2019 Conference USA Golfer of the Year, Byrd finished atop the standings for the APGA’s Farmers Insurance Fall Series back in November and now has three APGA Tour wins.
“The conditions today were extremely difficult, but that’s really what we want as players,” said Byrd. “We want to be tested and measure ourselves against the best. To be able to birdie the final two holes and win this event is extremely gratifying and a great way to start my season.”
Byrd’s victory on Sunday came with a $30,000 prize as well as an exemption to the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic, which will be held Feb. 23-26 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The Genesis Invitational and Honda Classic will be Byrd’s second and third career starts on the PGA Tour, respectively, after he debuted at the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship.
“A goal of mine is just to be a sponge. I’m going to be around the best players in the world so I want to learn as much as I can, pick their brains, see how I can keep improving, make the most of these opportunities,” Byrd said. “I feel like I have the game to be there. Most importantly, I just have to learn. A lot of those guys, they’ve been out there for years. I’m going to take advantage of these two opportunities and learn as much as I can. And hopefully, the game is in a good spot to where I can play well and perform well those weeks.”
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf. The Tour expects to hold 18 tournaments in 2023 with close to $1 million in prize money.
“To win the Adrian Stills Award means as much as winning any golf event,” said Wells.
Montrele Wells was named as the first-ever winner of the APGA Tour’s Adrian Stills Award presented by Cisco on Tuesday, an honor that comes with more than just a trophy.
The award, named after APGA Tour co-founder Adrian Stills, earned Wells a $25,000 bonus to support his golf career, as well as $10,000 to donate to the charity of his choice. Cisco also offered Wells exemptions to the APGA Cisco Invitational at Baltusrol and the APGA Billy Horschel Invitational presented by Cisco, a pair of limited-field events on the 2023 schedule. The winner was determined by a panel of judges and voted on by fellow APGA Tour players.
“To win the Adrian Stills Award means as much as winning any golf event. Being recognized by the APGA Tour leadership and my fellow competitors for the way I carry myself both on, and off the course is an incredible honor,” Wells said via a release. “I’m so thankful for Cisco and their support of the APGA Tour overall, and for what this award means to me. Companies like Cisco are making a huge difference to the players on our Tour and in changing the make-up of our sport.”
An APGA Tour player since 2012, Wells consistently participates in APGA Foundation clinics held in low-income neighborhoods that attract kids that wouldn’t normally be exposed to the game. The award will continue to be given annually to the APGA Tour player who best embodies the qualities of character, sportsmanship, courage and giving back to the game and community.
“Giving back to this game and helping to show that golf is a game for everyone, no matter where they come from or the color of their skin, is what really drives me,” Wells continued. “To have a young boy or young girl that looks like me, to give them inspiration and show them that they can work hard and succeed, that golf is a sport they can play, it’s extremely satisfying. When you see those smiles and the acknowledgement from those kids, it drives me more than my performance. I came from a place where most of my friends didn’t make it out of poverty. I can show others that with hard work, you can get out and you can accomplish great things.”
The APGA Tour was founded in 2010 as a non-profit organization which aims to prepare minority golfers to compete and win at the highest levels of professional golf.
“The APGA Tour has been a home for me since that first event,” Wells said. “It gave me a place to feel comfortable and to continue to chase my dreams. To win an award named after Adrian Stills is an incredible honor. He is a true mentor. He has been there, to the PGA Tour, the place where we are all trying to get to. But more than that, he has experienced the ups and downs and the struggles that we face as golfers and as people. He was a reason we didn’t quit. When he speaks, you know you can trust him.”
“Montrele Wells embodies the APGA Adrian Stills Award presented by Cisco in every manner,” said APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley. “Montrele is universally respected by the APGA Tour leadership, players and staff for his attitude, his professionalism, his efforts to give back and support APGA Foundation Youth events and promoting the APGA Tour.”
