Tag: Carson Young

Nico Echavarria wins maiden PGA Tour title at 2023 Puerto Rico Open, earns spot in Players Championship

Echavarria is the 10th player to make the Puerto Rico Open his first career PGA Tour title.

Nico Echavarria is a winner on the PGA Tour.

Riding a final-round 68 at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Echavarria finished at 21 under and outlasted Akshay Bhatia by two shots in the 2023 Puerto Rico Open, the first opposite-field event on the PGA Tour’s 2023 calendar.

Echavarria scored in the 60s (67-67-65-68) all four rounds. He had 22 birdies, two eagles and six bogeys over the 72 holes.

A rookie on the PGA Tour, Echavarria said he found something in his swing on the range on Friday and it clearly carried over to the weekend, as he becomes the 10th player to make the Puerto Rico Open his first career PGA Tour title.

“With the way I was playing the last couple weeks, at Honda, that course is really hard but I missed the cut by 8 or 9. At Pebble I missed it by a lot,” he said. “You just don’t think it’s going to get better until things like this week clicks and finding something on the range on Friday just changes your week. … if I wouldn’t have had that practice session on Friday afternoon very late and found what I found, I don’t think I would be here because it cleared my mind up. I was thinking too many things. I was on a bad spot mentally before coming to this week.”

Bhatia, meanwhile, started the day in fifth and ended up in solo second. It’s his best finish on Tour; he had a tie for ninth at the 2020 Safeway Open. He also has two top-10s in four starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023.

Bhatia had eight birdies in his final round, including four straight on Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18 to close his week. He came up short but was energized and emotional after his performance this week.

“I’m legally able to drink now, so maybe I’ll have a drink with my parents,” Bhatia said. “I’m excited to see my dogs, I haven’t seen them in two weeks. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s going to be a lot of emotion. I know my dad’s going to really cry, which I’ve only seen him do one time.”

For winning the Puerto Rico Open, Echavarria earned 300 FedEx Cup points and $684,000. He joins Kurt Kitayama, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, as first time Tour winners. He also earned a spot in the Players Championship, which starts Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.

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“It’s going to be incredible to be at home because I live in Jacksonville,” he said. “Especially after a win, it’s going to be special. Probably going to keep playing and feeling what I’m feeling right now with my game, same thoughts, because this game changes quick and you’ve got to be consistent with what you’re trying to do.”

Nate Lashley and Carson Young tied for third at 16 under, five shots back. Michael Kim was solo fifth at 15 under.

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This PGA Tour rookie, who has made three cuts in 11 starts, leads the 2023 Puerto Rico Open heading to the final round

Nico Echavarria has made only two cuts in 10 starts heading into the Puerto Rico Open.

PGA Tour rookie Nico Echavarria has played 11 events this season. He has made the cut three times, including this week.

Come Sunday, he could hoist a trophy.

Echavarria used a 6-under 30 front nine at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, to take a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Puerto Rico Open, the alternate-field event to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Echavarria shot 7-under 65 on moving day to hop Carson Young, the 18- and 36-hole leader, and sits at 17 under with one round to go.

“Yeah, it was a dream start,” Echavarria said. “I found something on the range yesterday, and even if I felt nervous out there today on some holes, I just kept putting my game plan and my feeling of what I found on the range and it worked really good. Happy with how I played, happy with the shots I hit when I was under pressure. Hopefully we can do it tomorrow.”

Young, a fellow Tour rookie, posted a 1-under 71 on moving day for his worst round of the week by four shots. But he’ll be in the final pairing also looking for his first PGA Tour victory.

Sam Stevens matched Echavarria’s 7-under performance and sits in a two-way tie for third at 13 under. Nate Lashley, who shot 5 under on Saturday, is also at 13 under. Akshay Bhatia and Harry Hall are tied for fifth at 12 under.

Echavarria’s round got off to a quick start, as he eagled the par-5 second. Birdies followed on Nos. 4-7, and he added two more birdies and a bogey on the back nine.

The winner of the Puerto Rico Open will capture 300 FedEx Cup points and $684,000.

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Nine golfers withdrew from 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after Saturday’s weather delay

In all, 15 golfers have withdrawn from the Pro-Am.

It’s been a challenging week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterey Peninsula and the leaderboard has been filling up with withdrawals.

Before his Thursday round started, Philip Knowles was the first of 15 WDs of the week. He was replaced in the field by Jonas Blixt.

During the first round, Justin Suh WD’d due to a shoulder injury. Prior to Friday’s second round, Cameron Percy withdrew.

Weather started rolling in Friday and the wind really picked up Saturday. Third round tee times were moved up an hour and the high winds eventually forced the suspension of play, guaranteeing a Monday finish.

During the third round, Maverick McNealy WD’d, citing a left shoulder injury.

Sunday morning, the PGA Tour announced that nine more golfers were calling it a week at Pebble, including two – Will Gordon and Carson Young – who are on the list for the Monday qualifier for the WM Phoenix Open at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale.

Gordon shot a 69 on Pebble Beach Golf Links on Thursday despite a triple-bogey 8 on the 18th hole. He was 4 over through 15 in the third round. Young shot 69-77 and was 2 over with four holes to go in his third round before calling it.

In all, 15 golfers have withdrawn from the Pro-Am.

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Young wins Korn Ferry Tournament, Top 10 for Byrd at AT&T

Clemson, SC-Former Clemson All-American and Anderson, SC native Carson Young won the Panama Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday. Young finished with a score of eight-under-par 272 after rounds of 68-65-71-68 on the Panama Golf Club course, …

Clemson, SC—Former Clemson All-American and Anderson, SC native Carson Young won the Panama Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday.   Young finished with a score of eight-under-par 272 after rounds of 68-65-71-68 on the Panama Golf Club course, to win his first Korn Ferry Tour event in just his 10th career tournament.

Young was tied for fifth entering the final round, but registered three birdies and just one bogey in shooting the two-under 68 in the final round to win by one shot over Carl Yuan, Brandon Mathews and Jerry Stanger.

Young made a bogey on his first hole of the day, then played his final 14 holes at three-under-par.   With the victory, Young jumped to second place on the  Korn Ferry Tour  season long points list and won $135,000, the largest check of his professional career.

Young turned professional after his senior year in 2017.  He was a four-year starter for Clemson and posted a 73.19 stroke average for 39 career tournaments.  He had 10 top 10 finishes as a Tiger and helped Clemson to the ACC Championship in April of 2016.  He was a member of the All-ACC team in 2016 and 2017 and was a three-time member of the Academic All-ACC team.

Former Tiger Turk Pettit, the 2021 NCAA Tournament Champion, finished tied for 39th at the same tournament with a score of 282.  Former Clemson All-American Ben Martin finished 50th with a 284 score.

 

On the PGA Tour, former Clemson All-American Jonathan Byrd finished in a tie for ninth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am on Sunday with a score of 13-under par 274.  It was Byrd’s top finish of the year and the 48th top 10 of his 20-year professional career.   Byrd had a round of five-under-par 67 on Sunday, tied for the best round of the day.  He birdied three of his last four holes and won $237,075.

The Top 10 finish gets Byrd into the field at next week’s Waste Management Open in Phoenix.

Former Clemson All-American Doc Redman finished tied for 33rd  at the event, while former All-American D.J. Trahan finished tied for 64th.

 

Three LOCALiQ Series players, including Bryson Nimmer, earn PGA Tour starts

David Pastore won the LOCALiQ Series Championship. He along with Bryson Nimmer and Carson Young will see PGA Tour action in 2021.

The LOCALiQ Tour concluded on Friday with a Series Championship held at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia. When the dust had settled, three men stood above the rest having earned PGA Tour starts for 2021.

Former Clemson All-American Bryson Nimmer told Golfweek last month that he will do whatever it takes to break into the PGA Tour, and his commanding season helped him secure a berth in next year’s RBC Canadian Open. Nimmer, 24, burst out of the gate with two wins and a playoff appearance in his first four starts, establishing a dominant lead on the LOCALiQ points list.

Although the Mackenzie Tour veteran did not have his best stuff in Duluth, finishing T-53, it didn’t matter in the end. Mathematically speaking, he had claimed the points title before the Series Championship even teed off.

“It means a lot. The quality of guys out on this Tour is really, really strong, so anytime you can be at the top of something like that, you have played really well,” said Nimmer, who finished with just over 1,426 points. “It’s just been an awesome year. It’s been really cool to experience this and have the opportunity to play. Going forward it’s going to give me a lot of confidence.”

Nimmer’s Mackenzie Tour rival David Pastore claimed the LOCALiQ Series Championship, defeating Trace Crowe by a single shot. Crowe’s opportunity to force a playoff evaporated when he missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole. With the win, Pastore rose into second place on the points list with 1,072.150 points and earned his spot in the 2021 Barbasol Championship.

Pastore has been a model of consistency on the LOCALiQ Tour. He scored in the 60s in 18 of his 25 rounds, missing only one cut along the way. The 28-year old has one Mackenzie Tour win to go along with his breakthrough at TPC Sugarloaf.

“It was funny that I would shoot 3- or 4-under every day whether the course was easy or hard, so it would be like where other players’ scores would go up and down but mine just stayed the same,” Pastore told the media. “It’s funny how I did the best on courses that where I shot the same scores as I did on the easier courses.”

Carson Young, 26, had been second on the points list but was overtaken by Pastore in Duluth, where he finished T-8. The South Carolinian finished third with just over 845 points and also punched a ticket to the PGA Tour. Young will start at the Puerto Rican Open next February, an event that his fellow Clemson Tiger Nimmer has played twice.

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