Capan earned his promotion for next season a week ago.
A week after clinching his 2025 PGA Tour card, Frankie Capan III has his first professional victory.
Capan shot a final-round 70 to finish the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship at 13 under, two shots clear of the field at Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course. He had 18 birdies and an eagle over the four rounds and was steady down the stretch, making six straight pars to hold the field at bay. He earned $270,000 for the victory.
“It was great. I’m just really happy and blessed to be standing with you here today and just really excited with how my game has progressed from last year to this year and just kind of continuing as this year has gone on,” Capan said. “It feels fantastic.”
Capan becomes the 17th first-time winner on the KFT in 2024.
Capan earned his promotion for next season last Sunday after tying for 12th at the 2024 Simmons Bank Open in Franklin, Tennessee. That was enough to clinch a top-30 spot on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, earning him his 2025 PGA Tour card.
Matt McCarty, who has three wins on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, locked up the top spot on the season-long KFT Points List, which earned him exemptions into the 2025 Players Championship and U.S. Open. His third win made him the 13th golfer to earn the Three-Victory Promotion to the PGA Tour.
There’s one event left on the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2024 season, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Golf Resort in Indiana. At the conclusion, all 30 cards will be determined. There were 17 who earned their PGA Tour cards ahead of the Nationwide event.
Frankie Capan III had a Sunday he won’t soon forget.
By virtue of his tie for 12th at the 2024 Simmons Bank Open in Franklin, Tennessee, the former Florida Gulf Coast golfer clinched a top 30 spot on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, earning his 2025 PGA Tour card, the second FGCU alum to do so.
Here’s what you should know about the 24-year-old Capan.
Capan is a native of Stillwater, Minnesota, and is the first from the state in nearly a decade to reach the PGA Tour. Growing up he spent summers in The North State State but played high school golf at Northwest Christian School in Phoenix. He won the 2018 Arizona high school state championship by 10 strokes, shooting a 59 in the final round. Capan was also a top junior golfer, capturing the AJGA Puerto Rico Junior Open in 2016 and teaming with Shaui Ming Wong to win the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Capan started his collegiate career at Alabama but his sophomore season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. He transferred to FGCU for his final two seasons, earning a pair of ASUN Conference Second Team honors. In 2022, Capan helped the Eagles’ men’s golf team become the first program in FGCU history to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. His career scoring average of 72.35 still ranks among the top five in FGCU history.
Capan opted to forgo an extra season of eligibility at FGCU and began his professional golf career.
With two events remaining in the 2024 Korn Ferry season, Capan is currently 14th on the Tour’s Points List. In 23 starts this year, he has five top-10s and two runner-up finishes, losing in a playoff to Harry Higgs at the Visit Knoxville Open in May and finishing three shots behind Max McGreevy at last month’s Magnit Championships.
Capan also made some Korn Ferry history in the opening round of the Veritex Bank Championships in May by shooting a 13-under 58, breaking Scottie Scheffler’s course record by one shot.
Capan has earned nearly $350,000 this season on the Korn Ferry Tour and more than $580,000 in his two years on the circuit. He’s the 14th KFT player to earn PGA Tour status for 2025. There will be 30 cards in all earned this season.
Capan qualified for four PGA Tour events in his career so far: the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, the 2023 3M Open and the past two U.S. Opens. He’s made the cut twice, finishing T-62 at the 3M and T-41 at June’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
Derek Lamely, a member of the inaugural FGCU men’s golf team in 2000-01, earned his PGA Tour card in 2010. The 2023 FGCU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee won the 2010 Puerto Rico Open his rookie season.
It’s going to be a Thursday to remember for Frankie Capan III.
The 24-year-old shot 13-under 58 during the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Veritex Bank Championship at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas. The round included seven straight birdies on the back nine, a 29 on both sides and taking down World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s course record, which he set May 3, 2020.
His round started with a par before four consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-5. He added an eagle at the par-5 ninth to turn in 6-under 29.
On the back nine, the circles added up.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven in a row before he finally made par at the par-4 17th. On the closing par-5 18th, his tee shot ended up in the fairway bunker, and he was unable to card another birdie for a 57.
With a pair of top-10 finishes coming into the Veritex Bank Championship, Capan was finding his rhythm. Hard to imagine he pictured a start like he put together Thursday.
BLAINE, Minn. — This week is far from normal for Frankie Capan III.
The North Oaks, Minnesota, native is a Korn Ferry Tour member and sits 34th in the season-long points race. The top 30 earn PGA Tour cards at the end of the year. However, he’s not playing in the KFT’s NV5 Invitational this week.
Instead, Capan accepted a sponsor exemption and is playing in his hometown 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities, marking his first PGA Tour start as a professional.
As if playing near home wasn’t enough, his mom, Charlynn, is on the bag.
“Originally she was supposed to be just a fill-in caddie, and the more success we had, the more we realized that she should just keep staying on the bag,” Frankie said. “Obviously when we went through Q-School and only lost to nine people, it was pretty evident that she should stay on the bag for a little longer.
“I tried another kid, actually from Minnesota, and we had a couple good finishes, but found my way back to her. And then we had a nice finish in Raleigh at the Korn Ferry event there, and then the next day punched our ticket to the U.S. Open. Once we did that I figured, you know, better to just stick with her for the time being and see what we could do.”
Frankie Capan III hits his tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the 2023 Memorial Health Championship at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Illinois. (Photo: Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
Playing with mom on the bag is nothing new, but it’s something they’ve had to grow and learn from each other with trial and error.
Frankie said once they leave the course, they tend to leave golf there, too. Some situations may dictate otherwise, but he said there have been plenty of learning opportunities for the duo to help his game.
“Whenever you have some good dialogue and even fighting or bickering at times, your relationship can grow deeper because you start to understand how each other interact and the words you like to use,” Frankie said. “Really, just, she’s kind of understood how I like to play the game more, what shots I like to hit at certain times.”
Frankie’s first start in a Tour event came in 2016 at the Puerto Rico Open. That week, he said his goal was to make the cut and he spent too much time paying attention to the cut line instead of where the leaders were.
He missed the cut by one shot.
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This week, the objective is simple.
“I would be lying if I told you my goal wasn’t to win this week,” Frankie said. “I try to hold myself to a high standard, and my dad always says if you’re not winning, you’re learning. So really no matter what happens this week, I’m — it’s going to be a special week.”
There’s also risk for Frankie in missing out on playing the Korn Ferry Tour this week, as he’s unable to earn points to help get him inside the top 30. He said he spoke with Kevin Dougherty about the decision on whether to accept the exemption and what the best move was.
Frankie said he’s not worried, however, because he knows he can have a strong finish down the stretch. He’s hoping the hometown 3M Open helps push him to the PGA Tour full-time.
“I’ve always dreamed of competing in this tournament, so when the opportunity came to life, I figured I really couldn’t pass it up,” Frankie said.
