Tag: LECOM Suncoast Classic

Photos: Miles Russell, 15, becomes youngest to make cut on Korn Ferry Tour at Lecom Suncoast Classic 2024

What a week for Miles.

Miles Russell, 15, is already a decorated amateur golfer. But after two rounds of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, he’s made history.

After rounds of 68-66, Russell is now the youngest player ever to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour.

On Friday, Russell made two eagles on his front nine, one at the par-4 fourth and another at the par-5 ninth. Once he made the turn, he birdied Nos. 10 and 11 before a bogey at 13.

His second-round 5-under 66 has him tied for 26th after 36 holes and six shots back of the lead held by Brandon Crirk at 14 under.

Check out some of the best photos of Russell’s historic week below.

Morgan Hoffmann, in continued comeback from muscular dystrophy, contending on Korn Ferry Tour

Morgan Hoffmann’s journey is an incredible story.

Morgan Hoffmann’s journey is an incredible story. He can perhaps add yet another chapter to it this week.

Hoffmann, who was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy in 2017, has slowly but surely started playing golf again in an effort to return to the PGA Tour. The 34-year-old has played in 167 Tour events in his career and earned a little more than $6 million. Doctors told him he didn’t have much of a chance to live.

Now, he’s in contention on the Korn Ferry Tour heading to the weekend in his first full season back.

Hoffmann had nine birdies in a 7-under 64 on Friday at the Lecom Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. He sits at 13 under for the tournament, trailing only Brandon Crick by a shot going to Saturday.

“I’ve been knocking rust off since the beginning of the season,” Hoffmann said. “It feels really good to be back out here competing again. I’m very grateful to be here.”

Hoffmann has finished T-59 and T-52 in his two made cuts in five starts this season on the Korn Ferry Tour, but one weekend is enough to vault someone up the standings and into a position for a PGA Tour card.

His search for alternative treatments for his incurable disease took him around the world, eventually settling in Costa Rica. In 2017, Hoffmann and his wife, Chelsea, established the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation to help the fight against muscular dystrophy.

“The last two years have been a lot of ups and downs and working on health still,” Hoffmann said. “My goal is to get back on the PGA Tour. Let’s have a win, or start there. That’s a good goal.”

A 15-year-old on the Korn Ferry Tour this week started by going 4 under in five holes. Who is he?

When he was 3, he preferred watching Golf Channel to cartoons.

When he was 3, he preferred watching Golf Channel to cartoons. He reached the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals in 2018 as a 9-year-old. Last August, he won the boys division in the Junior PGA Championship. In November, he was named the boys junior golfer of the year by the AJGA.

Next stop for Miles Russell, now 15, is the Korn Ferry Tour.

At 6:07 a.m. ET on Thursday morning, Russell was on the 10th tee alongside Kamaiu Johnson and Daniel Wetterich in the Lecom Suncoast Classic in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. He was 4 under through his first five holes.

He’s going to get out of school work for two days this week in his hometown of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, to play in his first PGA Tour-sanctioned event. The freshman, who’s been home-schooled for three years now, is in the field on a sponsor exemption.

He was oh-so-close to earning his way into a PGA Tour event, falling in a playoff for the Puerto Rico Classic.

TPC Sawgrass
Miles Russell takes a picture at the 2023 Junior Players Championship with Akshay Bhatia and fellow junior golfer Nancy Cox.

“I don’t know what to expect, but I’d love to make the cut and who knows, maybe have a good weekend and see where it puts me,” Russell said Tuesday when he played a practice round with Roberto Diaz, Sam Saunders and Rob Oppenheim.

Russell is the third-youngest golfer to play a Korn Ferry Tour event. He’s the fifth under the age of 16 to compete there, joining Michelle Wie West, Esteban Jaramillo, Greg Lavoie and Carter Jenkins, who is now a current Korn Ferry Tour member.

Mac Meissner eagles final hole, cards a 59 at Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic

“I mean, definitely a little bit shocked right now.”

Heading into Friday’s second round at the Lecom Suncoast Classic, Mac Meissner was facing a missed cut.

Eighteen holes later, he’s in the record books.

Meissner carded a 12-under 59 during the second round at Lakewood National’s Commander Course in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, the eighth sub-60 round in Korn Ferry Tour history. He vaulted more than 100 spots up the leaderboard and was only four shots behind leader Kevin Daugherty after the morning wave.

“Based on how yesterday went, I didn’t expect today to go as it did,” Meissner said. “Didn’t hit it great, did not putt very well. I was hoping I could just sneak in the cut and ended up shooting 59. I mean, definitely a little bit shocked right now. That’s my first one ever, and to do it in competition is pretty insane.”

The 24-year-old from Charleston, South Carolina, lost in a playoff against Sam Saunders and Pierceson Coody in Panama earlier this year, and his best round of the season coming in was a 67.

In fact, Saunders was the last person to shoot in the 50s on the Korn Ferry Tour, coming in 2017 at the Tour Championship.

His day started on the back nine, where he birdied two of his first three holes and then three of his last four to turn in 5-under 30. Meissner started the back nine with a pair of pars before birdieing four straight. After a par on 16, he went birdie-eagle to card a 7-under 29 on the back and signed for a 59.

“I’ve had a few 61s, a 60, so been around there, but actually never had a putt for 59,” Meissner said. “That was cool to have one on 18, or on 9. It was kind of a tough putt and I just made a good-sized one on 8 and I was like, ‘Why not?’ It rolled in right in the middle, that was pretty crazy.”

Meissner sits tied for third at 12 under par with Chris Gotterup after the morning wave.

Heading into Saturday, Meissner hopes he can continue the momentum.

“Yesterday I made two birdies, didn’t hit — hit it to a bunch of fringes, just felt like I was close, couldn’t really get the ball on the right side of the hole,” he said. “I just kind of shot a really average even par round out here. That just goes to show you that every day’s different. You wake up, you never know what can happen. I’m just super fortunate to be able to do this in a tournament.”

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=]

Despite bogey on 18, Byeong Hun An wins Lecom Suncoast Classic on Korn Ferry Tour

He twice previously lost a playoff on the PGA Tour but now he has a win on the Korn Ferry Tour.

He’s played in the Olympics (2016) and a Presidents Cup (2019). He was close to winning twice on the PGA Tour before falling short in a playoff. He does have three international wins but on Sunday, Byeong Hun An broke through with a win at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic, his first win anywhere in seven years.

An carded a final-round 69 which included a bogey on the final hole at Lakewood National GC Commander in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. His four-day total of 17-under 267 (65-66-67-69) was good enough to win by a shot over a foursome of Seonghyeon Kim, Scott Harrington, Ben Griffin and MJ Daffue.

Eight other golfers tied for sixth at 15 under, including Michael Gellerman, whose double-bogey 6 on 18 proved costly. Gellerman started the day with his first 54-hole lead on the Korn Ferry Tour in 65 starts.

The Korn Ferry Tour takes a month off before returning with back-to-back events in Louisiana at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in Broussard and the Lake Charles Championship.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

How a former college superstar used a breakthrough week on Sungjae Im’s bag to kickstart his own pro career

Choi was a three-time All-American at North Carolina State. He’s now playing on the Korn Ferry Tour.

LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — Albin Choi turned last year’s LECOM Suncoast Classic into a major stepping stone in his return to playing professional golf.

The 29-year-old from Toronto shot a 66 in the Monday qualifier one year ago to earn a berth in the field of 144. He responded by firing a first-round, 9-under 62 to tie the tournament’s 18-hole record before eventually finishing in a tie for 14th place.

“It was a good week for me,” said Choi, who is back at Lakewood National Golf Club this week for another crack at the title. “It just means a little more to me now.”

Choi is back on solid ground this time around following a tumultuous decade in his life.

Choi starred at North Carolina State, where he won nine collegiate titles and was a three-time All-American before turning pro in 2013. He was the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in the spring of 2013.

It was during his college career in 2011 that his mother Ericka took her own life.

“As far as the journey goes, it’s not something I saw coming or anyone else saw coming,” Choi said.

Choi soldiered on with his golf career, playing in 110 Korn Ferry tournaments with six top 10 finishes before the bottom fell out following the 2019 season. He lost his Korn Ferry playing status and suddenly found himself in some serious debt.

But Choi began the climb back by working as a caddie at the posh Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens. He was caddying as many as 36 holes per day, while he continued to work on his game.

Then Choi caught a break in 2020 when PGA Tour player Sungjae Im asked him to carry his bag for the Honda Classic. Im went on to win his first PGA title and Choi received 10% of Im’s $1.26 million paycheck, along with the base caddie rate and a healthy tip.

[vertical-gallery id=778028713]

The two had become friends in 2018 while playing together on the Korn Ferry Tour. Choi, who speaks fluent English and Korean, also served as Im’s translator, as well as caddie, for a period of five months.

His time as Im’s caddy enabled him to get back on his financial feet and allowed him the opportunity to resume his own playing career. It also offered him a unique view of the game at its highest level.

“From a learning perspective, it was one of the best experiences I could have had,” Choi said. “I had a front-row seat to see how the players prepare and how they go about their business, on and off the golf course. I am always trying to learn. I got to experience that.

“I knew a lot of the guys out there. I watched how hard they worked. It motivated me to work a little bit harder. Seeing the level of play out there was good for me to see.”

For now, Choi is simply glad to be back on the course, playing the game he cares so much about.

“I’m just happy to be here with everything that has been going on the last few years,” he said. “I have been given another chance to play and compete, so I can’t ask for anything more.

“I love playing. It’s something that I have always done. As long as my body allows me to play, I am just going to keep playing as long as I can.”

LECOM Suncoast Classic

WHAT: Regular stop on the Korn Ferry Tour, the path to the PGA Tour.
WHO: 144 golfers competing for 72 holes of stroke play.
WHEN: Today-Sunday.
WHERE: Lakewood National Golf Club (Commander course, par-71, 7,112 yards).
PURSE: $750,000 (top prize is $135,000).
TICKETS: $20 at the gate for adults, children under-17, active duty military, veterans and first responders are admitted free of charge with a valid ID.
PARKING: Free.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]