Tag: Matt Atkins

Meet the content creators battling at The Q at Myrtle Beach for PGA Tour sponsor exemption

Who’s going to come out on top?

Some of the top content creators in golf battling it out for a spot at an official PGA Tour event? Yeah, it’s happening next month.

The Monday qualifer for the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic is called The Q at Myrtle Beach and it will feature 16 players competing for a sponsor exemption into the tournament at Dunes Golf and Beach Club in South Carolina.

The Myrtle Beach Classic, a new event on the Tour schedule in 2024, will be played May 9-12 and will feature a purse of $3.9 million, with 300 FedExCup points awarded to the champion. It’s an opposite-field event held the same week as the Wells Fargo Championship.

The Q at Myrtle Beach field includes 16 players, many with ties to South Carolina, including eight of the most prominent golf content creators.

All professional and amateur competitors meet the PGA Tour tournament regulations for sponsor exemptions and will be eligible if they qualify.

The 18-hole shootout will be March 4 at TPC Myrtle Beach. It will be closed to the public, but a 90-minute video will be released on Play Golf Myrtle Beach’s YouTube page on April 23, and the content creators will post videos on their respective channels documenting their experiences.

Here’s a look at the 16 golfers playing in The Q at Myrtle Beach:

Ludvig Aberg leads, Matt Atkins gets emotional among 5 things from Friday at 2023 RSM Classic

Another week, another strong start for Sweden’s Aberg.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Another week, another strong start for Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.

The rookie sensation and European Ryder Cupper didn’t turn pro until after the NCAA Championship in May but won in September on the DP World Tour and has been threatening to do the same on the PGA Tour. He’s down to his last chance before the calendar flips as he grabbed the 36-hole lead at the RSM Classic on Friday with a bogey-free 6-under 64 at the Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course.

“I consider myself very, very fortunate to be in this position and I view it as a privilege to be able to feel that kind of pressure and tension and nervousness,” he said. “It’s not something that I want to back down from. I want to keep doing what I’m doing and hit good golf shots and make putts.”

2023 RSM Classic
Ludvig Aberg plans a shot from the 16th tee during the second round of the 2023 RSM Classic on the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Aberg drained a 20-foot birdie putt at the last to take a one-stroke lead over Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy and Sam Ryder at 11-under 131. It marked Aberg’s first 36-hole lead or co-lead and lowest opening 36-hole score in what is his 11th start on Tour as a professional. How comfortable does he feel being in front?

“I think I’ve been in the lead a few times, and every time you do it, it gets easier,” he said.

Here are four more things to know about the second round of the RSM Classic.

RSM Classic Monday qualifier: Car headlights used in playoff

The Monday qualifier for the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event till we get to Hawaii in January, had a pretty amazing finish.

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The Monday qualifier for the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event until we get to Hawaii in January, had a pretty amazing finish.

Cole Miller, Kyle Reifers and Jinho (Henry) Chung all shot rounds of 64, but there was an 8-for-1 playoff to decide the fourth and final spot.

That’s when darkness started to fall on Brunswick Country Club in Brunswick, Georgia, but they played on, in hopes of getting it all settled that night.

RSM Classic: Tee times | Odds | Fantasy

In the end, it was Matt Atkins who came out on top to earn a spot in the RSM, which starts on Thursday in Sea Island, Georgia.

The best part: Headlights from a car were used to illuminate the green so they could finish the qualifier.

Luke Guthrie was one of the seven ousted in the playoff, as he three-putted the third playoff under those conditions. And can you blame him?

After losing his PGA Tour status in 2018, Atkins posted two top-25 finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour last season. This will be his 24th PGA Tour start. He’s made eight cuts.

Atkins will kick things off on the first tee on the Plantation course alongside Chris Baker and Michael Gellerman at 11:05 a.m. on Thursday.

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