Tag: Puerto Rico Open

2024 Puerto Rico Open prize money payouts for each PGA Tour golfer

The first opposite-field event on the 2024 schedule had plenty of goodies up for grabs.

The Puerto Rico Open, the first opposite-field event on the PGA Tour’s 2024 schedule, didn’t have a Masters invite on the line but there were plenty of other goodies up for grabs.

The winner Sunday was Brice Garnett, who hadn’t won in six years. This victory was huge for him, as he earned a Tour card through 2026, 300 FedEx Cup points, a cash prize of $720,000 and a spot in this week’s $25 million Players Championship, which has the richest first-place check – $4.5 million – on the PGA Tour.

Barnes earned $436,000 for finishing runner-up. Those in the three-way tie for third took home $212,000.

Pos Player Score Earnings
1 Brice Garnett -19 $720,000
1 Erik Barnes -19 $436,000
T3 Victor Perez -18 $212,000
T3 Hayden Springer -18 $212,000
T3 Jimmy Stanger -18 $212,000
T6 Adrien Dumont de Chassart -17 $135,000
T6 Joe Highsmith -17 $135,000
T6 Ben Kohles -17 $135,000
9 Norman Xiong -16 $117,000
T10 Jackson Van Paris (a) -15 0
T10 Evan Harmeling -15 $93,000
T10 Austin Cook -15 $93,000
T10 Martin Laird -15 $93,000
T10 Matti Schmid -15 $93,000
T15 Henrik Norlander -14 $69,000
T15 Nico Echavarria -14 $69,000
T18 Rafael Campos -13 $53,000
T18 Richy Werenski -13 $53,000
T18 Ryo Hisatsune -13 $53,000
T18 Sam Stevens -13 $53,000
T18 Vince Whaley -13 $53,000
T23 Kevin Chappell -12 $32,333
T23 Mac Meissner -12 $32,333
T23 Troy Merritt -12 $32,333
T23 Aaron Rai -12 $32,333
T23 Michael Kim -12 $32,333
T23 Jacob Bridgeman -12 $32,333
T23 Aaron Baddeley -12 $32,333
T23 Cody Gribble -12 $32,333
T23 Tyler Duncan -12 $32,333
T32 Zecheng Dou -11 $20,520
T32 S.Y. Noh -11 $20,520
T32 Tommy Gainey -11 $20,520
T32 Fred Biondi -11 $20,520
T32 Pierceson Coody -11 $20,520
T32 Kevin Tway -11 $20,520
T32 Garrick Higgo -11 $20,520
T32 Kevin Streelman -11 $20,520
T32 Robert MacIntyre -11 $20,520
T32 Rico Hoey -11 $20,520
T42 Ben Silverman -10 $13,423
T42 Brandon Wu -10 $13,423
T42 Ben Martin -10 $13,423
T42 Harrison Endycott -10 $13,423
T42 Raul Pereda -10 $13,423
T42 Patrick Fishburn -10 $13,423
T42 Scott Piercy -10 $13,423
T49 Jim Herman -9 $9,973
T49 Chris Nido -9 $9,973
T49 Taiga Semikawa -9 $9,973
T49 Rasmus Hojgaard -9 $9,973
T49 Harry Hall -9 $9,973
T49 Joel Dahmen -9 $9,973
T55 Ben Griffin -8 $9,320
T55 Roger Sloan -8 $9,320
T55 Ryan Brehm -8 $9,320
T58 Ryan McCormick -7 $9,080
T58 Michael Gligic -7 $9,080
T58 Paul Haley II -7 $9,080
T61 Sangmoon Bae -6 $8,720
T61 Josh Teater -6 $8,720
T61 Sean O’Hair -6 $8,720
T61 Kyle Stanley -6 $8,720
T61 Tom Whitney -6 $8,720
T61 Chan Kim -6 $8,720
67 David Skinns -5 $8,440
T68 Austin Smotherman -4 $8,280
T68 Brian Stuard -4 $8,280
T68 Tyler Collet -4 $8,280
71 Chris Stroud -3 $8,120
72 Angel Ayora -2 $8,040

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Brice Garnett outlasts Erik Barnes in four-hole playoff at 2024 Puerto Rico Open, earns spot in the Players Championship

Garnett’s last win came six years ago.

The first opposite-field event of the 2024 PGA Tour season was a two-man race down the stretch that went to a lengthy playoff.

On one side was Erik Barnes, who turned pro in 2011 but was making just his 22nd PGA Tour start. On the other was Brice Garnett, who six years ago won his lone tournament, the 2018 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in the Dominican Republic. This was his 241st start.

In a social media post from 2020 that resurfaced Sunday, Barnes talked about taking a job as a Grocery Replenishment Specialist, with the shifts starting at 4 a.m., during COVID when playing opportunities diminished on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“It’s a nice way of saying ‘stock boy’,” he said at the time.

The duo were tied for the lead after regulation at 19 under, with both making par on the 630-yard par-5 18th. In the playoff, they each went par-birdie-par before Garnett drained a long right-to-left breaking putt for a birdie, leaving Barnes to match with a putt from the fringe for birdie but he ran it by the left.

That ended the longest playoff in tournament history as Garnett won for the second time on Tour, six years after his first. He earned $720,000 for the win as well as full exempt status on the PGA Tour through the 2026 season.

He also earned a spot in this week’s 2024 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Ben Kohles, Jimmy Stanger and Victor Perez, who shot a 65 Sunday, tied for third.

Amateur Jackson Van Paris, a junior at Vanderbilt playing in his first PGA Tour event, posted the low score in the final round, an 8-under 64. He was in 50th place to start the day but finished tied for 10th.

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Ben Kohles shoots career-best round, leads Puerto Rico Open with 18 holes to go

Ben Kohles last four starts? MC, MC, WD, MC.

In Ben Kohles last four starts, he has missed three cuts and withdrawn from the other tournament.

At the 2024 Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, he’s the solo leader with 18 holes to play.

Kohles shot the best score in relation to par, 9-under 63, in his PGA Tour career on Saturday. He had nine birdies and nine pars with a clean card to put himself in position for his first Tour victory.

“The last four events haven’t been great, but like we always say, I felt like I’ve been close,” Kohles said. “I don’t feel like I’ve been playing that bad. Like I said, I think I just needed something to kind of click.”

Click it did Saturday.

Kohles sits at 18 under for the tournament, leading Jimmy Stanger, Brice Garnett and Matti Schmid by two shots. Last year’s champion, Nico Echavarria, sits solo eighth at 13 under.

A year ago this week, Kohles won on the Korn Ferry Tour in Chile. He’s trying to go back-to-back, but this victory would mean even more.

The winner Sunday will earn a Tour card through 2026, a $720,000 winner’s check and 300 FedEx Cup points.

Lefty Joe Highsmith pulls in front on bunched-up Puerto Rico Open leaderboard

The Pepperdine grad is angling to be the 16th left-handed golfer to win on the circuit.

There were eight golfers tied atop the 2024 Puerto Rico Open leaderboard after the first round, which finished Friday because of a weather delay Thursday.

The bunched-up leaderboard continued through the second round, as four golfers – Matti Schmid, Kevin Streelman, Rafael Campos and Ryo Hisatune – shared the 36-hole lead at the Grand Reserve Golf Club until late in the day when Joe Highsmith got to 13 under before play was suspended for darkness for a second night in a row.

The Pepperdine grad making his eighth PGA Tour start is angling to be the 16th left-handed golfer to win on the circuit.

He went out in 32 after a birdie on No. 8 and an eagle on No. 9. After a bogey on 10, he birdied Nos. 11, 13 and 14 before his day was over.

This is the first opposite-field event of the season, and in addition to the $720,000 first-place prize, the winner will earn a spot in the 2024 Players Championship, if not already eligible, as well as a two-year PGA Tour exemption.

A 4-time winner and a PGA Tour rookie are tied for lead at stormy Puerto Rico Open

The Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club is the Tour’s first opposite-field event of the year.

Scott Piercy is a four-time PGA Tour winner. Joe Highsmith is a Tour rookie.

Piercy, 45, is nearly twice as old as Highsmith, 23. The duo are in vastly different stages of their career, but they’re tied for the led at the 2024 Puerto Rico Open after their 7-under 65 opening rounds.

The Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club is the Tour’s first opposite-field event of the year, and Thursday’s opening round didn’t finish because of afternoon storms that rolled through the area, forcing a suspension of play for more than two hours for the afternoon groups.

The first round was suspended with 54 players still needing to complete their rounds. Play will resume at 7:20 a.m. ET Friday, with round two scheduled to begin at 7:50 a.m. ET.

Piercy and Highsmith finished their rounds in the morning and are the overnight leaders.

“I think today was a lot of progress on the mental side,” Highsmith said of his opening round. “I felt like this year I just haven’t done a great job kind of just focusing and being like clear on what I’m trying to do out there. It’s been easy to get distracted with a lot of stuff out here.”

2024 Puerto Rico Open
Joe Highsmith plays his shot from the fourth tee during the first round of the 2024 Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club. (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Kevin Streelman was 6 under thru 14 when the horn sounded for the day, and he’s tied with Brice Garnett, Garrick Higgo and Erik Barnes at T-3.

Defending champion Nico Echavarria shot 4 under in the opening round and is T-17. Aaron Wise, in his first start since the 2023 U.S. Open, shot 4 over.

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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Ryan Gerard, who finished fourth last week after Monday qualifying, sits T-4 after 36 holes at 2023 Puerto Rico Open

Ryan Gerard is in the midst of a two-week stretch of golf that could change his life.

Ryan Gerard is in the midst of a two-week stretch of golf that could change his life.

Last week, the 23-year-old Monday qualified into the Honda Classic. He took home $411,600 after placing solo fourth. His finish also got him into this week’s alternate-field event, the Puerto Rico Open, where he sits T-4 at 8-under 136 heading into the weekend.

If Gerard finishes in a three-way tie for ninth or better, he’ll earn special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the season. That makes the next 36 holes at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, pressure-packed.

“I think when you really care about something, you sometimes make it harder on yourself than it needs to be,” Gerard said. “Sometimes I just have to take a step back and kind of try and see a bigger picture, try and really enjoy the little things about it.

“I mean, I’m playing in a PGA Tour event this week, I’m staying in a hotel on the beach, like there are a few things that are just really, really cool and the golf is just a bonus. It doesn’t define me. I want to be a great player, but the golf doesn’t define me as a person.

“I think since I’ve started to kind of realize that, it’s gotten a lot easier for me to just free up on the course. I still definitely want it really badly, so I’m putting in the effort and I’m really grinding out there. I think the combination of all those things have just put me in a good spot. When you’re hitting it well, good things happen.”

And if the North Carolina grad continues to hit it well this weekend, those good things will come.

Gerard and the pack are chasing Carson Young, who sits at 14 under after rounds of 63-67.

If Gerard wins, he would earn his way into the Players Championship next week. A top 10 would get him into the Valspar Championship in two weeks.

Nevertheless, he’s in the midst of a strong run that could spring him into more success.

“I feel like the last week and a half has been just a rollercoaster,” Gerard said. “I mean, just not really knowing what I’m getting into, playing well, quick turnaround, flying, it’s been really cool. I know I’m just lucky to be here and I know I’m playing well. I think I just take those two things in stride and just go have fun with it this weekend. I mean, if I keep playing well, I’ll be just fine.”

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This pro just had kidney stone surgery, but he’s feeling better after Monday qualifying and shining in Puerto Rico

The last few months have been painful for the former Duke University star off the course. He looked at ease on Thursday, though.

The last two years have been painful on the golf course for Ryan Blaum.

A 2005 first-team All-American from Duke University, Blaum and his wife picked up after years in Florida and moved back to North Carolina in 2021 after adopting a son, right in the middle of a PGA Tour season that saw him miss 10 of a dozen cuts.

The two-time PGA Tour Latinoamérica winner found his way into just a pair of PGA Tour events last season, making the cut at just the Mexico Open, where he made his lone Tour paycheck of $48,910

Quite a far cry from consecutive seasons in which he earned nearly $1 million a year on Tour in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

But the last few months have also been painful for Blaum off the course. He underwent kidney stone surgery in late January and wasn’t sure how he’d fare in his first PGA Tour start of this season when he made the trip to Puerto Rico this week.

“That kind of knocks you on your butt,” Blaum said of the surgery. “So I feel like I’m kind of just now feeling energetic again, just coming out of anesthesia and all the stuff they have you on afterwards.”

Blaum certainly didn’t appear to be suffering any ill effects on Thursday, as he fired a 68 in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club.

Blaum played his way into the event through a Monday qualifier at Wellington National Golf Course near West Palm Beach, Florida, using a 7-under 65 to gain entry.

He started just as hot on Thursday, posting birdies on two of the first four holes.

Blaum, who held Tour cards for three seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19, stayed consistent throughout the morning, posting identical 34s on the front and back to stay within a few shots of the early-wave leaders.

“It was nice there wasn’t any wind for the first five holes or so today so I was able to take advantage early,” Blaum said. “Then from there, in this kind of wind you have to stay patient, play to the fat side of the green and hopefully roll in a few putts and that’s what I did.”

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Ryan Brehm takes step towards first PGA Tour win with 36-hole lead at Puerto Rico Open

Brehm finds himself just two more days away from his first win on Tour.

What do you get when you mix 36 holes of bogey-free golf with a 3-3-3 second-round finish? The 36-hole lead at a PGA Tour event.

Midway through the 2022 Puerto Rico Open – an opposite-field event to the elevated Arnold Palmer Invitational – Ryan Brehm finds himself just two more days away from his first win on Tour and first victory since the 2019 LECOM Health Challenge on the Korn Ferry Tour. The 35-year-old fired a 5-under 67 on Friday, aided by a birdie-eagle finish at Grand Reserve Golf Club.

“It was kind of boring until the end,” said Brehm of his round. “I feel like I had to scramble quite a bit, had some difficult up-and-downs, got them up and down, made a few good putts for par, kept the momentum going and finished with a birdie-eagle, made a bomb on the last hole. You add it up, it’s pretty good.”

Michael Kim, Satoshi Kodaira and Max McGreevy are in hot pursuit, just one shot back at 10 under. Callum Tarren rounds out the top five at 9 under.

“As much as you want to take a giant leap at the start, I’m definitely one to take a lot of steppingstones, for sure,” said McGreevy, who fired his career-low on Tour on Friday with an 8-under 64. “This is just one of those in that direction that’s just going to gain more confidence for myself and for my game and I’m excited for the next steppingstone. Hopefully another low round tomorrow and keep building on those steppingstones and hopefully keep giving myself chances.”

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