Tour Archives | Fidelity Sports Group

Fidelity Sports clients Hank Lebioda and Brandon Matthews have received sponsor exemption invitations to compete in the PGA TOUR’s 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Presented by Mastercard.

Hank Lebioda is enjoying his sophomore season on the PGA TOUR in 2020. His season so far has been highlighted by a 3rd place at the Bermuda Championship and 17th place at The American Express. An Orlando native, 2020 will be Hank’s first time competing in his hometown PGA TOUR event which he attended regularly with his parents as a junior golfer. In 2019, the Lebioda family hosted a fundraiser at Bay Hill for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. The event played a large role in Hank and his family raising nearly $225,000 in 2019 for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundations.

An act of kindness that started it all.

How @B_Matthews12's compassionate gesture led to a sponsor's invitation into the @APinv. pic.twitter.com/IJExMMnNRk
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2020

Brandon Matthews will be making the first PGA TOUR start of his career at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational. The special invitation came on the heels of the story of Brandon’s kindness, compassion and sportsmanship during the 2019 Argentina Open. The tournament committee felt the act was in the spirit of Mr. Palmer and were gracious enough to extend the invitation.

It has been quite the professional golf career for Will Wilcox, and in some ways, it’s just getting started – again.

Wilcox is back on the course after eight months of sitting on the sidelines with an injured wrist. He’s also newly engaged, fresh off of three months living and trying to work on his game at the stunning Carambola Golf Club on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands thanks to General Manager Michael Wysocki and Director of Golf Kevin Ferris.

A former TOUR player, Alabama amateur star, winner on both the Mackenzie Tour (2010) and Korn Ferry Tour (2013), and member of both the 59 club (final round, 2013 Utah Championship) and the ace club on the par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass’ PLAYERS Stadium Course, it has been quite the ride for Wilcox over the last decade.

But now it’s time to see what’s next, and how he can get back to the biggest stage in golf. Through two events on the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour schedule, he’s showing no signs of lingering pain issues, after finishing T16-T13 at the two events in the Bahamas.

Wilcox, who in the spirit of living the good life is attending Tuesday night’s Tool concert in Atlanta before flying to the Panama Championship on Wednesday, spent a few minutes with PGA TOUR Digital to chat about returning from injury, his recent engagement, his inspirational mom, and more.

You’re coming back from a long time away due to injury. How are you feeling?

Starting the year on a medical is always nerve-wracking. But in September I had a plan to go to St. Croix, again, which had always been my recipe for success. In 2013, the year I got my Korn Ferry Tour card, I spent 90 days there, and (in 2019) I spent 100 days there. I was in St. Croix training and living on an island … it was all about preparation.

Before, I got my card and I became a couch potato. I got my card and I got lazy. I had some good years being lazy (laughs) so I thought I could continue that, but now that I’ve started to work hard, my game is back and I’m hitting it as good as I ever had and I’ve only had two three-putts (this year). I knew if I worked hard, the nerves of having not competed since May would be less.

It all comes down to how bad you want it.

What was the injury that caused you to sit on the sidelines for as long as you did?

I have arthritis and I have a cyst. There’s still a pretty significant … it looks like a horn on my right wrist, if I flex it. Just favoring the thumb a little bit. If I eat the wrong foods, it gets inflamed. You’ll get inflammation if you’re not exercising. All I was doing was hitting balls, so that was putting a ton of pressure on my hands. I wasn’t doing the off-course things to keep an injury like that at bay. It was so painful towards the end and I went and got it checked in Atlanta. I didn’t have a lot of padding in (my wrist) anymore, it was almost bone-on-bone – the cartilage had been reduced drastically. Once I got a cortisone shot and started doing rehab on it and working on my body, the inflammation went down, and luckily I didn’t have to have any procedures.

I took a good bit of time off, but in September I resumed getting after it.

Your mom is the longtime women’s golf coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham; how much impact has she had on your life?

She’s since had a career change; she now works in administration at UAB, so now she doesn’t have to travel as much. But she was the women’s coach for 17 years from 2001 to 2018. She started the year Graeme McDowell left, in 2001. She had a good run but before that she managed a golf club and ran junior tournaments in Alabama and the southeast. First I was playing in all the tournaments and then I was running them with her. She’s always kept an eye on (my swing) and she’s the reason I play.

What is your relationship like now?

She’s the reason I play golf. I think about my hometown and both the courses I grew up playing are now closed. It’s very scarce for the county I lived in – there’s no way to cultivate a talent from there anymore. I’m just so fortunate that my mom ran the only 18-hole course in the county and that was from age 6 to 17, so all I did was ride with her to work every day. Literally, that’s all I did. Summertime she was out the door at 6:45 and I was in the car. I got free golf in a place that no longer has golf. Had I been born 10 years later, from where I grew up, I would have never had a chance to do anything in golf. She’s the reason for everything.

When did you know, after growing up playing so much golf, that golf was a career path you could go down?

When I got a full ride, a (Division I scholarship). I know that’s not the be-all, end-all but I was really small and I was competing against kids like Patton Kizzire. He was 6-4, 200 pounds when we were 18 and I was probably 5-8, 105 pounds. I was the smallest kid on the golf team by a mile. I won nine times in two years (at UAB; Kizzire played at Auburn) and then I won the Alabama Amateur. A great friend of mine, Tim Jackson, approached me about backing me. I won the Alabama Amateur in 2008 and Tim came to me that summer and said (he’d back me) after my senior year, at 22; I knew I was at least able to play for four years and give it my best run. That’s a huge opportunity. That guy took me to golf tournaments as a kid – I’ve known him my whole life.

Why and how did you decide on St. Croix? Can you describe the relationship between person and place?

I played the U.S. Youth Games there in 2000 and I got seven days to go down to St. Croix, of all places. It was a basketball showcase, but they have a golf team. It’s very poorly run, the golf tournament side (laughs) but the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said they were going to make a golf team that year and bring the best junior in the area. I was 15 at the time. I really liked it. The course is a Robert Trent Jones design. In 2005 my best friend, who caddied for me last week – it’s his dad who has been my lifelong banker – and he moved to St. Croix after he graduated from Alabama. He lived there for six years and I turned pro shortly after. I needed to get out, get away, and just focus on golf and I had a free place to stay (in St. Croix). The golf course was free. This offseason, they hardly made me pay for a Gatorade. I probably played 100 rounds there this offseason. They love me there – my golf bag is in the pro shop. There are only 90 members so everyone knows me and it’s cool; there’s a sense of pride when I come down there.

You just got engaged. How did you guys meet and what’s the story of the engagement?

I met her last November. I played golf with Shelby (Wilcox’s fiancée), Vince Covello, and Spencer Brown – a friend of his. There was a connection through the Peach Belt Conference. It was kind of a blind date, but via a round of golf. That was the foursome. A kid named Jack Clark had played golf at Clayton State while (Shelby) played golf at Columbus State and they became friends through just playing golf in the same conference and living only 80 miles apart. Jack walked THE PLAYERS Championship in 2016 with me, he was inside the ropes, and he came back and was talking to her and was talking me up. He was saying I was a nice guy! When a past relationship didn’t work, I hit up Jack and asked, ‘Where is Shelby at?’ (laughs). We decided to play a round of golf. She’s got a master’s (degree) and is a really good golfer in her own right. We have a lot of things in common and I proposed December 23 and she’s pretty excited. It wasn’t an elaborate proposal; I’m not too much of a romantic.

But she said yes, and that’s all that matters.

Oh yeah, we’re on the same page.

Describe what a perfect day looks like for you?

I’d be in St. Croix. Wake up early, because the sunrises are ridiculous. Go out to the golf course and play, then hit all the spots on the island – which is kind of what we do. I don’t do it every day, but a day we’d do that and see friends and hang out and (go to) restaurants. You have to throw some beach in there. Golf course, straight to the beach to chill out and have a beer or two, then we’d do the restaurant circuit.

Mark Blakefield carried momentum into the first event of the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour season and led FSG clients with a 9th place finish at the Great Exuma Classic.

After a 7th place finish at Final Stage of Q-School in Orlando, Florida and a short break for the holidays and some beloved University of Kentucky basketball, Blakefield was off to Exuma, Bahamas for The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. Rounds of 68-78-68-71 in incredibly difficult conditions with wind between 20 and 30 miles per hour each day made for a fantastic start to the season. The 9th place finish earned Blakefield $15,900 and 78 points to start the season. The Top 25 points earners at the end of the regular season earn their PGA TOUR cards for the 2020-2021 season.

Blakefield was joined in Exuma by FSG clients Justin Lower, Will Wilcox, Wade Binfield, Grant Hirschman and Charlie Saxon.

T11–Justin Lower (75-72-70-62)

T16–Will Wilcox (71-73-69-74)

T34–Wade Binfield (75-73-72-73)

T58–Grant Hirschman (75-71-72-81)

This week the #fidelityfam travels north to the popular island of Nassau, Bahamas for the Great Abaco Classic. The tournament was moved to Nassau and the Baja Mar resort after Abaco was destroyed in September 2019 by Hurricane Dorian.

the most compelling story of the golf weekend was actually playing out in a Latinoamérica event in Buenos Aires.

You might not be aware, but the winner of Visa Open de Argentina gets an annual exemption into The Open Championship.

Having just watched Ricardo Celia drain a 30-footer for birdie in their two-man playoff, Brandon Matthews had an 8-foot putt to force a fourth extra hole and keep an invite to Royal St. George’s in play.

“I got over the putt, took the putter back and heard kind of a yelp or a scream,” Matthews told GolfChannel.com Monday, fresh off a nine-hour return trip to Tequesta, Florida.

“I kind of flinched on the putt and immediately knew I missed it.”

Matthews, who turned pro in 2016 after a college career at Temple, who won on the Latin America circuit in 2017, and who played the last two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, spent this fall remaking his golf swing after a “a really rough” summer. Back issues led to mental struggles and three months of disappointment. From the Kansas City Classic in May to the regular-season-ending Ellie Mae Classic in August, Matthews either withdrew or missed the cut in 11 consecutive KFT events. Just a few weeks into work with a new swing coach, he failed to advance out of the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School.

Swing changes finally paid off last week in the form of a tie for fifth at the Nequen Argentina Classic. And now here he was, in a head-to-head, sudden-death playoff for the right to make his first start in a major championship – until someone yelled in his backswing.

“I thought someone had done it intentionally. I was frustrated. Really, I was in shock that that just happened,” said Matthews, who immediately turned around and gestured to the gallery.

While Celia was doused with water on the green, an upset Matthews headed to the locker room, where he was approached by Claudio Rivas, PGA Tour Latinoamérica’s tournament administration manager.

“‘Listen, we are so sorry,'” Rivas said, per Matthews. “‘It’s a terrible situation, but here’s the deal.'”

Rivas then told Matthews that it was a fan with Down Syndrome who had made the noise in his backstroke. He had gotten excited and lost control of his emotions.

And as soon as Rivas gave him those details, Matthews answered: “Take me to him.”

“His switch – his face changed. He almost broke into tears,” Rivas told GolfChannel.com after he landed back in Florida on Monday afternoon.

As Matthews grew up, his mother Donna worked to manage group homes and his best friend had a sister who also had Down Syndrome.

“I was around mental disability growing up, and I have a soft spot in my heart for it. Those are really special people,” he said. “I felt so terrible that I was even upset. I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t feel bad.”

With Rivas helping to translate, Matthews met with the fan, gave him a hug and signed a glove.

“I gave him a hug and I asked him, ‘Hey, are you doing OK? Are you having fun?’ I just wanted to make sure he was enjoying himself, that he had no hard feelings, that he didn’t feel bad about what happened,” Matthews said. “I didn’t want to anyone to be mad at him. I didn’t want him to be mad at himself. I wanted to make sure he knew that I wasn’t mad. That’s all I wanted to do.”

“He was very happy,” Rivas added, referring to the fan. “His name is Juan. [Matthews said], ‘I am sorry. I hope you enjoyed the golf. This is for you. Thank you.’ That’s basically what he told him.”

For now, Matthews isn’t headed to Royal St. George’s, but he will have a tour card next year. He managed to lock up full Latinoamérica status for 2020 on the strength of his T-5 and runner-up finishes in Argentina.

But, for Matthews, what happened Sunday superseded winning or losing or any other career concerns.

“Some things are bigger than golf,” he said, “and this was one of them.”

Hank Lebioda posted a career-best 3rd Place finish on the PGA TOUR at the inaugural Bermuda Championship at the Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda.

Lebioda opened the tournament with rounds of 66-70-67 prior to posting a PGA TOUR career low 63 on Sunday which included eight birdies and no bogies. The 3rd place finish moved Hank to 74th in the Fed Ex Cup Standings and an automatic entry in the Mayakoba Championship in Cancun, Mexico November 14th thru 17th. From there, Hank will also compete at the RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia November 21-24 to finish out his fall schedule on the PGA TOUR.

Mission Accomplished. Hank Lebioda headed to the three-week Korn Ferry Tour finals to improve his status for the 2019/2020 PGA TOUR schedule. which will be Hank’s sophomore season.

In his rookie campaign on the PGA TOUR, Hank finished 148th in the Fed Ex Cup. Hank played 23 events, making 15 cuts which were highlighted by three Top 25 finishes and a 5th place at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The finish in the Fed Ex Cup provided Hank with conditional status for the 2019/2020 season which would most likely provide Lebioda with between 12 and 17 starts.

In an effort to improve that status, Hank headed to the Korn Ferry Tour Playoff series where the Top 25 in the series earn their PGA TOUR cards for the following year. After missing the cut at the first event in Columbus, Ohio, Hank rattled off 11th and 19th place finishes in Boise, Idaho and the Tour Championship in Evansville, Indiana to finish 19th in the Playoffs and secure his card again for his sophomore campaign.

Hank will start the 2019/2020 season next week at the Greenbrier Classic, followed by the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and the Safeway Open in Napa, California.

Michael Gellerman enjoyed the biggest win of his professional golf career this spring in Kansas City, and now he is going to get a chance to compete against the best players in the game.

Gellerman, who grew up in Sterling, Kansas, qualified to play on the PGA Tour next season by finishing 21st in this season standings on the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour.

Gellerman used a victory in the KC Golf Classic in May as a springboard to getting his PGA Tour card. He got to play in front of his parents and fiancee as well as a lot of friends in Kansas City while winning by 1 stroke over Harry Higgs and Nelson Ledesma, who also earned spots on the PGA Tour for next season.

“It was really, really exciting,” Gellerman said. “I won on Mother’s Day, so that was a pretty cool moment. I had a lot of support that week and was lucky enough to get it done.”

That victory helped Gellerman achieve a goal he had for a long time.

“I’ve always played very competitively,” he said. “I played a lot growing up. I always knew making the PGA Tour was my dream.”

While Gellerman has made that happen now, he learned a lesson in overcoming adversity several years earlier.

Gellerman broke both of his wrists while playing pickup basketball during his freshman year at Sterling High School. He missed the regular season but was ready to for the regional, which he won before going on to capture the first of his three state high school crowns.

Gellerman went on to play in college at Oklahoma before turning pro. While things didn’t always go smoothly for Gellerman, he realized that making the PGA Tour was a possible reality once he got to the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour).

“I figured out I am pretty close and that if I could get a little bit better and mature, it could happen,” he said. “Sure enough I have had a pretty good year this year and will get my crack at it.”

Gellerman, 27, said he was excited that he showed signs of improvement from the past this year. His season included three top-25 finishes in 21 regular-season Korn Ferry Tour events, highlighted by his triumph in Kansas City.

“It’s tough. It’s such a long season,” Gellerman said. “You are going to have ups and downs. You just hope you can take advantage of your ups. Fortunately I did that this year.”

Gellerman said ball striking is the best part of his game, but he finds it hard to be consistent.

“The days that are really good, I make a few more putts,” he said. “The days that are average, I just can’t get the putts to go in as often.”

Gellerman said he was thrilled to be making the PGA Tour at the same time as Higgs. Gellerman said they played a lot of junior golf together and competed against each other some in high school and college. Higgs graduated from Blue Valley North in Overland Park and attended SMU.

“We’ve become better friends now than we have ever been” Gellerman said. “We stay together on the road a pretty decent amount. It’s been pretty cool to share some success. He’s had a phenomenal year.”

Higgs said that he and Gellerman have a very similar approach to life as well as golf.

“When we are away from the course, we want to get away from the course and relax and recharge,” Higgs said.

Higgs won the Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship last month in Springfield, Missouri, and finished fifth in the season standings to qualify for the PGA Tour.

“He’s played great all year long, which is pretty hard to do,” Gellerman said. “I was pretty excited for him when he won a couple of weeks ago in Springfield.”

While Gellerman has wrapped up his spot on the PGA Tour, he hasn’t set any goals for that yet. He’s concentrating on Korn Ferry Tour’s playoffs.

“I am sure when I get a little time, maybe on a flight in a couple of weeks, I will give it some more thought,” he said.

Story written by Kansas City Star

Tim Petrovic notched his fourth top 3 finish at a Major Championship in the last two years. Petrovic fired rounds of 74-68-67-68 to finish third place at Royal Lytham and St. Annes for the 2019 Senior Open Championship.

The finish comes on the heels of a second-place finish in Petrovic’s last start on PGA Tour Champions at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship where he was runner up to Retief Goosen.

The back-to-back Top 3 Major Championship finishes move Petrovic to 22nd in the Charles Schwab Points season-long points race.

Grant Hirschman posted a career-best 4th place finish while Wade Binfield finished 15th, punching his ticket to the Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs.

Korn Ferry Tour rookie Grant Hirschman fired rounds of 63-68-67-72 to finished in a tie for fourth place at the Price Cutter Charity Championship in Sprinfield, Missouri. The event was Hirschman’s thirteenth start of the 2019 season after starting the year with conditional status. Hirschman was a member of PGA Tour Canada in 2018 after a stand-out career at the University of Oklahoma where he was a three-time All-American and captain of the 2017 National Championship golf team.

The fourth place marked the best finish on Tour for Hirschman, and his first Top Ten of the season. Vaulting up the Points List, Grant stands at 95th with two regular season events remaining, this week at the Ellie Mae Classic in Hayward, California and then on to the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz. A move inside the Top 75 by the completion of the Portland Open will get Hirschman into the Playoffs while remaining 76-100 on the Points List will maintain status for his rookie season.

Another solid week in Springfield was in store for Wade Binfield. Playing his first full season as a member of the Korn Ferry Tour, Wade has been the model of consistent play. Price Cutter marked Binfield’s 19th start of the season, highlighted by five Top 15 finishes which include Top 10s in Abaco, Bahamas and Savannah, Georgia.

In Springfield, Binfield fired rounds of 69-66-69-70 to finish in a tie for 15th place. The finish moves him to 55th in the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, guaranteeing him a spot in the Playoffs, for the first time in his career. The Playoffs begin in Columbus, Ohio August 15th-18th.

Tim Petrovic finished in 2nd place at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio over the weekend. The finish comes on the heels of Runner-Ups in 2018 Major Championships including the US Senior Open and Senior PGA Championship.

Petrovic fired rounds of 71-68-69-68 in the event to post his best finish of the 2019 season, and move him to 28th in the Charles Schwab Cup Standings.

Michael Gellerman finished tied for third at the inaugural TPC Colorado Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour over the weekend. After a win at the KC Golf Championship in May the finish in Colorado places Michael on the verge of securing his PGA Tour membership for the 2019/2020 season.

Gellerman shot rounds of 74-66-64-71 to finish in a tie for third place. He is back in action this week on the Korn Fery Tour at the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha, Nebraska.

Michael is sponsored by Srixon Cleveland Golf, Bettinardi Putters, Syndeo Outsourcing and Nike (shoes).

Charlie Saxon posted a career best 3rd place finish on Sunday at the Utah Championship in Farmington, Utah on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Saxon, the all time leading money winner on PGA Tour China, saw great advancements in his short game during the week which was the difference in the stellar performance. Known as one of the longest and best ball strikers on Tour, chipping was a weakness that Charlie has worked diligently on all season.

Rounds of 66-73-64-68 provided a third place finish for Saxon at Farmington Country Club. Charlie put himself in a position to be in a playoff for the win with a birdie on the 72nd hole but his putt just slid by.

Charlie is back in action this week at the Lecom Health at the Peak n Peek Resort in Findley Lake, New York this week.

Hank Lebioda and Brian Richey continue to rattle of Top 20 finishes in recent weeks as they eye the playoffs in August.

PGA Tour rookie Hank Lebioda has finished in the Top 20 in three of his last five Tour starts including the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (5th), the Valero Texas Open (17th) and last week’s RBC Canadian Open (14th). The consistent performance has vaulted Lebioda inside the Top 125 on the Fed Ex Cup standings.

AVONDALE, LA – APRIL 28: Hank Lebioda plays his tee shot on the first hiole during the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 28, 2019 in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)

A long summer stretch on the PGA Tour of 6-7 consecutive starts awaits for Lebioda, starting with next week’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. The Fed Ex Cup Playoffs being August 5th-11th at the Northern Trust at Liberty National golf club in New Jersey.

GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS – MAY 23: Brian Richey hits his tee shot on the second hole during the first round of the Evans Scholar Invitational at the Glen Club on May 23, 2019 in Glenview, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

After a slow start to the Web.com Tour season, Brian Richey has turned the momentum in his favor. In his last seven starts, Brian has four top 25 finishes, two of which have also been inside the Top 7. Brian finished 19th at the Dormie Network Classic, 7th at the Knoxville Open, 21st at the Rex Hospital Open and 6th at the BMW Charity Pro-Am. Now 58th on the Web.com Tour points list, Brian will look to solidify his spot in the Top 75 for the Web.com Tour Playoffs which begin in August.

Michael Gellerman broke through with his first win on the Web.com Tour with a final-round 3-under 69 on Sunday at the KC Golf Classic. His 11-under total finished one stroke clear of 54-hole leader Nelson Ledesma and local favorite Harry Higgs at Blue Hills Country Club.

“You don’t know if it’s ever going to happen until it does,” said Gellerman on winning on Tour. “I thought if I played well at the right course that I could make it happen, but you’re never sure. It was just fun to battle down the stretch, not only with Harry, a good buddy, and Nelson, but to battle mentally with myself under the gun. It had been a while since I was in contention.”

Gellerman posted a bogey-free 69 during a long final round. Play was suspended due to rain and lightning in the area three separate times for a total of three hours and nine minutes. After teeing off at 9:01 a.m., he didn’t finish his round until after 5 p.m.

“The rain delays were tough,” said Gellerman. “The first one wasn’t too bad, the second one was kind of annoying, and the third one, with a lead and one hole left, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I tried to shut it down mentally during the delays. You can drive yourself crazy thinking about how there’s only four or five shots left to hit in a tournament, but you can’t control it.”

Just before the third rain delay, Gellerman got up and down for par at the 17th hole from what he described as a terrible position. The 26-year-old was deep in the rough about 40 yards out when he hit a pitch to seven feet and made the putt. The 17th hole played as the toughest hole on the course on Sunday.

“I hit it left on No. 17 to a really, really bad spot; it was awful,” said Gellerman, who finished second on the week in scrambling after converting 16 out of 20 chances. “I hit a decent recovery shot, and then I hit an incredible shot under the circumstances from about 40 yards out to about seven feet. I hit a pitch out of a thick rough with a lie that was hard to read, and then I hit the best putt I had all week dead center.”

Originally from Sterling, Kansas, a three-and-a-half-hour drive away, Gellerman had plenty of fan support throughout the tournament. The gallery included his parents, fiancée and friends, while his dog remained at the house down the road.

“Winning on Mother’s Day was great because I was kind of lacking on the presents, so I really needed to come in clutch down the stretch,” said Gellerman. “Having my fiancée and my mom here on Mother’s Day was awesome. I had my dad here who taught me the game and was really the only one to ever give me a lesson up until last year. It was really cool to have all of the support. Even my dog is here.”

Prior to his win, Gellerman had one top-10 finish in 42 starts on the Web.com Tour. His only previous top-10 was a T8 at the 2017 Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. He was coming off two straight top-30 finishes, but sat 75th in the Web.com Tour points standings. With the win, he rose to eighth in the points standings. He had never kept his Web.com Tour card prior to this year after competing for half a season in 2016 and a full season in 2017. He finished fifth on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s Order of Merit in 2018.

Gellerman was able to hold off Higgs and Ledesma through a dramatic back nine. With his last birdie coming at the par-5 13th, Higgs and Ledesma had chances to force a playoff down the stretch.

Higgs fired a final-round 68 and hit the flagstick from off the green on two of his last three holes. His birdie chip from 20 yards on No. 16 hit the flagstick and settled one foot away, while he hit it again with his approach from 167 yards out at the par-5 18th. He had a birdie look to force a playoff from seven feet away but lipped out off the right edge. Upwards of 100 people came out in the rain to follow Higgs, a former star at nearby Blue Valley North High School.

After notching a tournament-high 17 birdies through the first three rounds, Ledesma couldn’t buy a birdie on Sunday. He finished with a lone bogey at the fourth hole and 17 pars to finish one stroke shy of the playoff. The top-10 finish is his third of the year and his best finish since a win at the 2018 LECOM Health Challenge.

Hank Lebioda teamed up with Curtis Luck at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to post a 5th place finish. In the field on a sponsor’s invite, the Lebioda/Luck pairing made the most of the opportunity in the team format. Alternating between better-ball and alternate shot Thursday thru Sunday, the pair fired rounds of 67-66-64-71.

AVONDALE, LOUISIANA – APRIL 26: Curtis Luck of Australia and Hank Lebioda of the United States react to a putt on the first hole during the second round of the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana on April 26, 2019 in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Hank’s first Top 5 finish of his PGA Tour career moves him to 121st in the Fed Ex Cup ranking, in line for the Fed Ex Cup playoffs. Looking ahead, Hank will play the next two weeks at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina and the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship in Dallas, Texas.

Hank Lebioda has received a sponsor exemption to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA Tour’s team event in New Orleans April 25-29. Hank will team with Australian Curtis Luck, a former US Amateur champion and fellow PGA Tour rookie, for the week.

Sponsor exemptions are hyper-competitive and especially for a popular event such as The Zurich Classic. We decided to take a non-traditional and creative approach to petition the tournament to strongly consider the Lebioda/Luck team. We leveraged recent content by No Laying Up featuring the pair of rookies in a team event of their own.

We then took to Twitter and asking No Laying Up fans to send a tweet in support of Hank and Curtis receiving the exemption. The response was overwhelming positive, garnering over 40,000 impressions and hundreds of responses in twenty four hours.

Mission Accomplished, Hank and Curtis were awarded the exemption!

Wade Binfield finished birdie, birdie at the Savannah Championship on Sunday to notch his second Top 10 finish on the Web.com Tour Season in the first seven events of the season.

SAVANNAH, GA – MARCH 28: Wade Binfield hits a shot on the seventeenth hole tee box during the first round of the Web.com Tour Savannah Golf Championship at the Landings Club Deer Creek Course on March 28, 2019 in Savannah, Georgia. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR)

Rounds of 69-68-68-73 left Binfield in a tie for 9th place in Savannah. Binfield also finsihed 9th place at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January. Binfield moves to 29th on the Order of Merit as the Web.com Tour takes a two week break prior to the next event on the schedule in Prattville, Alabama.

Justin Lower also had a strong showing in Savannah, to back up his runner-up finish the prior week at the Louisiana Open. After making the cut on the number, Lower fired weekend rounds of 69-68 to move up to a final finish of 12th place Savannah. Lower is 13th on the Web.com Tour Order of Merit.

Other FSG clients making the cut in Savannah included Brian Richey, who finished 56th and Charlie Saxon who finished 65th. The Web.com Tour is back in action April 18-21 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship.

Justin Lower posted the best finish of his career over the weekend at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by Mistras. Lower returned to the Web.com Tour event on the heels of a victory on the All Pro Tour the weekend prior, shooting 26 under par, and a 3rd place finish at the Louisiana Open in 2018.

Lower fired rounds of 68-63-64 to take a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. At the completion of 72 holes, Lower signed for a one-under par 70 and was in a tie with Vince Covello. Covello birdied the third playoff hole to clinch the victory.

The runner-up finish was the best of Lower’s Web.com Tour career, and he moved to 13th on the Points List. At the end of the season, the Top 25 points earners earn their PGA Tour membership for the 2019-2020 season.

Bettinardi Golf is excited to announce the official signing of Michael Gellerman to a multi-year agreement to play their custom Bettinardi SS28 Armlock putter on the Web.com and PGA TOURs. Bettinardi Golf is off to a hot start in the 2018-2019 season with two wins by long-time brand advocate Matt Kuchar, and multiple top 10 finishes from their Tour Staff Haotong Li and Eddie Pepperell. In addition to signing Gellerman, Bettinardi has also recently added two top-ranked Mackenzie Tour players to their expanding tour staff late in 2018, George Cunningham and Sam Fidone, and European Tour star Eddie Pepperell, currently ranked 43rd in OWGR. Gellerman returns to action this week on the Web.com Tour at the Chitimacha Louisana Open.

Michael Gellerman put his Bettinardi SS28 Armlock putter into play during his 2018 season on PGA Tour Canada. He went on to have a fantastic season including five Top 6 finishes and two 2^nd place finishes in eleven events. Michael finished 5^th on the Order of Merit, securing Web.com Tour status for 2019. Michael returns to action on the Web.com Tour this week at the Chitimacha Louisana Open.

“The Bettinardi armlock putter has been a game-changer for my putting. Since switching, I have never felt more confident and I am excited to partner with the Bettinardi team and their great group of people” said Michael Gellerman.

“We are proud to welcome Michael Gellerman to the Bettinardi Tour Staff,” said Sam Bettinardi, Vice President of Bettinardi Golf. “he joins an already accomplished list of Bettinardi staffers who continue to climb the Official World Golf Rankings, and winning on a global scale. We are confident with our precision milled putters, and tour proven F.I.T. (Feel Impact Technology) Face milling, Michael will have successful campaigns on the Web.com and PGA TOUR.”

Since the brand was established in 1998, Bettinardi putters have secured more than 80 victories around the world across all professional Tours. Off to a hot start in the 2018-2019 season with two wins by long-time brand advocate Matt Kuchar, and multiple top 10 finishes from their Tour Staffers — Haotong Li and Eddie Pepperell, who finished T3 last week at The Players. Bettinardi precision mills all their putters in-house, including the 2018-19 BB-Series, 2019-2020 award-winning Studio Stock and Queen B series, which includes their eye-catching Queen B #6 putter, used to win the LPGA Season Finale in 2018. For more details on the Bettinardi putters & wedges visit www.bettinardi.com.

About Bettinardi Golf
All Bettinardi putters are designed and crafted under the discerning eye of founder and President Robert J. Bettinardi and Sam Bettinardi outside of Chicago, Illinois at their state of the art manufacturing center in Tinley Park. With over 80 worldwide Tour victories and counting, Bettinardi putters have been precision milled for 20 years. For more information please visit www.Bettinardi.com

Charlie Saxon is set to make his first start as a member on the 2019 European Tour this week in Doha, Qatar at the Qatar Masters.

Charlie earned his European Tour membership by finishing #1 on the China Tour Order of Merit in 2018, thanks to victories in the first two events of the season and a sixth place finish an event co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour.

Charlie is also a full status member of the 2019 Web.com Tour, so balancing a global schedule has been a new experience for the young professional. Qatar will mark the fifth country that Charlie was competed in during 2019 with previous starts on the Web.com Tour taking place in the Bahamas, Colombia, Panama and the United States.

Charlie plans to return to the Web.com Tour for the Chitimacha Louisana Open March 18-24 followed by the Savannah Golf Championship the following week.

No Laying Up and Fidelity Sports have collaborated to assemble the “Young Hitters” Program on the Web.com Tour. The team of five rising FSG clients on the Web.com Tour will represent NLU for the season and work with the brand to help tell their story, develop unique content and track their progress towards the PGA Tour in 2020.

Tour Edge announced today that Tim Petrovic has officially signed a deal to endorse Tour Edge Exotics and to play their metalwoods on the PGA Tour Champions in 2019. Petrovic will feature Tour Edge Exotics logos on his headwear and shirts.

“I am excited to rejoin the Tour Edge team and wear the Tour Edge logo in 2019. My success last year was largely due to the reliability and performance of my Exotics clubs. They always came through when I called upon them leading me to 5 second place finishes on the Champions Tour.”

Petrovic served as an Exotics CBX staff player in 2018. He played Tour Edge Exotics CBX fairway woods, hybrids and iron-woods all year en route to a career year.

Petrovic finished 9^th in the final Charles Schwab Cup points and money standings in 2018 while playing two Exotics CBX fairway woods and two Exotics CBX Iron-Woods, as well as an Exotics CBX hybrid from time to time.

Petrovic earned six Top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour Champions, but five out of those six Top 10’s were runner-up finishes, including high-profile 2^nd place finishes at the major KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, the major U.S. Senior Open Championship and the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He finished in the Top 25 in 12 of the 23 events he played in 2018.

This year, Petrovic will be wearing Tour Edge Exotics logoed headwear and sporting a Tour Edge Exotics logo on his chest for the first time and will also expand his club usage to other categories with Tour Edge Exotics clubs.

“What a year Tim Petrovic had last year on the PGA Tour Champions,” said Tour Edge President David Glod. “He proved that he can hang with anyone out there and that he is a force to be reckoned with. He is one of the players bringing a new competitive and fiery spirit to the PGA Tour Champions and we are proud to have signed Tim to a deal where he can show off that he is playing our clubs while he is out there competing. A saying we have around the office whenever he tees off is ‘Go Low Petro’ and we look forward to saying that a lot this year!”

Petrovic will make his season debut February 8^th at the Oasis Championship in Boca Raton, Fl.

Petrovic will also take part in Tour Edge’s sponsorship of the PGA Tour Champions Learning Center show on the Golf Channel. The PGA Tour Learning Center is a popular Golf Channel television show that features professional tips and instruction featuring the legends of golf from the PGA Tour Champions.

PGA Tour Champions Learning Center, Presented by Tour Edge, is scheduled to air 43 episodes in 2019, beginning January 22^nd, with Tour Edge prominently featured within each episode. The series also will incorporate Tour Edge Exotics Staff Professionals like Petrovic, Tom Lehman, Scott McCarron and Duffy Waldorf among others providing tips geared toward the amateur golfer.

“We set up on the range at every event in 2018 and over 50 different professionals started playing Exotics,” said Glod. “The players have been very thankful for the service we are providing them and it has led to some great relationships and great feedback for me on club design.”

In all, over 50 players have put over 300 Exotics clubs into play since Exotics was launched to the tour in the last year. Eight out of the Top 25 players (32%) in the Charles Schwab Cup final standings and 16 out of the Top 50 players put Exotics into play in 2018.

On top of the six victories and 10 runner-up finishes procured by players using Exotics on the 2018 PGA Tour Champions, players using Tour Edge clubs also earned 34 Top 5 finishes and 60 Top 10 finishes in the 27 events played on the PGA Tour Champions in 2018.

The Tour Edge Exotics CBX hybrid ranked as the #1 most played hybrid model at the 2018 Senior PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Cup Championship with their Exotics CBX hybrid accounting for 16% of the hybrids in play, according to the Darrell Survey.

About Tour Edge

In 1986, David Glod founded Tour Edge with a focus on offering golfers with high quality and technologically advanced golf products that were as cutting edge as they were affordable. He is now considered one of the preeminent master club designers in golf club design and has led Tour Edge to be a Top 10 manufacturer in every club category.

Tour Edge products have been put in play on the PGA TOUR, PGA Tour Champions, LPGA Tour and Web.com Tour, as well as European professional tours, and have been in play in every PGA TOUR major event and in Ryder Cup competitions, leading to 17 wins for players playing Tour Edge products on the PGA Tours (10 PGA TOUR, 6 PGA Tour Champions and 1 Web.com Tour).

In 2018 alone, Tour Edge clubs have earned seven wins, nine runner-up finishes, 34 Top 5 finishes and 60 Top 10 finishes on the three PGA Tours. Tour Edge, an American owned and operated company for more than 32 years, manufactures and sells golf clubs under three distinct brand names: Exotics, Hot Launch and Bazooka.

Exotics products bring futuristic technologies to the marketplace with tour preferred designs and smaller production runs. Exotics clubs utilize higher-grade, avant-garde materials and manufacturing methods that have led Exotics to establish itself as a leader in quality craftsmanship and to redefine what is possible in golf club performance.
Hot Launch has forged a name for itself as a producer of high-quality premium game improvement golf clubs from driver to wedge. Hot Launch has proven to provide the greatest custom fit value in golf and includes an unprecedented guaranteed 48-hour custom fit delivery program.
Bazooka represents the absolute best value available in golf, offering advanced players, beginners, women and juniors the best in playability and affordability.

All Exotics and Hot Launch clubs are hand built in the United States in Batavia, Illinois and then distributed throughout the world. Every Tour Edge club comes with a Lifetime Warranty and a 30-day play guarantee.

Entering his second year on the Web.com Tour, Brandon Matthews has agreed to four-year partnerships with both Srixon Cleveland golf equipment and Adidas golf apparel.

Matthews went through an extensive equipment testing process to wind down the 2018 calendar. Matthews, well-known as one of the most powerful athletes in professional golf, sought to find the golf ball and corresponding equipment that provided him the most trajectory and distance control possible. At the end of the multi-month process, Srixon won the product examination. As part of the four-year partnership, Matthews will play the Srixon Z-Star XV golf ball, and have a combination of Srixon and Cleveland equipment in the bag. To start the 2019 season, Matthews is playing the Z785 Srixon Driver, Srixon zU85 driving irons, prototype Srixon Z-Star blades and Cleveland Golf wedges. Additionally, Matthews will wear Srixon headwear and carry a Srixon staff bag.

Matthews holes out for eagle on the 18th hole at the first Web.com of the year
in Exuma, Bahamas.

During his 2018 freshman season on the Web.com Tour, Matthews endorsed Adidas Golf footwear and wore the Tour360 shoe for the entire season. Expanding on the great partnership, Matthews has also signed a four-year agreement with Adidas Golf and will also exclusively wear Adidas Golf apparel moving forward.

Diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease while a student-athlete at Florida State University, Hank Lebioda overcame overwhelming obstacles to achieve his dream of playing on the PGA Tour.

Petrovic, a native of Glastonbury, Conn., had a fourth serious shot at a title this year on Sunday, but World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh made 10 birdies in a closing 10-under-par 61 that tied the course record and was his best on the Champions Tour by two strokes in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix, Ariz.

Singh finished 72 holes at 22-under 262, four better than Petrovic (70) and five ahead of Wes Short Jr. (69) and third-round leader Scott McCarron (72). Woody Austin, winner of the 2004 Buick Championship, now Travelers Championship, birdied six of the first eight holes and the final two to close with 64 and tie for fifth at 268 with Stephen Ames (72).

“I really didn’t think I had any chance to win because of the way the guys were scoring all week,” said Singh, whose previous low this year had been 64 due mainly to putting woes. “I thought if I got to 20 (under), I might have a chance to finish in the top five. I birdied the first two holes and then saw Petrovic eagled No. 1, so I kind of laughed. But I made the turn in pretty good shape (after an outgoing 5-under 31) and just kept going. And the putts just kept going in. It was unbelievable.”

Singh, who started the final round six strokes back of McCarron, notched his third victory of the year to vault to seventh on the final money list with $1,698,952.

Bernhard Langer, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame this year, shot 67 to tie for 13th at 273 but won a record fifth Charles Schwab Cup title and a $1 million bonus. He had two wins this year and finished first on the money list with $1,222,154 and had 2,525,404 Charles Schwab points.

“To win the Schwab Cup for a fifth time at my age (61) is really special,” said Langer, who has 38 wins in his Champions Tour career. “You usually don’t win as much when you get into your mid-50s, so this really means a lot. Maybe there’s another in me.”

Petrovic began the day one back but made an eagle 3 at the first hole to become the first player to get to 19 under. But he bogeyed Nos. 4 and 5 and inexplicably missed a 12-inch birdie putt at No. 7. He rebounded with a birdie 2 at the eighth hole to shoot 1 under on the front nine and make the turn tied with McCarron.

Singh, meanwhile, had made five birdies in his front-nine 31 that got him within a stroke of the lead at 17 under. Petrovic regained the solo lead with an 8-foot birdie putt at No. 10, but Singh took the lead for good with his sixth, seventh and eighth birdies of the day at Nos. 12-14 to get to 20 under.

Petrovic missed makeable birdie putts at the 11th and 12th holes and then hooked his tee shot on the par-313th into a gulley left of the green and failed to make a 15-foot putt for par to fall to 18 under. Singh then all but settled matters when he got a major break at No. 16 as his drive right into the trees stopped in an opening, allowing him to run a chip onto the green. He then capped his good fortune with a 30-foot putt for his ninth birdie and a three-stroke lead over Petrovic at 21 under.

Petrovic rebounded with an 18-foot birdie putt at No. 14 to get to 19 under, only to have Singh respond with another 30-foot birdie putt at the 17th to regain his three-stroke lead. A routine par 5 at No. 18 clinched Singh’s record-setting day and third Champions Tour title this year.

Petrovic bogeyed No. 17 after hitting his drive into the water and missed a 6-foot birdie putt at the 18th but finished second when McCarron made double-bogey 6 at the 17th after also driving into the water. He had birdied the 13th and 15th holes to get within a shot of Petrovic.

Petrovic regained his playing card last year when he finished fourth at 17-under 267 in the qualifying school finals in Scottsdale, Ariz. He had played on the 50-and-over circuit for 18 months after 15 years on the PGA Tour, where he earned $12.2 million and won the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Petrovic’s best finishes this year included second in the KitchenAir Senior PGA Championship, a tie for second in the U.S. Senior Open, Sanford International and Chubb Classic and a tie for fifth in the 3M Championship. In the first two playoff events, he tied for 23th in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic and tied for 44th in the Invesco QQQ Championship, but he saved his best for last to cap his best Champions Tour season, finishing ninth on the money list with $1,463,808 and the Charles Schwab Cup standings with 1,742,048 points.

Jerry Kelly, who was Petrovic’s teammate at the University of Hartford, closed with 69 for 272 and 12th place. He won the first event of the year, the Mitsubshi Electric Championship at Hualalai, and then tied for second in the Cologuard Classic. He finished fourth on the money list with $1,922,495 and sixth in the Charles Schwab Cup standings with 2,020,638 before having knee and elbow surgery this week.

But it was an especially memorable year for Petrovic. Two weeks after qualifying for the Champions Tour, he was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame with Malcolm McLachlan, who has worked for the Connecticut State Golf Association for 28 years, the last 15 as Director of Rules and Competitions. McLachlan also has been involved with the USGA for 15 years and dedicated to furthering Rules of Golf education and awareness. He was part of the founding family at Ridgewood CC in Danbury, where the Hall of Fame inductions were held in conjunction with the CSGA annual meeting.

“It’s a huge honor to be included among so many golf greats,” said Petrovic, who lives in Austin, Texas, with wife Julie and their two daughters. “I bought a picture and canceled check of Gene Sarazen’s because I’m a fan, and now we’re both in the Hall of Fame together? Crazy! … I worked so hard for so long to get out on the PGA Tour and then stay out on Tour. I am grateful to have that work recognized.”

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Even Charlie Saxon himself questions how a guy from Tulsa, Oklahoma has managed to lead the all-time PGA TOUR Series-China money list.

But as Saxon looks forward to a return to the Web.com Tour – and a trip to Final Stage first to try and improve his 2019 status – he says the experience in Asia has been invaluable for his growth as a professional.

“Playing in China (has) been really instrumental to help me learn what it means to be a pro, travel and find my game,” says Saxon. “I built a foundation that’s going to last me through a lot of years of professional golf.

“And outside of golf, it’s been just a neat life experience to see parts of the world I never would have dreamed of seeing, and probably will never seen again. It’s been fun for sure.”

The 24-year-old took a fortuitous route to end up on PGA TOUR Series-China to begin with.

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, Saxon’s original objective was to play on the Web.com Tour via Q-School, but his first attempt at Second Stage fell short. He signed up late for PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Q-School (“I didn’t realize all those sites filled up in 10 minutes,” he says) and decided to head to China.

He had only been to Asia once in his life – a week-long adventure in the Philippines – but China, he says, was a whole different experience.

“I went over there on a whim, thinking it was my best opportunity,” he explains.

“I played four events on (PGA TOUR Latinoamerica) and I had this feeling tugging on me where I thought, ‘I think I have to go to China,’” he says.

The decision paid off. Saxon won twice in 2016, earning just over $67,000. He finished second on the money list and earned Web.com Tour status for 2017.

After missing the final six cuts of the year and finishing 141st on the money list, though, he returned to China for 2018.

He won twice more this year and had six top-five finishes. In a crazy twist of fate, the only way he could have lost this year’s money title was if, in the final event, Callum Tarren finished no worse than solo second and Saxon didn’t tie for 24th or better.

Both scenarios happened.

Tarren finished second, Saxon tied for 25th, and the latter ended up approximately $340 short of the top spot.

No hard feelings, however, as Saxon’s two fabulous seasons in China resulted in him surpassing Web.com Tour winner Marty Dou for the No. 1 spot in PGA TOUR Series-China career money.

“I went to China and ended up having a great year, and the rest is history,” he says.

Although his Mandarin is rusty at best and he didn’t particularly love the food (“I’ll stick to a big ol’ steak when I get home,” Saxon says with a laugh), he says his confidence is high as he readies for the 2019 Web.com Tour season, and Final Stage.

The experience he garnered while playing on the other side of the world has become invaluable in his growth.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play a lot of good golf on the developmental tours, winning a handful of times in China and once on (PGA TOUR Latinoamerica). I know my game is good enough,” he says. “I feel like I’m a lot better player my second go on the Web.com Tour than I was back (in 2017).”

Growing up, Saxon played at venerable Southern Hills Country Club, the seven-time major championship host venue. He now plays out of Oak Tree National in Edmond alongside 2018 Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada graduate Michael Gellerman and fellow Oklahoma alum Max McGreevy, a 2018 Web.com Tour member.

He says he had dreams of playing on the PGA TOUR since he was a youngster and was “golf-crazy” growing up. He was fortunate to have a robust support system of people who put a lot of time into him, and although he grew up taking golf lessons at Karsten Creek Golf Club (home club of Oklahoma State University), his parents were both Oklahoma graduates, and he opted to become a Sooner rather than a Cowboy.

“We had been pretty terrible, and I wasn’t pumped to go play for a school that hadn’t been that good,” says Saxon with a laugh. “But when Coach (Ryan) Hybl came along, he just had a passion for turning the program around. I really bought into that and was excited to be part of that culture.

“It’s cool to play golf for the school that you love.”

But with school long in the rearview, Saxon knows the time is now to continue the climb up golf’s ladder. For the first time in his career, he wrote down some tangible goals he wanted to achieve in 2018, and he plans on doing the same for next season.

The ultimate goal, he says, is to have a PGA TOUR card in about 48 weeks’ time. With worldwide victories under his belt, he acknowledges that sticking to his game and accepting the inevitable ups and downs will be key.

“Knowing my game is good enough, and if I (go) out there trusting it, hopefully by the end of the year it’ll culminate in what I’m hoping for,” he says. “I’m far from being where I want to be, but … it just kind of progressed, one thing after another, and here I am traveling the world playing golf.”

PGA Tour player Hank Lebioda has signed with Fidelity Sports Group for exclusive and worldwide representation and marketing services.

Hank Lebioda competed on the 2018 Web.com Tour as a rookie, ending the season 25th on the Money List to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2018/2019 membership. Hank’s campaign on the 2018 Web.com Tour included four top 10 finishes. Additionally, Hank also won in 2017 on PGA Tour Canada and finished Top 10 on the Money List on PGA Tour Latin America. Hank turned pro in the summer of 2016.

Hank graduated from Florida State University May 2016. During his career as a Seminole, Hank earned recognition as ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC Player of the Year and a Two-Time NCAA All-American. Hank set holds school records for Most Birdies (467), Most Rounds Under Par (76) and Highest Percentage of Counting Scores (93%).

While at FSU, Hank was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, a severe inflammatory disease of the digestive tract. The diagnosis forced Hank to seek experimental treatment in order to avoid surgery. Crohn’s Disease is a condition that Hank conditions to manage today on the PGA Tour. He desires to use the platform of the PGA Tour to raise awareness, and funds for a cure.

Hank graduated from Trinity Prep High School in Orlando, Florida, where he had a 4.00 GPA and was also a stand-out member of the baseball team prior to focusing full-time on golf.

PXG has signed Grant Hirschman to its roster of champions in an effort to support emerging talent.

A decorated junior and collegiate golfer, Grant Hirschman is a recent graduate of University of Oklahoma. Hirschman competed in every tournament during his four-year college career. As captain of the men’s golf team he led University of Oklahoma, a PXG sponsored program, to a National Championship in 2017. Grant kicked off his professional career this summer on PGA Tour Canada; posting a 69.06 scoring average, recording a top ten finish and qualifying for the Tour Championship. In only ten starts, Grant retained status for the 2019 season, finishing in the Top 60 of the Order of Merit. Hirschman will head to Web.com Tour Q-School this fall in an attempt to move up the ranks in 2019.

“Grant is an extremely hard-working guy and I admire him for his tenacity,” PXG founder and CEO Bob Parsons stated. “I expect that they will come into their own in the coming months and am proud to support them along the way.”

“I am thrilled to join the list of elite professionals playing PXG,” Hirschman said. “I won a national championship in college playing PXG clubs. Now I’m ready to win at the next level playing the best equipment in the game.”

PXG’s current professionals represent some of the very best talent on the PGA and LPGA Tours. Dougherty and Hirschman will join current #PXGTroops Zach Johnson, Billy Horschel, Pat Perez, Ryan Moore, James Hahn, Charl Schwartzel, Wyndham Clark, Lydia Ko, Anna Nordqvist, Katherine Kirk, Austin Ernst, Christina Kim, Brittany Lang, Alison Lee, Ryann O’Toole, and Gerina Piller.

Following his fourth runner-up finish of the 2018 PGA Tour Champions season at the Sanford International, Tim Petrovic spent time with Golf Channel to provide tips to improve your bunker play.

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Charlie Saxon and adidas Golf have agreed to a multi-year partnership which will place Saxon in adidas Golf footwear, apparel and headwear through 2021. Saxon joins an impressive adidas Golf roster which includes Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton and Sam Burns.

Saxon, 25 years old, graduated from University of Oklahoma in 2015 and turned professional shortly thereafter. Since 2016 Saxon has seven professional, international victories and was Rookie of the Year on PGA Tour China in 2016 after a two-win season that included seven top-10 finishes and a second place finish on the Order of Merit. In 2018, Saxon has held the top spot on PGA Tour China’s Order of Merit the entire season thanks to two victories and six top-10 finishes in the first 11 events of the year. The PGA Tour China schedule has 3 more events in the 2018 schedule. Additionally, Saxon has also competed on the China Golf Tour this year where he has won another two events and finished sixth in a co-sanctioned European Challenge Tour event.

“I am very excited to be partnering with adidas and humbled to join such an impressive roster of athletes,” Saxon remarked, ” I felt that adidas was a perfect fit for me as they are the best sports brand in the world; I train very hard off the golf course to play my best on the course and I feel fortunate to be a part of adidas Golf.”

Saxon’s play on PGA Tour China in 2018 has secured membership on the 2019 Web.com Tour. Each year, the top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list earn PGA Tour membership for the following season, which would enable Saxon to be on the PGA Tour as early as Fall 2019.

“We are delighted to welcome Charlie to the adidas Golf family. In his short time as a professional, Charlie has proven himself a winner on tours around the world and we believe that same winning pedigree will continue throughout his journey.” said Tim McNulty, Director of Global Sports Marketing for adidas Golf.

Charlie’s final three starts on the 2018 PGA Tour China schedule include events in Macau, Guangdong, and Hong Kong.

Congratulations to former Oklahoma Sooners Michael Schoolcraft and Grant Hirschman as they have both qualified for the Tour Championship on PGA Tour Canada at Highland Country Club in London, Ontario September 13 thru 16. The Top 60 finishers on the Order of Merit qualify for the Tour Championship each year and secure membership on the Tour for 2019.

Michael Schoolcraft

2018 marked a return to PGA Tour Canada for Michael Schoolcraft, after a 2016 season where he finished Top 10 on the Money List and 2nd on the Tour in birdies made. After a year of limited status in 2017 on the Web.com Tour, Mike returned to Canada for the 2018 season.

At the completion of the regular season, Schoolcraft stands 28th on the Order of Merit. A solid week at the Tour Championship would move him into the Top 25 in the standings and an exemption to skip the 1st stage of Web.com Tour Q-School. An excellent week moves him into the Top 10 on the Order of Merit and a trip back to the Web.com Tour in 2019.

Schoolcraft is sponsored and supported by Nike Golf and Titleist

Grant Hirschman

Hirschman just graduated from University of Oklahoma in May of 2018, however, he was able to secure PGA Tour Canada status via Q-School in the spring. The start of his season was delayed, however, due to the NCAA National Championship followed by his first pro start by way of sponsor exemption at the PGA Tour’s Fed Ex St. Jude Classihometownhome town of Memphis, Tennessee. Grant did make the cut in Memphis securing his first payday as a professional.

Grant entered the final event of the regular season 62nd on the Order of Merit, needing a solid week to move into the Top 60 and an invite to the Tour Championship. On Friday afternoon, with nine holes to play Grant was outside the cut line. A bogey-free 3 under on his final nine moved him inside the cut line. Followed by rounds of 69-70 on the weekend, Grant was able to move to 59th on the Order of Merit!

Hirschman is sponsored and supported by PXG, Greyson Clothiers, Nike Golf (shoes) and Bridgestone (ball).

John Coultas breezed through his pre-qualifying stage of Web.com Tour Q-School in Brunswick, Georgia September 5th thru 7th. Rounds of 66-71-67 left John in a tie for 7th place just four shots behind Zach Caldwell who won the event at 10 under par.

Coultas, a 2018 graduate of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida where he was a four-time First Team All American, Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year and Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year will head to “First Stage” of Q-School at familiar Grasslands Country Club in Lakeland, Florida October 2-5, 2018 as he looks to join the Web.com Tour for the 2019 season which will be his first full calendar year as a professional.

A life-long Cleveland sports fan and native of nearby Canal Fulton, Justin Lower was able to cross an item off his bucket list Tuesday as he threw out the first pitch at the Cleveland Indians game against the Minnesota Twins–a perk of qualifying for the 2018 Web.com Tour playoffs.

Justin notched six top 30 finishes, including a third place at the Chitimacha Louisana Open, in his 2018 season to qualify for the Web playoffs for the first time in his career. The Top 25 earners in the playoff series of four events will earn their PGA Tour cards for the 2018/2019 season.

Lower would go on to shoot rounds of 67-72-70-67 to finish in a tie for 32nd place at the DAP Championship hosted at Canterbury Golf Club in the Shaker Heights suburb of Cleveland. The two final playoff events remaining take the Tour to Boise, Idaho and Jackonsville, Florida.

Lanto Griffin entered the Web.com Tour playoffs with tailwinds of momentum after completing his rookie season on the PGA Tour with eight straight and consecutive cuts made. The streak started in June at The Travelers Championship and ran thru the end of the PGA Tour regular season in August at the Wyndham Championship.

COLUMBUS, OH – AUGUST 26: Lanto Griffin hits a drive during the fourth and final round of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship held at The Ohio State University Golf Club on August 26, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images)

Lanto continued such form at the first Web.com Playoffs event at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship at the Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio. Rounds of 68-69-69-69-69 secured a 5th place finish for Lanto and $33,900. In recent years, the amount of prize money needed to secure a PGA Tour card has floated between $33,000 and $40,000 leaving Lanto in fantastic position to regain PGA Tour membership for the 2019 season with two events remaining in the playoffs!

Lanto’s only other start on the Web.com Tour this year came at the Nashville Golf Open, which he won in 2017. Lanto mounted a fantastic title defense finishing 2nd place that week.

Charlie Saxon bids to protect lead in Order of Merit, while second-placed Motin Yeung and third-placed Todd Baek look to ‘catch up’ as the race continues to finish in the top-five and secure Web.com Tour status

HAIYANG, SHANDONG, CHINA—Charlie Saxon is hoping to ‘keep winning’ and secure his third PGA TOUR Series-China title of the year at this week’s Qingdao Championship as he continues his bid to win the Order of Merit and return to the Web.com Tour.

Saxon, 25, finished second in the 2016 Order of Merit to earn a place on last year’s ‘Path to the PGA TOUR’, but took time to regain his form after a hip operation and lost his card. Having been in excellent form throughout 2018, the big-hitting American is determined to return to the Web.com Tour and try again to qualify for the PGA TOUR.

Saxon has earned RMB 783,085 from seven events, including two wins, and is well clear of Hong Kong’s Motin Yeung (RMB 436,675). After a tie for 16th in last week’s Yantai Championship, the money-list leader is hoping to put himself in contention at Tiger Beach Golf Links, a sister course of Carnoustie, host of The Open Championship this week.

“I need to keep the pedal down. A lot of good players are here trying to chase me, so I have to keep winning and that starts this Thursday,” said Saxon, a four-time winner on the Tour, having also won twice in 2016.

“I didn’t play well last week, but I worked on a few things so hopefully it’ll be a lot better this week. I love the course here; it’s really neat. I didn’t expect to come here and see this, but it’s a really cool course and one of my favorites we’ve played this year.”

Yeung, 24 is also in good form after backing his first professional win at last month’s Kunming Championship with an eighth-place finish last week, and believes his game is suited to the seaside links course in Haiyang, near Qingdao.

“My game felt pretty solid last week. I just hope that this week, some part of my game will shine a little more and that will bring my score down, and hopefully that will produce a good result,” said Yeung.

“I think this course suits me because you have to hit straight tee-shots and I think that’s something I’m doing well right now. I didn’t lose one ball last week and hopefully I’ll keep it going this week and catch up to Charlie.”

Todd Baek is third with RMB 429,650 and, like Saxon, keen on a return to the Web.com Tour, where the Korean played in 2015 and 2016 after qualifying from the first PGA TOUR Series-China season in 2014. Baek is focused on at last finishing in the top-five by the end of the season, and admits he’s excited about the layout at Tiger Beach.

“I like the course set-up. It’s pretty challenging and it’s tough, so I think you have to stay patient out here. It’s going to be windy and you can find some trouble, so I’m looking forward to the challenge,” said Baek, who won the Haikou Championship in May.

“Hopefully I can get another W here. My goal this year is to finish top-five and I’m heading that way, so I need to practice hard and stay on course. There are a lot of good players out here on this Tour, so I need to keep playing well.”

Every tournament on this year’s PGA TOUR Series-China offers RMB 1.5 million, a 25-percent increase over purse levels from 2016.

The PGA TOUR established PGA TOUR Series-China in 2014 as its third international developmental tour, following in the footsteps of PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. Since its inception, PGA TOUR Series-China players have received Official World Golf Ranking points for top finishes at official tournaments.

Story Originally Posted on PGA Tour China Website

After finishing runner-up at the Senior PGA Championship, Petrovic backs up the effort with a 2nd place at the US Senior Open at the Broadmoor Resort.

Petrovic opened with a 2-over 72 and then rebounded with a championship-low 5-under 65 on Friday that featured a nearly flawless 6-under 30 on his final nine.

He looked determine to keep that momentum going on a cloudy day where thunderstorms threatened. Petrovic parred his first eight holes and then made birdies at Nos. 9 and 14 to take the solo lead during Saturday’s third round.

The most bizarre moment of the day came when Petrovic hit a stray tee shot on the par-4 17th. As the ball came to rest, a young kid raced to the ball and slid into it, picking the ball up and then dropping it down.

“When I came over there, I could tell the kid was pretty upset,” Petrovic said. “So I told him next time, he should kick the ball closer to the fairway, and that kind of made him smile.”

For the 51-year-old Petrovic to capture his first PGA Tour Champions in his 31st career start on the senior circuit, he will also have to beat David Toms, who sits at 3 under, and his playing partner for Sunday, Kirk Triplett at 2 under.

John Coultas, a 4-time First Team All-American, Palmer Cup participant, a Jack Nicklaus Award and Phil Mickelson Award Receipt has signed with Fidelity Sports Group for worldwide management and representation.

Coultas played four years at Florida Southern, racking up 7 victories, 21 Top 5 Finishes and 25 Top 10 finishes. He graduates as one of the most decorated Mocs in the history of the program which has produced Lee Janzen, Rocco Mediate, Marco Dawson and Jeff Klauk.

“We are excited to welcome John to the Fidelity family,” said Drew Carr, Partner at Fidelity Sports, “we are so impressed by John’s humble nature and how he lets his clubs and results do the talking. We look forward to his bright future and helping him achieve his dreams on the PGA Tour.”

Each year at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship, the event puts on a fun “closest to the pin” contest for players during Tuesday’s practice round. The shot is approximately 80 yards to a small red Travelers logo umbrella in the middle of a pond.

Yesterday, Lanto Griffin won the closest to the pin contest! As a result, Travelers enabled him to make a $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice.

Lanto chose The Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame Scholarship Fund. As a college student, The RVGHOF helped Lanto with scholarship money towards his college costs and he was thrilled to return the favor this week. The RVGHOF offers college scholarships to Roanoke area, junior golfers, regardless of their skill level.

Lanto was joined bye Travelers’ Chief Administrative Officer Andy Bessette and Tournament Director Nathan Grube for the check presentation.

GUILIN, China — American Charlie Saxon holed a pressure-packed, 7-foot par putt on the final hole to avoid a playoff with China’s Jin Zhang, giving him the Guilin Championship title. Saxon’s 3-under 69 and an 18-under total of 270 at the stunning Guilin Landscape Golf Club earned him his second Tour title in his last three events and gives him four PGA TOUR Series-China tournament wins overall, tying him for most career victories with current PGA TOUR player Zecheng “Marty” Dou, who won four times in 2016. The Series began in 2014.

Saxon, 25, started his day one off the pace and fired out of the blocks with birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to take an early two-shot lead after Zhang bogeyed the third hole.

The 22-year-old Zhang, the solo 54-hole leader and the 36-hole co-leader, struggled in the opening holes and then clawed his way back to within one after No. 17. But Zhang couldn’t birdie the par-4 closing hole, and all he could was watch has Saxon came through with his par.

Canada’s Justin Shin, who shared second with Saxon at last month’s Haikou Championship, fired a 67 to secure third at 16-under, while Sweden’s Oskar Arvidsson (71) and Malaysia’s Arie Irawan (69) tied for fourth, at 13-under, their best results in their first full season on the Tour.

“The crowds were fantastic, and it was a lot of fun to play in front of so many people. It’s definitely one of the better crowds I’ve experienced in China,” said Saxon, who carded 23 birdies and one eagle in 72 holes.

“The course was in great condition, and I’m just really happy about the week. My mindset through the whole day was just to go out there and make birdies. I wanted to keep the pedal down and make it hard for people to catch me.”

Second on the Order of Merit in 2016 when he won twice, the 25-year-old has extended his lead in this year’s money list and heads to next week’s Kunming Championship at Yulongwan Golf Club as a firm favorite.

“I feel great about my game right now, and I’m really confident,” Saxon said. “I really enjoy the course we are playing next week. I can’t wait to get out there and hopefully get in contention again.”

After Saxon’s quick start, both Saxon and Zhang bogeyed No. 6, and the American stayed in the lead with birdies on 10 and 14. However, Zhang drew within one shot with birdies at 13, 16 and 17, ensuring a pressure-packed final hole.

Saxon missed the green with his second shot on 18 and was forced to save par with a difficult up-and-down, chipping to within 7 feet before making the putt as the enthusiastic crowd watched.

Even in defeat, Zhang established himself as one to watch after a strong showing this week, recording his best finish on the Tour after ties for 10th in 2015 and 2016 and a share of 11th in last month’s Changsha Championship, won by Saxon.

Although he admitted the pressure of leading and the large crowds fazed him in the early holes, he responded well. After losing the lead with a bogey on the third, Zhang also bogeyed Nos. 6 and 7 then birdied No. 8 in addition to three of the last six holes to close within one of Saxon.

“Today was my first time playing in the final group on this Tour, and if I played the first seven holes better, I think I might have had the chance to win,” said Zhang, who turned pro in October 2014.

“In the first seven holes, I rushed. I played too fast and was conscious of there being such big crowds. Only when I made the birdie on 8 did I feel much better, and I think I played well on the final few holes.”

Zhang enjoyed his two successive rounds in the last group and said he learned a lot from Saxon, who also counts a win at the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica’s Lexus Peru Open in 2017.

“Charlie played very well in the two rounds we played together. After this week, I learned a lot,” Zhang added. “I hope I can have more chances to play the leading group and hope I will play much better.”

For Shin, who won the Wuhan Open in 2015, it was a second successive top-three finish after sharing second with Saxon at last month’s Haikou Championship. The 26-year-old South Korea-born Canadian could also have tied for second in Guilin but bogeyed the closing hole.

Starting the day five shots behind Zhang, in a share of fifth, Shin picked up three birdies and a bogey on the front nine before birdies at 10, 12, 13 and 16 put him within one shot of Saxon.

“I kept checking the score because I was trying to finish at least 2-under on the first nine holes, so it was going the right way. I was 2-under after nine and then I birdied 10, so I had some momentum and was trying to catch Charlie,” said Shin. “I kept making birdies, on 12 and 13, and on hole 13 I saw he had a two-shot lead. I lipped out with a birdie putt on 15 and missed a short eagle putt on 16, so I was close but just missed out on the last few holes. I’m still really happy with it. I’ve been playing well lately, so I’ll get a W (win) soon.”

As well as a win, Shin is also focused on securing a top-five finish on the Order of Merit to earn himself a Web.com Tour card and a return to that Tour next year.

“I’m feeling good this year, and I’m looking for a W. Getting a win feels good, and I want to experience it again,” Shin added. “My goal is to try to be in the top five. Charlie has won two already, but I’m still going to try to catch him. I’m going to keep knocking on his door, and we’ll see what happens.”

American Paul Imondi (74), co-leader after Day 2, played with Zhang and Saxon in the final group on both Saturday and Sunday, and eventually tied for sixth with England’s Alex Belt (71), at 12-under, one ahead of the China duo of Daxing Jin and Xuewen Luo and Italian Aron Zemmer.

note: story originally published by PGA TOUR CHINA

As Grant Hirschman made his way around the course at TPC Southwind, a group of supporters who’ve watched him chip and putt since he was a little kid in Collierville followed his every shot.

His mother, Lisa, and several family members wore Oklahoma hats that had “Go Grant” on the left side. A few more in the group had Oklahoma shirts.

Just one week ago, Hirschman played with the Sooners in the NCAA men’s golf championships. Now, he was in his first PGA Tour event surrounded by people that watched him grow up, at a venue that he’s played for years.

“This is what he’s always dreamed of,” said Lisa Hirschman. “It’s a culmination for him since he was on the Junior Tour at 6 years old.”

Hirschman had little trouble in the first two rounds, posting scores of 68 and 69 to finish at 3-under and make the cut to the weekend tied for 19th. If there were any nerves, they disappeared after a bogey on his first hole Thursday.

“After that I was good,” Hirschman said Friday. “I knew going into it that first hole would be nerve-racking and today I was fine.”

Close to 30 high school classmates and teachers from St. George’s showed up Thursday. Hirschman had a smaller group of supporters during Friday’s second round, but they made their presence known during two of Hirschman’s best moments.

When he converted a 37-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 14th hole following a bogey on No. 13, his family shouted “Way to go, Grant!” as he briefly acknowledged them.

He added another birdie to start his back nine, which drew even more cheers. He was bogey-free over his final nine holes.

“It’s definitely motivated me a little bit to get them cheering, so it’s been fun,” Hirschman said.

Adding to the familiarity is caddie Jonathan Fly, who might just be Hirschman’s secret weapon. Fly and his family not only live in the Southwind community surrounding the golf course, but the Memphis alum also received a sponsor’s exemption to play in the 2012 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Hirschman has leaned heavily on Fly’s experience.

“He knows this place probably better than anybody here and he’s been telling me where to hit it and that’s all I can ask for,” Hirschman said.

His father, Kerry, said that starting next week, Hirschman plans to play on the Mackenzie Tour, which is Canada’s professional golf tour.

For now, though, Hirschman is just happy to be back home.

“It’s definitely been nice to sleep in my own bed playing in my first pro event,” he said.

Story Originally Published for The Commercial Appeal Website

Lanto Griffin made it through his first 31 holes in his U.S. Open sectional qualifier on Monday without a bogey, helping him build a big cushion that came in handy over his last five holes.

The Blacksburg High and VCU grad finished with three bogeys, a par and a birdie, which was good enough to claim one of 11 available spots available for the Open, which begins June 14, at Shinnecock Hills in New York. It will be Griffin’s first Open.

“One of my childhood dreams was always to play in a U.S. Open,” Griffin said in a phone interview Monday night with The Roanoke Times. “I played great today and I got it done! It’s setting up to be a great week since I will be turning 30 years old that week [birthday is June 15] at Shinnecock. I can’t wait to tee it up in our nation’s championship.”

Griffin had rounds of 65 and 69 at Ridway and Colonial country clubs in Memphis, Tennessee. He finished tied for fourth at minus-9, one shot behind regular PGA Tour members Mackenzie Hughes and Steve Stricker, and six behind sectional winner Sam Burns.

Grant Hirschman has signed with Fidelity Sports for exclusive and worldwide representation, marketing and management as he turns pro after a wonderful college career at the University of Oklahoma.

Hirschman played four years at the University of Oklahoma, playing in every tournament and serving as team captain for three of the four years. Hirschman was a three-time NCAA All-American, won three tournaments including the 2018 BIG 12 Championship and was the team leader of the 2017 National Championship Team.

Hirschman also finished 4th at PGA Tour Canada Qualifying Tournament, setting him up for full status for the 2018 season.

Hirschman is set to make his first professional start this week at the 2018 Fed Ex St. Jude Classic in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Tim Petrovic is enjoying a breakout season on PGA Tour Champions, in just his second full calendar year on the circuit after seventeen years on the PGA Tour.

Petrovic posted his second runner-up finish of the 2018 season at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship thanks to rounds of 66-69-65-69. In February, Petrovic closed with a 64 on Sunday to finish T2 at the Chubb Classic in February.

Petrovic earned $347,000 with the second-place finish over the weekend, moving him to 11th place in the season-long Schwab Cup standings.

Petrovic’s sponsors include: Titleist, Vineyard Vines, ArGolf Putters and Credibility International

Lanto Griffin returned to the Web.com Tour’s The Nashville Golf Open benefitting the Snedeker Foundation to defend his 2017 victory

Lanto was joined in Nashville by fellow Fidelity Sports clients including Brandon Matthews, Brian Richey, and Mark Blakefield who all made the cut and finished 7th, 14th and 21st respectively.

In 2017, Griffin made the cut on the number in Nashville. Weekend rounds of 62-68 and a birdie on the first playoff hole against Abraham Ancer secured the victory for Lanto. The week was the start of a very strong summer on the Web.com Tour which ultimately would earn Lanto his PGA Tour card for the first time in his career. With an off week in his PGA Tour schedule, Lanto returned to Nashville and picked up where he left off in 2017 as he snagged a share of the first round lead with a 7 under par 65 on Thursday that included a 29 on the back nine including two eagles.

Lanto’s impressive play continued on Friday and Saturday earning him a three shot lead to start Sunday’s final round. A final round of even par left Lanto just short of forcing a playoff with eventual winner Cameron Davis. Lanto will carry the momentum in to US Open Qualifying on June 4th and the PGA Tour’s Fed Ex St Jude Classic in Memphis June 7-10.

Brandon Matthews’ 7th place finish was his fifth made cut in a row and his third Top 11 finish in the last five events. The finish moves Matthews to 46th on the Web.com Tour Money List. Matthews currently leads the Tour in driving distance, clocking in at an average of 337 yards with his longest tee ball of the season at 400 yards. Brandon is listed in the Power Rankings as one of the favorites at this week’s Rex Hospital Open.

Brian Richey’s 14th place finish was his best of his 2018 Web.com Tour campaign. In need of a good week with the impending reshuffle, Richey stepped up in a big way. firing rounds of 72-67-70-67 to finish in a tie for 14th in Nashville which was enough to guarantee his position and enable him to set his schedule for the remainder of the 2018 season. A fantastic putter, Richey’s driver has also become a strength in his game as he is 22nd on Tour in Driving Accuracy and averaging over 306 yards per drive. A winner on the 2017 PGA Tour Latin America, as Richey continues to hit more greens in regulation, look for him to be in contention regularly this summer.

Mark Blakefield, like Richey, also needed a solid week the Nashville Open and he too answered the call with rounds of 69-70-67-71 to finish 21st. The finish was his second Top 25 of the season to go along with his 25th place at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club in January. Well known as a talented ball striker, Blakefield has made great strides with the putter over the last few weeks and carries the momentum in to Raleigh, North Carolina this week for the Rex Hospital Open.

Saxon carded a 68 to finish at 10-under and two ahead of Japan’s Taihei Sato at the Hunan Dragon Lake International Golf Club, where officials suspended play twice Sunday afternoon due to severe thunderstorms. That forced 24 players to complete their rounds Monday.

Saxon was 9-under when he resumed on the 15th fairway at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, while Sato, playing in the group behind — the last grouping of the day — started at the 14th, two shots behind the leader.

Saxon won two titles in 2016 on his way to finishing second on the Order of Merit. The 25-year-old made sure lifting his third trophy became a reality by making three pars and finishing with a birdie on the par-5 18th, a hole Sato also birdied to post a closing 70.

“It was really kind of a dream finish. It was what I wanted to do when I went to bed last night, so I was happy to be able to do it,” said Saxon, whose 2016 Order of Merit finish earned him a place on the 2017 Web.com Tour.

“Those final holes are not easy at all. They’re playing straight in the wind and there’s disaster to be had on all of them. However, I didn’t really miss a shot coming down the stretch, played really solid holes, gave myself birdie looks, tapped in for par and then birdied the last so was really happy with that.”

Along with many of his fellow competitors, Saxon then headed to the airport to fly to tropical Hainan Island for this week’s Haikou Championship, the fourth event on the schedule.

“I’ll stay away from the golf course for a couple of days and play the pro-am Wednesday,” Saxon said. “I’m looking forward to the week. I heard it’s a good course and a good hotel, so it should be fun.”

Sato, 24, was disappointed not to catch Saxon but remained positive after an impressive performance in Hunan.

“It was a good week for me,” he said. “I’m playing very well, and I’m very happy.”

American Kurt Kitayama (75), who played with Sato in the last group, restarted in third place at 5-under and bagged a birdie at 14 before closing with two bogeys, retaining third place at 4-under.

Chinese Taipei’s Chiehpo “Max” Lee (77), co-leader with Kitayama after the third round, also birdied 14 and finished fourth at 2-under, one ahead of Japan’s Yuwa Kosaihira (71).

FINAL LEADERBOARD

POS.	NAME	SCORES
1	Charlie Saxon (U.S.)	70-68-72-68 — 278 (-10)
2	Taihei Sato (Japan)	69-72-69-70 — 280 (-8)
3	Kurt Kitayama (U.S.)	69-65-75-75 — 284 (-4)
4	Chiehpo Lee (Chinese Taipei)	69-70-70-77 — 286 (-2)
5	Yuwa Kosaihira (Japan)	72-74-70-71 — 287 (-1)

Note: Originally posted on the PGA Tour China website.

Brandon Matthews led the field in average driving distance at the United Leasing Championship at 342 yards, and finished in a tie for 11th.

*The Dupont native shot a 3-over 75 in the final round of the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing & Finance Championship, leaving him at 2 over overall and tied for 11th place. As a result, he was projected to move up 21 spots into 53rd place in the tour money rankings.

The former Temple standout had an up-and-down back nine, recording three birdies but also carding two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 16th hole. He had five bogeys overall, including three on the front nine at the tournament in Newburgh, Indiana.

Jose de Jesus Rodriguez closed at 2 under to win the tournament, eight strokes ahead of Matthews.

The next tour event is the Knoxville Open, May 10-13 at Fox Den Country Club.

*Originally posted at for Citizens Voice

After finishing sixth on his European Challenge Tour debut in the Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan Open earlier this month, Charlie Saxon is targeting another top-ten finish at this week’s Turkish Airlines Challenge.

The American will tee it up at Gloria Golf Club this week after receiving an invitation from Challenge Tour Director Alain De Soultrait and is aiming to build on his solid showing in China.

Born in Oklahoma in the United States, Saxon has previously plied his trade on various tours including PGA Tour Latinoamérica, the China Tour and the Web.com Tour, enjoying relative success.

The 24 year old already has two wins under his belt this season, both of which occurred on the China Tour.

A final round 66 clinched a one-shot victory at the Shenzhou Peninsula Classic as Saxon triumphed in his first tournament of the year.

Saxon then claimed another superb win at the China Tour’s second event of the year, the Bo Ao Open, by shooting four sublime rounds of 65-69-64-67 to extend his lead at the top of the tour’s Order of Merit.

Although he believes putting himself under too much pressure could have an adverse effect on his game, Saxon has his sights set on another high finish at this week’s Turkish Airlines Challenge.

“Obviously I would love to finish in the top ten in order to get into the Challenge de España,” the American said.

“That would be my goal for the week but I don’t think you can put too much pressure on yourself.

“It’s a great opportunity and I’ll come out here and play as well as I can but at the end of the day, putting extra pressure on yourself really isn’t going to help.”

Saxon has expressed his gratitude to the Challenge Tour for the invitation to play in Antalya this week and is feeling confident in his own game.

“I’m thankful to the sponsors and to Alain De Soultrait and it’s another opportunity to hopefully earn more money on this tour and potentially get through the re-rank,” he said.

“The course looks wonderful and the hotel we’re staying at is great. Everybody’s been really friendly so it should be a really good week.

“I’m confident in my game and I’m confident in my ability. At the end of the day, golf’s a game against the course and on this tour there’s certainly more players of a higher calibre than on some of the other tours I’m used to playing.

“Good golf’s good golf and I know if I’m playing good golf then I can compete and contend.

“I obviously recognise how difficult it is out here on the Challenge Tour. These are some of the best players in the world and I’m happy to be out here playing and I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”

Article originally written and posted by The Challenge Tour website

Many professional golfers are extremely superstitious.

For Brandon Matthews, a 2016 adult and organizational development alumnus [of Temple University] and current player on the Web.com Tour, superstition starts with the quarter he uses as a ball-marker.

“I will never use a quarter that is above the year 1969,” Matthews said. “If I have a 1974 quarter, to me that is like shooting 74.”

Matthews moved from 103rd on the Web.com Tour to 74th after he tied for 10th at the North Mississippi Classic last weekend. He hopes to finish the season within the top-25 money winners to earn his PGA Tour card.

Matthews’s girlfriend Danielle Maslany gave him a special quarter for Christmas this year.

“When we get change, we look at the date of all the quarters,” said Maslany, a 2013 journalism alumna who met Matthews through an interview she conducted for OwlSports Update. “I went online and found a 1959 quarter and bought it for him. I don’t think we will ever be lucky enough to find one in circulation, so I thought it would be cool to get him one to use.”

Maslany has seen several of Matthews’s most successful finishes. At Temple, Matthews won eight times as an individual. Just five months into his debut on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica, Matthews won at the Molino Cañuelas Championship in Argentina in March 2017.

He became the youngest American to win a PGA Tour Latinoamérica event.

“Winning so early took a lot of stress off of me,” Matthews said. “Throughout my career as an amateur, I always tried to be the best that I can be. Going out and winning was really nice but something that I expected as a competitor.”

Matthews ranked 10th on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica’s Order of Merit in October 2017, which allowed him to make it to the final stage of tour-qualifying school. His high finish at q-school qualified him for the first eight starts of the Web.com Tour.

Matthews only competed in five of those eight possible starts because of food poisoning and a back injury. He has had back problems since high school and regularly sees a chiropractor.

“It’s a learning process,” Maslany said. “He is identifying how to better care for his body, and we make changes to incorporate that into our life.”

Matthews said he stretches for an average of 30 to 45 minutes each morning while also watching what he eats and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

“It is an annoying thing because I have to do things 55-year-olds have to do in the morning as far as stretching goes,” Matthews said. “I shouldn’t have to do this at 23 years old.”

Despite back issues, Matthews’s average drive this season goes 313.3 yards, which ranks fourth out of more than 150 players on the Web.com Tour. He also has a 4.16 birdie average, which is 14th-best on the tour.

Matthews said he relies heavily on his caddy, Jon “Sunshine” Lehman, for direction, especially when it comes to putting.

During the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha, Nebraska, in July, Lehman was on the bag for Armando Favela, who had a rib injury. Matthews qualified for the tournament through a sponsors exemption, a spot offered to a player by the tournament’s title sponsor when the player has not already qualified for the event. Matthews asked Lehman to be his caddy, and they have been together ever since.

“Brandon calls me in on nine out of 10 putts,” Lehman said. “He wants that opinion, and I love that because it makes me feel more involved.”

“Brandon is really good at driving the golf ball and is a superior ball striker,” Lehman added. “I have been with a lot of guys, and I have never seen anyone hit it as good as he does.”

Matthews has finished tied for 41st, tied for 56th, tied for 34th and tied for 10th in the four tournaments he made the cut for so far this year, resulting in a season’s earnings of $19,329.

Both Maslany and Lehman believe Matthews will make it to the next level. It is just a matter of when.

“I don’t want to jinx him or anything, but within the next year he will be on the big tour,” Lehman said. “He just has that kind of firepower and next-generation game that can kind of take over.”

“Realistically, it takes one really good week and one solid week to make it,” Matthews said. “I have 20 more tournaments left, and I think it is a reasonable possibility that I get there. It is all about fine-tuning my game and just putting it all together.”

Story Originally Written and Posted by www.Temple-News.com

The inaugural North Mississippi Classic on the Web.com Tour was shortened to 54 holes due to heavy rains Sunday. The final leaderboard after Saturday’s play held the event’s official results–Willy Wilcox tied for 2nd place, Brandon Matthews tied for 10th and Brian Richey tied for 33rd. Members of the Fidelity Sports Group family have had a chance to win on Sunday in five of the first eight events of the 2018 Web.com Tour Schedule.

Wilcox’s 2nd place was thanks to a course record-setting performance of eight under par 64 on Saturday which included nine birdies and a bogey. Wilcox led the field in birdies for the week with 20 thru 54 holes. An incredibly good break on Firday opened the door to Wilcox’s Saturday performance. On the 36th hole of the tournament, and his final hole of Friday’s round, Wilcox hit his tee ball out of bounds however it kicked off a tree back in play. He would go on to make par on the hole to make the cut–an out of bounds tee shot most likely would have resulted in a missed cut! The 2nd place finish moved Wilcox to 19th on the Web.com Tour Money List.

Brandon Matthews steady play all week notched him a 10th place finish, the best finish of his career on the Web.com Tour. A rookie on Tour in 2018, Matthews fired rounds of 72-69-70 and led the field in average driving distance (320 yards) and longest drive (345 yards) for the week. The finished moved Matthews to 74th on the Money List, and alleviates any stress regarding reshuffles for the remainder of the regular season.

Brian Richey posted his best finish of the 2018 Web.com Tour season in Oxford, Mississippi as well–a tie for 33rd. Richey fired rounds of 72-69-73 for the finish–a nice momentum builder as the schedule becomes more consistent from week to week.

Wilcox, Matthews and Richey will be joined by Justin Hueber, Grant Leaver, Mark Blakefield, Justin Lower and Jim Renner this week for the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing Championship in Newburgh, Indiana.

#FidelityFam.

Charlie Saxon continued his fantastic start to 2018 by carding a five under par round of 66 to take a share of the first round lead at the Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan Open.

The American, who is making his European Challenge Tour debut this week, has already won twice on the China Tour this season and arrived at Yulongwan Golf Club knowing he can perform there having finished as a runner-up at the Kunming course in the PGA Tour China Series in 2016.

Despite dropping a shot on the first after an errant tee shot, the 24 year old rallied with birdies at the third, fifth, sixth and ninth to reach the turn in 34 and keep in touch with morning leaders Sunil Jung and Borja Virto, who set the clubhouse target at five under par.

Three further gains over the back nine followed with Saxon tying the lead after holing a tricky 15-foot putt at the par four 15^th.

Although he was unable to convert another birdie chance at the 18^th – Saxon had hit a stunning approach to five feet from a difficult lie at the corner of a bunker 120 yards from the pin – the American joined England’s Matt Ford, Canada’s Jung and Spain’s Virto at the top of the leaderboard.

One adrift of the leaders are Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen and China’s Xue-wen who both signed for four under par rounds of 67.

One further back is a pack of six players including Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg, who has continued his good start to the 2018 campaign by following his tied sixth place finish in the season-opening Barclays Kenya Open with a three under par opening 68 today.

“It was a really good day,” said Saxon. “The conditions out there were difficult and it is a tough course – there’s a lot going on around the greens and with the wind picking up that makes it more challenging – so I just came out and tried to play a solid round of golf.

“My Dad always says ‘you can’t win it on the first day but you can shoot yourself out of it’ so I was happy not to shoot myself out of it.

“I did everything well today. The only mistake was hitting it into the hazard on my first hole but after that I didn’t make any.

“China has been really good to me. For some reason I always play my best golf here and I also have good memories of this course after finishing as a runner-up here two years ago. I’m excited for the rest of the week.”

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