01 Sep 2022 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: What’s required at Korn Ferry Tour finale
by Australian Golf Media
By Tony Webeck
Four Aussies can play their way onto the PGA TOUR in 2023 at the finale to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in Indiana starting Thursday night.
Seventeen of the 25 PGA TOUR cards distributed at the completion of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship at Victoria National Golf Club remain up for grabs and the equation for the four Aussie hopefuls is simple.
Harrison Endycott has already secured his promotion by virtue of finishing in the top 25 on the regular season points list and now Aaron Baddeley, Min Woo Lee, Jason Scrivener and Anthony Quayle have one last chance to join him.
A four-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Baddeley is the best placed of the Aussie contingent through the first two weeks of the finals.
With a projected points target of 210 needed to earn promotion, Baddeley’s 81.269 points through the first two events puts him in 46th position. His minimum finish this week to reach the fail-safe threshold would be solo 12th or better.
The challenge is slightly steeper for both Scrivener and Lee.
The pair both missed the cut last week so have 60.5 points, tied for 52nd. If they are to secure positioning in the Korn Ferry Tour graduate category on the 2022-23 TOUR Priority Ranking they will need to finish solo 10th or better.
One of the last players to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, Quayle requires nothing less than a two-way tie for fifth or better to play on the PGA TOUR next season.
Following her withdrawal nine holes into the CP Women’s Open last week due to illness, Minjee Lee headlines the Aussie charge at the LPGA Tour’s Dana Open in Ohio.
The US Women’s Open champion is among the five major winners this year in the field alongside fellow Australians Hannah Green, Stephanie Kyriacou, Sarah Kemp, Su Oh and Sarah Jane Smith.
There are five Aussies in the field at both the Made in Himmerland tournament on the DP World Tour and the Fuji Sankei Classic in Japan and eight Australians will hope to advance their standings at the Epson Tour’s Wildhorse Ladies Classic in Oregon.
With just five events left in the season, three Aussies are prominent in the Race to the Card standings that determines the 10 players who receive LPGA Tour cards in 2023.
Two of those cards have already been wrapped up but Grace Kim (fifth), Robyn Choi (11th) and Gabriela Ruffels (14th) can all improve their prospects of promotion with a strong showing this week, Choi and Kim paired together for the opening round.
Round 1 tee times AEST
Korn Ferry Tour Korn Ferry Tour Championship Victoria National GC, Newburgh, Indiana 10.01pm Harrison Endycott, Joseph Bramlett, David Skinns 10.34pm* Jason Scrivener, Grayson Murray, Sam Stevens 3.38am Aaron Baddeley, Satoshi Kodaira, Carson Young 3.49am Min Woo Lee, Sung Kang, Bill Haas 4.55am Anthony Quayle, Ryan McCormick, Brandon Harkins
Defending champion: Joseph Bramlett Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Jason Scrivener TV times: Live 6am-9am Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503.
DP World Tour Made in HimmerLand HimmerLand, Farsø, Denmark 3.40pm Scott Hend, Lee Slattery, Francesco Laporta 4.20pm* Maverick Antcliff, Matt Wallace, Shubhankar Sharma 5.30pm Dimitrios Papadatos, Garrick Porteous, Ricardo Santo 9.40pm Zach Murray, Nicolai Tinning, Lorenzo Gagli 10pm* Elvis Smylie, Jamie Donaldson, James Morrison
Defending champion: Bernd Wiesberger Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Scott Hend TV times: 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9.30pm-2am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503.
Japan Golf Tour Fuji Sankei Classic Fujizakura Country Club, Yamanashi 8.25am Michael Hendry, Shota Akiyoshi, Toshimi Kushioka 8.45am Brendan Jones, Naoto Nakanishi, Toru Taniguchi 9.25am Andrew Evans, Eric Sugimoto, Song Yonghan 12.40pm* Matthew Griffin, Yoshikazu Shiro, Ippei Koike 1.35pm Brad Kennedy, Ryutaro Nagano, Hwang Jung-gon 1.40pm* Adam Bland, Yuta Kinoshita, Taiji Sato
Defending champion: Shugo Imahira Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1973, 1974), Paul Sheehan (2004) Top Aussie prediction: Brad Kennedy
LPGA Tour Dana Open Highland Meadows Golf Club, Sylvania, Ohio 10.10pm Minjee Lee, Nasa Hataoka, Lexi Thompson 10.26pm* Hannah Green, Cristie Kerr, Hyo Joo Kim 2.37am Sarah Kemp, Stephanie Kyriacou, Kelly Tan 2.53am* Su Oh, Kaitlyn Papp, Pornanong Phatlum 3.04am* Lydia Ko (NZ), In Gee Chun, Danielle Kang 4.10am* Sarah Jane Smith, Katherine Perry-Hamski, Maddie Szeryk
Defending champion: Nasa Hataoka Past Aussie winners: Rachel Hetherington (2002) Top Aussie prediction: Stephanie Kyriacou TV times: Live 3am-6am Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503.
Challenge Tour B-NL Challenge Trophy by Hulencourt Hulencourt, Genappe, Belgium 5.25pm* Jordan Zunic, Gudmundur Kristjansson, Max Rottluff 10.25pm Daniel Hillier (NZ), Nicolai Kristensen, Matteo Manassero
Defending champion: Alfredo Garcia-Heredia Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Jordan Zunic
PGA TOUR Canada Golf BC Championship Gallagher’s Canyon G&CC, Kelowna, British Columbia 12.25am Will Barnett, Justin Doeden, Blake Maum
Defending champion: Jake Knapp (2019) Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Will Barnett
Epson Tour Wildhorse Ladies Classic Wildhorse Resort and Casino, Pendleton, Oregon 12am Julianne Alvarez (NZ), Kendra Dalton, Brynn Walker 12.44am* Hira Naveed, Jaravee Boonchant, Gabriella Then 1.06am* Robyn Choi, Grace Kim, Laetitia Beck 5.01am Soo Jin Lee, Nayan Calsin Murdoch, Britney Yada 5.12am Stephanie Na, Haley Moore, Regina Plasencia 5.45am* Gabriela Ruffels, Hyo Joon Jang, Marta Sanz Barrio 5.56am* Amelia Garvey (NZ), Sophie Hausmann, Gina Kim 6.18am* Emily Mahar, Julienne Soo, Sarah White
Defending champion: Inaugural event Past Aussie winners: Nil Top Aussie prediction: Gabriela Ruffels
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