BERTHOUD — Cómo se dice “champion”?
Or how about “PGA Tour-bound”?
Well, Chilean native Cristobal Del Solar knows very well how to say those things — whether it be in Spanish or English — after winning The Ascendant presented by Blue last month at TPC Colorado.
Del Solar became the third international champion in the six-year history of The Ascendant, joining fellow South American Nelson Ledesma (Argentina, winner in 2019) and Zecheng “Marty” Dou (China, 2022).
And in the process, Del Solar locked up a PGA Tour card for 2025 by vaulting into fifth place in the season-long Korn Ferry Tour points list. The top 30 on that list at the end of the year head to the big show next season.
“I’m just so excited, it’s insane,” he said. Oh, and by the way, Del Solar also earned a cool $180,000 out of the $1 million purse.
And the way it happened was a sight to behold. Del Solar and Matthew Riedel were tied for the lead when a rumbling of thunder led to a stoppage of play that lasted over 2 hours and 15 minutes. Del Solar was 2 under par for the day at the time, thanks mainly to a 33-foot eagle putt on No. 5.
But the Chilean, who moved to Florida — by himself — as a 14-year-old to attend IMG Academy and went on to play at Florida State, came to life in a big way when play resumed.
His first shot, post-delay, was a 293-yard uphill approach to the green on the par-5 15th. His ball ended up 40 feet behind the hole, and he drained the downhill putt for eagle.
“My caddie said it was going with pretty good speed, but then my competitor was telling me that it was rolling pretty hard, so I don’t really know who to believe,” Del Solar said with a smile.
Then he chipped in for birdie from 24 feet on the par-3 16th. And after a routine par on the tough 17th, he closed things out in fitting fashion with an 18-foot birdie on the formidable final hole.
In other words, immediately following the weather delay, Del Solar played his final four holes in 4 under par to go from a tie to a four-stroke victory.
“I struck the ball amazing, putted it really good. It was just a great week,” he said.
Spectators went from asking about where a playoff would be held to Del Solar doubling the previous largest victory margin in the history of The Ascendant. And the 30-year-old set a new Ascendant scoring standard with a 22-under-par total, two better than last year’s champion, Nicholas Lindheim.
Del Solar has played in a grand total of two PGA Tour events in his career — the Mexico Open at Vidante in both 2023 and this year. But now he realizes a dream by earning full PGA Tour status for 2025.
“I can’t really believe it,” Del Solar said. “It’s one of those dreams we think about since we were little kids. Some players do it sooner than others. I’m so excited.
“I’ve been working my whole life to be (not) just a professional golfer, but a great professional golfer. That’s kind of what probably all of us (tour players) think. If you ask any of them they’re probably going to tell you since they’re little kids they’ve been thinking they want to be great. So I’ve been wanting to play on the PGA Tour, play against the best there is in the world.”
It’s little wonder why Del Solar and his caddie, Diego Salinas, were so giddy in the wake of his victory, Del Solar’s first in 41 Korn Ferry Tour starts. But he’d been knocking on the door plenty this season, with five previous top-10 finishes on the KFT.
All told at TPC Colorado, Del Solar went 66-68-66-66 for his 22-under total. Riedel, a PGA Tour University product, and Brian Campbell tied for second place at 18 under, with Riedel closing with a bogey-free 66 and Campbell with a blemish-free 67. Campbell moved up to eighth on the 2024 KFT points list.
Riedel, a former Vanderbilt golfer who just started his pro career in early June, went 64-66 on the weekend to vault up the scoreboard.
“I made the cut at 4 under — (with just one stroke to spare) — so it’s not disappointing at all,” he said of falling a little short of a title. “I played great this week. I would obviously love to be up there (with the win), but I’m pumped with the way I handled the last couple of days. I put myself up there and didn’t make a bogey today. I’m not going to look back and fret about (not winning). It’s probably one of the most fun times I’ve had out on the course — just getting to compete and playing good.
“Where I’m at with my status, with PGA Tour U, this is my fifth event. I’m just trying to keep my card, trying to get some points and cover the bills. I knew (Del Solar) had some scoring opportunities down the stretch. I didn’t want to force anything and do anything dumb (after the weather delay). I had a good save on 18 for par. I was just trying to give it my best. It was a lot of fun out there.”
As for Matt McCarty, who took a three-stroke lead into Sunday, the left-hander started with a birdie on No. 1 in the final round but didn’t make another one and faltered to a 75, tying for fifth place.
For Del Solar, the final result continued a life-changing previous month or so as — in addition to the win at TPC Colorado and landing his 2025 PGA Tour card — he and his wife just had an addition to the family, a 3-week-old daughter.
Suffice it to say it’s a joyous time for a guy who moved to the U.S. by himself — without his family — at age 14.
“My family stayed back home and I kind of grew up pretty quick and I think that definitely helped,” he said. “My family is very goal-oriented, they’re very hard workers and they raised us that way, very disciplined.”
And that discipline and hard work paid off in a big way at TPC Colorado.
“I can’t really wrap my head around it still,” Del Solar said of how this year has gone. “Amazing. Insane.”
Jeremy Paul Takes a Shine to TPC Colorado: Jeremy Paul gave an emphatic fist pump when he rolled in his 14-foot birdie putt on his final hole of The Ascendant presented by Blue.
No, it wouldn’t give him the victory, but it was almost the next best thing.
The former University of Colorado golfer birdied both the formidable 17th and 18th holes at TPC Colorado on Sunday — and three of his last four holes overall — to finish tied for fifth at what amounts to be a home event for him. Both he and his twin brother Yannik played their college golf 45 minutes away in Boulder, and Jeremy’s wife’s family lives in the Denver metro area.
So what about that emphatic fist pump?
“It was awesome,” the 30-year-old German said. “Everything is so close together (on the leaderboard), so especially when you’re near the top, everything matters so much. If you make (a final putt) when you’re 40th place and you go to 38th, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a huge difference when you make one to get to (fifth place). And I wanted to get redemption because I didn’t finish well yesterday (2 over in his final four holes). It was more for myself. I just wanted to have a good finish and know I can finish strong. To pull it off, that’s why it meant a lot.”
That gives Paul a stellar two top-5 finishes in his three starts at The Ascendant. He placed third in 2022, two strokes behind winner Marty Dou.
This time around, with his former CU coach, Roy Edwards, and his family in the gallery, Paul closed with a 6-under-par 66 to check in at 16 under par, which left him six strokes back of champion Cristobal Del Solar.
“I really like this place,” Paul said. “To me it’s a huge advantage going to CU here and playing at elevation all the time. I feel really comfortable in Colorado. I just like being here. My wife’s family is here. We come here quite often. Roy came out with his family today. They’re all good friends to me. Having that support today means a lot. Being able to finish strong makes the week even better. But overall I always enjoy being in Colorado.
“Also, this golf course suits me well. You have to hit driver really well. If you get in good position, you can make a lot of birdies.”
Paul came into Sunday sitting nine strokes out of the lead, and climbed the scoreboard with an eight-birdie, two-bogey day. For the week, he played the tough 504-yard, par-4 17th hole in 3 under par.
“I just wanted to play a good round,” he said. “I knew a win was kind of out of the picture when Matt (McCarty) finished strong (on Saturday and was nine ahead of Paul going into Sunday). But 4 (more) under was still in the top 5. I figured I was only four back of that, so a good round would probably move me up a little bit.”
At the end of the day, Paul helped his cause a fair amount with his showing on Sunday, which marked his best Korn Ferry Tour finish since his season-opening victory in the Bahamas in mid-January.
With the top 30 on the final season-long KFT points list earning their His birdie putt on No. 18 alone on Sunday was worth 20.5 points.
“Where I am on the points list, every point just matters so much because at the end of the day it always comes down to a few points,” he said. “It really matters when you play well, you’ve got to finish it off. That’s where the points are; it’s so heavy on the top.”
Paul hasn’t yet reached the number of points necessary to clinch a 2025 PGA Tour card, but he’s certainly in good position to do so with nine tournaments left in the KFT season.
“Obviously you want to get to a certain threshold that for sure you’re going to get your card,” he said. “But if you just get your card and finish 26-30 (on the points list), you just don’t get that many (PGA Tour) starts. It’s really important to get as high up as you can. When you play your first season on the PGA Tour it’s crucial to get as many opportunities as you can, so it matters to finish strong and have a couple more good finishes.”
Paul was one of three players with strong area ties to make the cut at The Ascendant.
Cheyenne native Josh Creel, who had an outside shot at the title going into Sunday, never got anything going in the final round. A water ball on the par-3 eighth led to a double bogey and he was 3 over for the day after 10 holes. He made up a little ground down the stretch but a final-round 74 led to a 42nd-place finish, his best on the Korn Ferry Tour since early February. The former PGA Tour player ended up at 10 under par overall.
As for former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland, he needed a solid back nine on Sunday (3 under) to salvage a 2-under 70 for the day. He also tied for 42nd place at 10 under, having paid the price for making a quadruple-bogey 8 on Saturday at a hole where he couldn’t find either his first or second tee shots, only to have followers locate them minutes after his search time had expired.
Westmoreland’s showing dropped him one spot in the KFT points standings, to 26th place.
Notable: After drawing a tournament record of nearly 30,000 fans for the week last year, The Ascendant’s attendance in 2024 was “down a little bit,” tournament director Drew Blass reported. Temperatures in the low 100s and high 90s, weather delays and the moving of tee-time windows on the weekend were among the issues that may have had an effect, Blass said. … A day after just the fifth par-4 hole-in-one in Korn Ferry Tour history took place, another came ever so close to happening on Sunday. On the same hole Monday qualifier Timmy Crawford aced from 365 yards on Saturday, Shad Tuten saw his tee shot roll just inches from the cup. He ended up with an eagle from 4 feet, 7 inches. … Crawford, by the way, eagled No. 3 on Sunday, making him 5 under par on that hole on the weekend. He shot 65 on Sunday and finished tied for fifth place. Starting on No. 3 Sunday, he played five holes in 6 under par. … Champion Cristobal Del Solar, who is now headed to the PGA Tour in 2025, has a cousin, Nicole Perrot, who was the first Chilean-born player to win on the LPGA Tour.
Local Scores: Here are The Ascendant scores for players who have significant Colorado and area ties:
5. Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul 66-72-68-66—272
42.Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland 69-67-72-70—278
42. Cheyenne native Josh Creel, who started his college golf career at CU before completing it at Central Oklahoma 67-67-70-74–278
Missed 36-Hole Cut
Fort Collins and Steamboat Springs resident Sam Saunders 73-69—142
Fort Collins resident AJ Ott, a former CSU golfer 72-73–145
Part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler 69-77–146
For all the scores from The Ascendant, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com