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Walker Cup player John Pak headed a group of five former collegiate players who earned exemptions on the Korn Ferry Tour through the inaugural PGA Tour University program.
Pak (Florida State) was joined by Davis Thompson (Georgia), Austin Eckroat (Oklahoma State), Chun An Yu (Arizona State) and Garrett Reband (Oklahoma). They are exempt into all remaining open, full-field Korn Ferry Tour events for the rest of 2021. They also receive exemption into the final stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q School.
England’s Angus Flanagan (Minnesota) and South Africa’s Jovan Rebula (Auburn) are two of the next 10 players on the list who earned exemptions into Forme Tour events, starting with the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club, Georgia, later this month. The other eight are Quade Cummins (Oklahoma), Michael Feagles (Illinois), McClure Meissner (SMU), Trevor Werbylo (Arizona), Jonathan Brightwell (Oklahoma), Puwit Anupansuebsai (San Diego State), Alex Schaake (Iowa) and Benjamin Shipp (NC State).
The PGA Tour created the Forme Tour to provide playing opportunities for PGA Tour Canada members who saw their season impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. It consists of eight, 72-hole tournaments between late June and mid-September. The top five players on its money list will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2021-22, with others advancing to second and final stages of the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School.
The Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame announced Tuesday it will induct Suzy Whaley at a ceremony that will follow the first round of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield.
In 2018, Whaley became the first female president of the PGA of America, a position she held until last October when she was succeeded by Jim Richerson.
Whaley also was the first woman in 58 years to qualify for a PGA Tour event when she earned a spot in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open by winning the 2002 Connecticut PGA Championship.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame committee,” said Whaley. “I am extremely proud to stand beside the others currently representing Connecticut.”
Rachel Heck advanced to the No. 2 player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking as a result of her outstanding first year in college golf.
The Stanford student’s NCAA Women’s Championship victory, her fifth consecutive win and sixth in nine starts, saw her move four places to the position behind fellow American Rose Zhang.
Heck, who set a college scoring record with a 69.72 average, was outside the top 50 in March.
The biggest advancement at the top of the women's ranking came from Frances Lucie Malchirand, who moved from 20th place to 12th place.
The R&A has announced there will be 2021 Open Championship places up for grabs at the European Tour’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open (July 1-4) and the Challenge Tour’s Kaskáda Golf Challenge (July 1-4) and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge (July 8-11).
The decision means that golfers forced to withdraw from Open Championship Final Qualifying (June 29) due to COVID-19 travel restrictions will have alternative opportunities to earn a place in the final major championship of the year.
Those who compete in Final Qualifying and do not secure one of the 12 places available there will be unable to qualify through the three new avenues.
The three leading non-exempt golfers at the Irish Open will qualify, as will the leading non-exempt golfers at the Kaskáda and Le Vaudreuil events.
The R&A also confirmed that three Open places will be available the week before the Open Championship, through the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open. Golfers who play in Final Qualifying but do not earn a spot are able to compete for those three places.
The R&A has confirmed it will introduce a ballot lottery for tickets for next year’s 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.
The governing body has made the unprecedented move because it believes there will be a massive demand for tickets and a ballot is the “fairest” and “most equitable” way to meet that demand.
To get into the new ballot, members of the public will need to sign up for the free-to-join One Club at www.theopen.com.
Traditionally popular weekly tickets will not be available. The ticket ballot will run from July 1 to Oct. 4.
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