There was high drama as the Korn Ferry Tour Championship came down to the wire Sunday in Indiana.
Not just to see who would wind up with the trophy, but also to find out who would grab the coveted 30 PGA Tour cards that were up for grabs for the top finishers in the season-long points standings.
Coming into the KFT’s final event, 17 players knew they were PGA Tour bound through their play throughout the season, which left 13 spots still to be determined.
By the time the final putt dropped, one of those unallocated cards went to this week’s winner, Braden Thornberry, who put together a final-round six-under 66 in tough conditions at French Lick to storm from six shots back to start the day and win by one.
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Thornberry, the 2017 NCAA Champion and former top-ranked amateur, came into the week 51st in the standings, meaning a win was essential for him to move on. The same was true for Doc Redman, who led for much of the day, but doubled the 15th hole and came up short, denying him a return to the PGA Tour.
The final group also decided who would get the 30th card, but indirectly. Brian Campbell, who already had his Tour card locked up this week, faced a six-foot par putt on the last to secure himself a three-way tie for second with Redman and Alistair Docherty.
Miss it? The resulting two-way tie for second would have meant Docherty earned enough points to finish 30th on the points list and get his PGA Tour card. Make it? Then Docherty doesn’t earn enough points from the three-way tie and Noah Goodwin, who birdied his final hole to finish T44, slides back into the top 30.
Campbell drained the putt, making the dream for Goodwin, but spelling heartbreak for Docherty.
Check out the full list of Korn Ferry Tour graduates below, in order of their finish on the Korn Ferry Tour points list.
2023 Korn Ferry Tour graduates
1. Matt McCarty
2. Max McGreevy
3. Frankie Capan III
4. Steven Fisk
5. Tim Widing
6. Taylor Dickson
7. Brian Campbell
8. Harry Higgs
9. Thomas Rosenmueller
10. William Mouw
11. Quade Cummins
12. Ryan Gerard
13. Kevin Roy
14. Cristobal Del Solar
15. Kevin Velo
16. Braden Thornberry
17. Paul Peterson
18. Isaiah Salinda
19. Karl Vilips
20. Jackson Suber
21. Jeremy Paul
22. Mason Andersen
23. John Pak
24. Kris Ventura
25. Kaito Onishi
26. Ricky Castillo
27. Trevor Cone
28. Danny Walker
29. Aldrich Potgieter
30. Noah Goodwin