Sunday Contenders
Sunday Contenders
A quick look at the Contenders heading into the final round of this weeks Evans Scholar Invitational
Leaderboard:
Cameron Young -14
Nick Hardy -10
Adam Svensson -9
Patrick Flavin -7
Tag Ridings -6
Chandler Blanchet -6
Andres Gonzales -6
The Contenders:
Cameron Young- 11 days ago Young was sitting 70th in points, he had missed cuts in five of his last six starts and was in danger of falling out of the top 75. All he has done since then is lead after each of the last seven consecutive tournament rounds. A win today would lock up his Tour card. Nine months ago he was not a member of Korn Ferry Tour and had zero career starts. One successful Monday and a bunch of great successive finishes got him membership and now a chance to head to the big tour.
Nick Hardy- He has his tour card (unofficially) locked up, but to officially lock it up in the Chicago area would be a perfect cherry on top to an exemptional season. Hardy has made the cut in 18 of his last 19 events on the Korn Ferry Tour. He is looking for his first win. It was great to hear some Korn Ferry roars on Thursday and Friday. He had a couple hundred people following him, I imagine that will grow today.
Adam Svensson- Currently 18th in points an important Sunday ahead. A good day today will basically lock up his Tour card. He is currently on a streak of 11 consecutive made cuts. The last four weeks he has struggled on the weekend and has a best finish of T47 in those four. Svensson won nine times at Barry University, and turned pro after his junior year. He was medalist at the 2015 Korn Ferry Q school.
Patrick Flavin- Flavin has only played four events in this extended season but doesn’t have a made cut yet. He is really taking advantage of the sponsors exemption this week as he heads into the final round. He and Nick Hardy are great friends and have some history on this course. Flavin won the Illinois Open as an amateur here in 2017, Hardy finished T2, also as an Am. Flavin would also win the Illinois Am that year, capping off the rare double. A great finish today could really be career-changing. Would be an amazing story if he could pull it off.
Tag Ridings- This is the type of leaderboard is why I love the Korn Ferry Tour. Ridings who is 46, has been to Q-school 15 times. Fifteen. And he is out grinding, hoping to make one last run at a Tour card. This is his 233rd start on the KFT and he is looking for his second win. He has just one top-25 this extended season, but this is his fourth consecutive made cut, so the game seems to be trending in the right direction. Random fact, Ridings used to be sponsored by Tyson Chicken.
Andres Gonzales- One of the most liked guys on Tour. The signature fu-Manchu mustache is alive and well and its good to see him playing well. He has made just 10 of 26 cuts so far this year, including mixing six of the last seven coming into this week. He Monday qualified in back-to-back weeks at the beginning of the PGA Tour season but missed both cuts. I have always been a fan, but a couple years ago he followed a Monday Q playoff double fisted with beers. The man is a legend.
Chandler Blanchet- Monday qualified and finished fourth in the third event of 2020 to set up his entire extended season. Since then, has struggled making just eight of 24 cuts leading up to this week, but he has another top-5 also, so is 90th in points. An especially important Sunday ahead, as the top-75 make it into Korn Ferry Finals. He is coming off a T15 last week. Had an amazing college career at West Florida where he averaged 71, 68, 69 his last three years.
The Chasers:
Vince India- Another player who is from the Chicago area, it will be the first time in his career he will not have to go to Q-school this year. He is currently 56th in points.
Tom Whitney- The former Air Force officer who worked a Nuclear Bomb site for six years after attending the Air Force Academy is looking to move up in points and lock up his spot in finals. Last year he lost his brother to suicide and has become an advocate for mental health awareness.
Luke Guthrie- His last made cut came 455 days ago, a streak of 23 straight. Great to see him in the mix, hoping for a good Sunday for him.
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