Justin Suh already had earned his PGA Tour card for next season, so he simply doubled his pleasure.
The 25-year-old Suh, from San Jose and USC, shot 4-under-par 68 in the final round to claim his first professional victory in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship by two strokes over Austin Eckroat at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind.
Suh already was on his way to the PGA Tour for the 2022-23 season because he finished in the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour points standings during the regular season, and 25 more players received playing privileges for next season by finishing in the top 25 on the points list during the three playoff events.
“It feels great because I’ve been so close so many times since turning pro, but was unable to get it done,” said Suh, who had nine top-10 finishes this season on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I learned how to win in college and fell back on that this week, and especially today. It’s very gratifying and to win the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
“I didn’t play very well last season, but turned things around this year and my game progressed to where I knew it could be, and I’ve been able to play the way I know I can, even though I didn’t win until today.
“I told myself earlier in the week that I still knew how to win, and I proved it today.”
Suh, who was a two-time All-American at USC thanks to winning eight titles including five as a junior and rose to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, finished the Korn Ferry Tour Championship with a score of 66-69-64-68—267, 21-under, while Eckroat was second at 68-65-68-68—269, while Harry Hall of England totaled 69-65-71-65—270 to tie for third with Eric Cole of Palm Springs, who finished at 66-68-68-68—270.
By winning, Suh also earned exemptions next year into the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., and the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
Dean Burmester of South Africa posted a score of 69-68-69-65—271 to finish in a big tie for fifth with PGA Tour veteran Ryan Armour, who shot 71-68-67-65—271, Nicolas Echivarria of Colombia, who wound at 67-71-67-66—271, Carl Yuan of China, who finished at 66-70-66-69—271, Michael Gligic of Canada, who totaled 64-66-71-70—271, and Tano Goya of Argentina, who came in at 66-69-65-71—271.
The 25 players who earned their PGA Tour cards through the three-event Korn Ferry Tour playoffs were Eckroat, Gligic, Burmester, Cole, Armour, Goya, Joseph Bramlett of Saratoga and Stanford, Will Gordon, David Lingmerth of Sweden, Phillip Knowles, Austin Cook, Nick Hardy, Henrik Norlander of Sweden, Ben Martin, Nicholas Lindheim of Mission Viejo, Brent Grant, Carson Young, Thomas Detry of Belgium, Scott Harrington, Sam Stevens, Matti Schmid of Germany, Brice Garnett, Brian Stuard and Kyle Westmoreland—the first player from the Air Force Academy to earn a PGA Tour card.
Gordon and Lingmerth won the first two playoff events.
Among those 25 players who earned their PGA Tour cards during the Korn Ferry Tour regular season were Suh, Yuan, Hall, Paul Haley II, Zecheng Dong of China, Robbie Shelton, MJ Daffue of South Africa, Taylor Montgomery, Ben Taylor, Seonghyeon Kim of South Korea, Brandon Matthews, Augusto Nunez of Argentina, Eric Barnes, Ben Griffin, Byeong Hun An of South Korea, Davis Thompson, Michael Kim of South Korea and Cal, Harrison Endycott of Australia, Kevin Roy of Long Beach State, Trevor Werbylo, Tyson Alexander, Anders Albertson, Kevin Yu of Taiwan, Vincent Norrman of Sweden and Trevor Cone.
Many of these new PGA Tour members are expected to play in the 2022-23 season opener on Sept. 15-19 on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa.
For complete results and final Korn Ferry Tour point standings, visit https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour/leaderboard.html
