WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – Curtis Thompson and Braden Thornberry earned co-medalist honors at the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage after posting scores of 21-under 265 for the week. By securing co-medalist honors, both Thompson and Thornberry will be fully exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2020 season. This marks the first time there has been co-medalists at the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage.
Thornberry, who began the final round in a tie for second, raced off to a hot start on Sunday to reach the top of the leaderboard. After playing his first three holes at 1-under, the 22-year-old carded six consecutive birdies on Nos. 4-9 to reach 21-under for the week.
“I got about as hot as you can get. I think I made four or five putts over 20 feet on the front nine alone,” said Thornberry, who hit 64 of 72 greens this week. "I think I made a seven-footer early and a birdie on the par-5, but other than that every birdie on the front nine was 15-30 feet and they all were going right in the middle of the cup with perfect speed. That was very nice to see.”
Thornberry played his final nine holes at even-par to finish the week at 21-under and tied atop the leaderboard with Thompson. Last year, Thornberry held a share of the first-round lead at the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage but went on to finish T74. After earning a share of the first-round lead this week, Thornberry struggled on Friday but found his game during the final two rounds to claim co-medalist honors.
“Leading after the first round last year and then this year again, I kind of struggled on Friday again, like last year,” Thornberry said. “My goal really was to try and get back into the top-10 after the third round by shooting a few under. When you’ve seen what I was doing last year, doing Monday qualifiers every week, it is very much a relief to know I can set my own schedule this year.”
Curtis Thompson carded a final-round 6-under 66 to join Thornberry at the top of the leaderboard after Sunday’s final round. Thompson began the day with birdies on three of his first five holes. Despite a late bogey on the par-3 15th, the Louisiana State University product recorded back-to-back birdies on his final two holes to claim fully exempt status for the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour season.
“I didn’t read any putts well all day,” Thompson said. “I made a lot of short putts for my birdies and then finally I got a perfect read off my playing partner on the last hole and it was lucky enough to go in.”
Thompson previously played on the Korn Ferry Tour from 2015 to 2018. After struggling with his game over the past few years, the 27-year-old wasn’t sure if he was going to continue his career in professional golf but decided to make a return.
“After First Stage last year I shot 14-under and missed, and I was ready to be done, Thompson said. “Like I said, there’s been a lot of downs in the last two years. About six months ago though, I knew this was possible and here I am.”
While Thompson and Thornberry earned co-medalist honors, nine other players finished inside the top-10 to earn 12 guaranteed starts for the 2020 season. Tom Whitney and Steve Lewton finished in a tie for third at 20-under 266. Whitney, who carded an 8-under 64 on Sunday, battled back from an opening-round 73 on Thursday. The 30-year-old sat T130 after this week’s first round but rallied with scores of 63-66-64 over the next three days to finish inside the top-10.
Players that finished Nos. 11-40 earned eight guaranteed starts for the 2020 season. This year, the cutoff came at 12-under 274 with exactly 40 players earning guaranteed starts. Notable players to finish inside the top-40 include Jordan Niebrugge, Ryan Ruffles, Theo Humphrey, Callum Tarren and Vince India.
SUNDAY NOTES:
* Sunday's weather: Sunny, high of 75, winds E/SE 4-8 mph.
* Preferred lies were used during Sunday’s round.
* This week’s purse was $480,000 with $50,000 going to the co-medalists, Braden Thornberry and Curtis Thompson.
* The Final Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament marked the last qualifying stage for the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour season with players competing for status on the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour. Braden Thornberry and Curtis Thompson secure fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour status, while finishers 2-10 (and ties) secured starts for the first 12 events of the 2020 Regular Season. Finishers 11-40 (and ties) earned entry into the first eight events in 2020.
* Co-medalist Braden Thornberry held a share of the lead after the first round at the Final Stage of Q-School in both 2018 and 2019. In 2018, he finished T74. Thornberry made six cuts in 14 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019. He finished the week hitting 64/72 greens in regulation, the best mark in the field.
* Co-medalist Curtis Thompson birdied three of the four par-5s on the Crooked Cat course on Sunday en route to a closing 66. Thompson’s second-round 62 stood as the low round of the tournament.
* Tom Whitney (T3) carded a first-round 2-over 73 and sat T130 after the first round. He followed that up by going 22-under over his final three rounds to finish one shot back from the co-medalists at 20-under.
* In his first experience at Q-School, Englishman Steve Lewton finished T3 to earn 12 guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour next year.
* Mickey DeMorat and Nick Hardy each finished T5 and earned guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time in their careers.
* A group of players at T7 round out the top-10 finishers who earned 12 guaranteed starts: Dawson Armstrong, Stephen Franken, John VanDerLaan, Greyson Sigg and Mark Blakefield.
* Taylor Montgomery (T13) notched the low round of the day with a 9-under 63 on the Crooked Cat course. He entered the round T58.
* Callum Tarren (T30) carded a first-round 75 to sit T152. He rebounded to shoot rounds of 66-68-65 to finish on the number to earn guaranteed starts.
* Mikel Martinson (T30) also finished on the number at 12-under. Martinson has caddied on the PGA TOUR for multiple professionals, including Peter Malnati and Brice Garnett.
* After experiencing heartbreak with a double bogey at the final hole in Portland to lose his Korn Ferry Tour card, Vince India (T30) rebounded to finish on the number and earn eight guaranteed starts next season.
* Mark Blakefield (T7) birdied four of his first five holes on his way to a final-round 68. Blakefield played collegiately at the University of Kentucky with five-time PGA TOUR winner J.B. Holmes. Holmes was the medalist at the Qualifying Tournament held at Orange County National in 2005.
* This year marked the first time since 2016 the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage was held at Orange County National. In 2016, Jim Renner took home medalist honors with a score of 17-under.
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Thompson, Thornberry earn co-medalist honors at Final Stage of Korn Ferry Tour’s Qualifying Tournament - pgatour.com
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