Kiradech Keeps Nerves in Check to Regain Playing Rights

Newburgh, Indianapolis, United States: Kiradech Aphibarnrat regained his PGA Tour card after surviving a pressure-packed final day at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.

The 32-year-old Thai, who lost his playing rights after finishing outside the top-125 in the FedEx Cup ranking last month, signed for a final round of one-under 71 at Victoria National Golf Club to end his campaign in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in 21st position.

The top-25 earned PGA Tour memberships for the 2021-22 season which commences this month.

“It’s an amazing day, amazing week. I’ve played bad golf for almost two years because of my (knee) injury and the Covid situation but I feel the last three months I’ve played solid golf and I deserved to get something back.

“It was a difficult day, a lot of pressure and I just tried to enjoy every minute, which was very difficult,” said a relieved Kiradech after he ended the tournament in tied 27th position.

Big-hitting Kiradech made five birdies against four bogeys, including on the 15th and 18th holes, making for a nervous finish to determine if he’d done enough to regain his PGA Tour card.

“I knew I had to be under par to stay in the top-25. This golf course is difficult, especially over the last five holes. I had to stay patient and stay focused. The putter didn’t roll too well, maybe there was a lot of stress in there. I hit a bad second shot into water on the last hole but I did well with a two-putt to make bogey,” he said.

The Thai is now looking forward to his fourth season on the PGA Tour and believes the challenges and pressure he faced over the past few weeks in trying to regain his playing status in the US will stand him in good stead.

“This will help me, definitely. I haven’t played under pressure for a while as I’ve not been on top of leaderboards. It’s nice to get some pressure and it will surely help when I get back to the PGA Tour,” said Kiradech, a four-time winner on the European Tour.

“I know I have to scramble around the greens better and make less bogeys. I made a lot of birdies, but too many bogeys, too. I’m not too far off. In the last three months, I’ve been striking the ball well.”

He gave credit to his family for providing him with moral support over the past few months after his wife, mother and sister flew to the US and travelled with him across the three Korn Ferry Tour Finals events.

“It’s always good to have family around. Get to eat some Thai food and you just feel more comfortable having family with you. Otherwise, you can feel lonely on Tour. I certainly enjoyed myself the last few months,” said Kiradech.

The culmination of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals and the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour season wrapped up as Joseph Bramlett won his first tournament title. Bramlett pulled away during the final round to finish four shots clear of the field at 20-under. He joined 24 other graduates in securing 2021-22 PGA Tour membership through the Finals points standings.

The Korn Ferry Tour awarded the first set of 25 PGA Tour cards for the 2021-22 season at the conclusion of the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna in August, with a second set awarded this week after the conclusion of the Finals.

The first set was presented to the top-25 players in the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points standings while this week’s set was presented to the top-25 players in the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

Among other players who clinched their PGA Tour cards at Victoria National were runner-up Trey Mullinax, Hayden Buckley (tied fourth), Sahith Theegala (sixth) and Australian Lucas Herbert (14th), a former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship participant.

Justin Lower earned the 25th and final card after a joint 15th finish, edging Taylor Montgomery by 5.273 points. Montgomery finished 26th in both the regular season points list and the Finals points list, missing his first PGA Tour card by the narrowest of margins in both races.

Lower provided the highlight of the afternoon, three years after an excruciating finish at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in 2018 in which he finished 26th in the Finals points standings after missing an eight-foot birdie putt at the final hole that would have sent him to the Tour. On Sunday he got up and down for par to clinch his first Tour card.

An Byeong-hun finished tied 20th after a final round of 69 to miss out on a chance for a quick return to the PGA Tour, while fellow-Korean Noh Seung-yul finished tied 71st following a closing 68.