Latest news with #KFT
NBC Sports
15 hours ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Cole Hammer: 'Right thing' to turn self in for advice-giving, resulting in pair of DQ's at KFT event
Cole Hammer had never been disqualified from a tournament in his life. Until Friday, that is, when the 25-year-old Korn Ferry Tour pro called what ended up being a rules violation on himself during this week's Memorial Health Championship in Springfield, Illinois. Hammer's admission to rules officials eventually resulted in the disqualification of both Hammer and Hammer's playing competitor, Nelson Ledesma, after it was determined that Hammer had violated Rule 10.2a, which prohibits players from giving or asking for advice from anyone other than their caddie. The incident occurred during Thursday's first round on the par-3 17th hole at Panther Creek Country Club. Hammer had just hit 4-iron onto the green on the 232-yard hole and was watching his ball still in motion when he started walking toward his bag. That's when, according to Hammer, he crossed paths with Ledesma's caddie, Nico Torres, who then flashed four fingers, a universal signal for, '4-iron?' 'Out of instinct, I flashed '4' as well,' Hammer told via phone on Friday afternoon. 'It was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and I didn't think a whole lot about it until after the round.' That evening, Hammer reached out to a few peers for their opinion. Most felt like he was in the clear. After all, the rule against giving advice is often broken in professional golf, and usually without punishment. When caddies for Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland were scrutinized by those who felt they violated the rule during the 2023 Masters – rules officials determined they did not – Golf Channel analyst Paul McGinley called advice-giving 'not a serious breach among players,' adding, 'This is common practice on Tour. Whether you like it or not, it's common practice. It happens in every professional tournament around the world. It's not obvious always, so blatant.' One well-known PGA Tour veteran even texted Hammer on Thursday night, saying, basically, This happens every single day on Tour. But even then, Hammer was unsure that he could simply brush it off. 'I feel like I know the rules really well, and I've always tried to uphold them to the best of my ability,' Hammer said. 'It just didn't sit right with me last night, and when I woke up this morning, I felt compelled to go talk to the rules official and tell him what had happened.' Hammer sought out KFT rules official Claudio Rivas, who told Hammer he would get back with him after gathering more facts and meeting with chief referee Jordan Harris and a USGA representative to determine the proper course of action. Hammer shared with Rivas that he also didn't know if Torres had even seen his hand signal. Hammer added that he didn't alert Ledesma or Torres at the time because he didn't want to cause unnecessary worry if there ended up being no infraction. 'I didn't think that they would be disqualified,' Hammer said. 'I just thought since I was the one who gave the sign that I would be disqualified. And I thought that was worst-case scenario.' Rule 10.2a fully states: During a round, you must not: 1. Give advice to anyone in the competition who is playing on the course; 2. Ask anyone for advice, other than your caddie; 3. Touch another player's equipment to learn information that would be advice if given by or asked of the other player. The penalty is usually the general penalty of two strokes, but because Hammer and Ledesma had already signed their scorecards – Hammer for a 2-under 69, Ledesma for 73 – they were subject to disqualification under Rule 3.3. It took several hours for a final decision to be made, with the disqualification not coming until Hammer and Ledesma were six holes into their second rounds. Hammer had made a bogey to drop to 1 under while Ledesma was still 2 over for the tournament; the cut line is currently projected at 4 under. The Korn Ferry Tour confirmed the reason for disqualification but did not provide further details. Ledesma's response to which was then translated to English: 'The decision made is the correct one, according to the rules. I can't do much with it except accept it.' Ledesma added that Torres was 'shocked by the situation,' but accepted the mistake. 'I feel a lot better now that I at least got it off my chest because it was weighing me down,' Hammer said. 'It's just unfortunate that it's a caused a little storm around the tournament.' As for Hammer, he entered the week No. 73 in points. His T-23 last week in Wichita, Kansas, snapped a string of six straight missed cuts. Ledesma, 34, is No. 102 in points. 'This is something that's so abnormal to experience in a tournament, so I'm almost just going to have to cast it away like nothing happened,' Hammer said. 'It's a learning experience, and I think I'm in a better head space having called it on myself. … I'm by no means depressed about the outcome or nervous about the next stretch. If anything, I can play with a clean slate and a clear conscious and hopefully continue the play that I had in Wichita. 'There are plenty of events left, and I felt like doing the right thing and protecting the game would be better for me in the long run.'
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Collin Morikawa parts with caddie Joe Greiner, employs former Cal teammate for Rocket Classic
Collin Morikawa is making another caddie change. After just five tournaments, Morikawa and looper Joe Greiner have split, Morikawa confirmed to Golfweek on Wednesday. Korn Ferry Tour player K.K. Limbhasut, Morikawa's former college teammate at Cal, will make a spot start on the bag for this week's Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club. Morikawa hired Greiner after parting ways with the only caddie of his pro career, J.J. Jakovac, following the RBC Heritage in late April. Greiner, who was Max Homa's longtime caddie, worked a couple tournaments filling in for Justin Thomas' regular caddie, Matt Minister, including at Harbour Town, where Thomas won. With Greiner as caddie, Morikawa notched three top-25s, though nothing better than T-17, at the Truist Championship, their first event together. The report did not state who Morikawa will have on the bag after this week. Limbhasut has made nine starts on the KFT this season and ranks No. 159 on the tour's points list.
NBC Sports
7 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Another 59 on Korn Ferry Tour! Myles Creighton chips in to break 60
Another Korn Ferry Tour round, another sub-60 score. This time it was Myles Creighton, who fired an 11-under 59 in Saturday's third round of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open. Creighton's performance, which was capped by a chip-in birdie, comes just two days after Adrien Dumont de Chassart shot 59 in Thursday's first round at Crestview Country Club. Unlike Dumont de Chassart's 59, Creighton achieved his score without preferred lies in effect. There have now been 15 scores of 59 or better in KFT history, seven of which have come in the past three seasons. It's also the second time that there have been two sub-60 scores in the same tournament, following the 2024 Astara Golf Championship, where Cristobal del Solar carded a record 57 in the opening round before Aldrich Potgieter followed with a 59 the next day. Creighton parred the par-4 first hole before rattling off four straight birdies. He bogeyed the par-4 eighth but sandwiched that with birdies at Nos. 7 and 9 to notch a front-nine 30. His inward 29 included four straight birdies as well, at Nos. 13-16, before his final-hole heroics at the par-4 18th. CHIP-IN FOR 59!!! Myles Creighton with a shot of the year contender. Creighton's 59 pushed him to 15 under for the tournament. He led by a shot when he finished his round, though the lead groups were just making the turn. Pierceson Coody eagled the par-4 11th to jump Creighton and move to 16 under. The 29-year-old Creighton, a Canadian who turned pro out of Radford in 2018, entered the week No. 74 in KFT points. This is his second season on the KFT after he finished second in points during the 2023 PGA Tour Latinoamerica campaign. His previous low round in PGA Tour-sanctioned competition was 62.
NBC Sports
19-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Adrien Dumont de Chassart becomes latest Korn Ferry Tour player to break 60
Adrien Dumont de Chassart called it a 'good day to shoot 59.' As if there's ever a bad day. The 25-year-old Belgian fired the 14th sub-60 score in Korn Ferry Tour history, an 11-under 59 in Thursday's opening round of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open. Dumont de Chassart took advantage of preferred lies and ideal conditions (temperatures in the low 80s, single-digit wind) at Crestview Country Club, which was damaged earlier this week after severe weather ripped through the Wichita area. Dumont de Chassart carded 12 birdies and one bogey as he took the lead by four shots following the morning wave. He hit three greens in under regulation, including on both par-5s. When he birdied the second hole to reach 7 under for his round, he began thinking about breaking 60. Having never broken 61 before in his career, Dumont de Chassart missed a short birdie putt on the par-4 seventh before sticking a 6-iron close at the par-3 eighth for his last birdie of the round. 'I'm glad I had my chance, and I took it,' said Dumont de Chassart, who didn't make a putt longer than 25 feet and missed only three fairways. 'If I can hit the ball in play, I feel like I can compete at any level,' he added. Dumont de Chassart's 59 was the sixth sub-60 score on the KFT in the last three seasons. Cristobal del Solar owns the KFT record for lowest round, shooting 13-under 57 at last year's Astara Golf Championship. Frankie Capan III and Stephan Jaeger have each carded 58s on the KFT. A University of Illinois product, Dumont de Chassart graduated from the KFT after just one summer two years ago. But he made just 12 of 27 cuts and ended up 164th in FedExCup points to lose his PGA Tour card. He's currently 33rd in KFT points entering this week.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Josele Ballester declines Korn Ferry Tour membership via PGA Tour U
Josele Ballester won't be playing the Korn Ferry Tour this summer. The recent Arizona State grad, who recently capped his college career with a T-4 finish at the NCAA Championship and a quarterfinal exit by the Sun Devils, officially declined the KFT membership he received as the No. 3 finisher in the PGA Tour University rankings, has learned. Advertisement With Ballester declining membership, several PGA Tour U grads improved their status. Texas A&M's Phichaksn Maichon was bumped to fifth, which comes with a full KFT card and now an exemption into final stage of PGA Tour Q-School this December. LSU's Algot Kleen moves to No. 10, now receiving full KFT membership in addition to his exemption into second stage of Q-School. Ole Miss' Kye Meeks goes from nothing to No. 25 and full PGA Tour Americas status. Auburn's Brendan Valdes, Florida's Ian Gilligan, Vanderbilt's Jackson Van Paris, Arizona State's Preston Summerhays, Louisville's Sebastian Moss and UCLA teammates Omar Morales and Pablo Ereno are the other newly minted KFT members from this PGA Tour U class. North Carolina's David Ford won the PGA Tour U points list this season – Ballester was in the running for this until Ford won three straight events in the spring – to earn his PGA Tour card for the next season and a half. He made his pro debut two weeks ago at Colonial and will join Gordon Sargent and Luke Clanton, two PGA Tour U Accelerated achievers, in this week's field at the RBC Canadian Open. Auburn's Jackson Koivun also has earned 20 points through Accelerated, though he's returning for his junior year.
