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The 2021-22 PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) seasons are over. That means 25 KFT Players earned their PGA TOUR Cards and have been awarded for the PGA 2022-23 season.
Those cards were handed out following the KFT Championship and of the 25, there are 12 players designated as true rookies for the upcoming season.
There’s a little math involved when it comes to being a “Rookie” in the PGA. In total, 50 KFT players earned TOUR cards. The first group of 25 nailed things down weeks ago following the KFT regular season. The remaining 25 TOUR card spots were set after the KFT Finals and Championship.
KFT players that have been PGA TOUR members in the past, KFT players that have played a certain number of PGA events over the last few seasons, etc are not considered rookies.
So, to narrow things down, this article pertains to the 12 KFT players that are considered rookies by the PGA that earned PGA TOUR cards following the KFT Championship. Burmester, Eric Cole, Thomas Detry, Austin Eckroat, Nicolas Echavarria, Tano Goya, Brent Grant, Philip Knowles, Matti Schmid, Sam Stevens, Kyle Westmoreland, and Carson Young.
Here are three to keep an eye on:
Dean Burmester
He finished T11 at the Open Championship and a week before he finished T10 at the Scottish Open. The 33-year-old South African has been on the OWGR list for all of 2022 with a No. 69 ranking. He’s won nine OWGR-sanctioned events including the 2021 South African PGA Championship. He’s won mini-tour events, as well as on the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour. He earned his first PGA TOUR card following the KFT Finals and Championship. Burmester maintained a place in the top 100 of the OWGR Ranking for all of 2022 and boasts nine OWGR- sanctioned wins.
Austin Eckroat
Austin Eckroat, a 23-year-old native of Edmond, Oklahoma was missing cuts and hurting his prospects for a TOUR card. He needed to nail down four top 25 finishes to get close to earning it. That did not seem to be a problem for the former Oklahoma State player and 2nd -team all- American. He went T23, T23, T25, and T25! The stuff of legend – won a Monday qualifier into the AdventhHealth Championship and finished T23. That pushed him to No. 34 on the KFT Regular Season Eligibility Points List.
Kyle Westmoreland
Westmoreland comes in as the first United States Air Force Academy graduate to earn a PGA TOUR card. The 30-year-old carded a T9 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and backed that effort up with a clutch birdie on the 72nd hole of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship to end the season. He won five times while still serving in the Air Force. The veteran has shown an increasingly improved game during his season on the KFT and often displays a hot putter. He finished 60th on the KFT Regular Season Points List.
Ranking the 12 New PGA TOUR Rookies
Here’s a “completely” by-the-gut preseason ranking of the 12 TOUR Rookie Players that earned PGA TOUR cards after the completion of the KFT Finals and Championship.
No. 1. Dean Burmester: See above.
No. 2 Austin Eckroat: See above.
No. 3 Philip Knowles: He says that he entered the KFT season finale with two booked flights. One to Boise, Idaho for the first event in the KFT Finals. The other was to Jacksonville for Q- School. He ended the regular season with a T10 finish and a T2 at the Albertsons.
No. 4. Eric Cole: He has won over 50 mini-tour events. The 34-year-old out of Division II Nova Southeastern University in Florida earned KFT membership for the 2017 season eight years after he turned pro. Cole leveled out on the KFT and earned his first PGA TOUR card with a T3 at the KFT Championship.
No. 5. Thomas Detry: He may be a familiar name to fans as the Belgian native played four PGA TOUR events plus the Open Championship this past season. He carded top-25s in the TOUR event and finished T34 on the Old Course. He finished No. 18 on its 2020 DP World Tour Order of Merit.
No. 6. Brent Grant: The Honolulu, Hawaii native earned his first PGA TOUR card with two top- 35 finishes in the first two KFT Finals events. He then carded an 11th-place finish on Sunday at the KFT Championship. Grant won the 2022 Simmons Bank Open and won a U.S. Amateur Four- Ball Championship qualifier.
No. 7 – Carson Young: The former Clemson Tiger nailed down his first PGA TOUR card with a T18 at the Albertsons and a T12 Sunday at the KFT Championship. The former tennis player won the 2022 Panama Championship and finished 31st on the KFT Regular Season Points List.
No. 8 – Kyle Westmoreland: See above.
No. 9 – Nicolas Echavarria: He’s a native of Medellin, Colombia who played college golf at Arkansas. The 34-year-old Razorback turned pro in 2017. He played two seasons on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and then held the 2nd place spot on the 2018 KFT Order of Merit. Echavarria grabbed his TOUR card with a T5 at the KFT Championship.
No. 10. Tano Goya: He has already won five OWGR-sanctioned events before hitting the KFT with plenty of time on the Challenge and DP World Tours. Goya turned pro ins 2007 as a teenager and played in Argentina before moving up. Goya is 34 years old and from Argentine. Enters as a rookie with a seasoned pro look.
No. 11. Sam Stevens: He played at Oklahoma State and was part of the 2018 NCAA Championship team. He’s now pocketed his PGA TOUR card with a T28 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and a T12 at the KFT Championship. His father Charlie played college golf and the KFT. His Grandfather Johnny logged 30 PGA TOUR events.
No. 12. Matti Schmid: He was T8 at the PGA TOUR Barbasol Championship and solo 38th at the Barracuda Championship. That added up enough non-member FedEx Cup points for an exemption to the KFT Finals. Schmid, a native of Germany who is 24 years old and played at Louisville and the DP World. He carded a T9 in the KFT Finals for his TOUR card.
The 16 KFT Players who are also PGA TOUR rookies for the 2022-23 season but earned their cards weeks ago are; Tyson Alexander, Erik Barnes, Trevor Cone, Harrison Endycott, Ben Griffin, Harry Hall, Seonghyeon Kim, Brandon Matthews, Taylor Montgomery, Vincent Norrman, Augusto Núñez, Kevin Roy, Davis Thompson, Trevor Werbylo, Kevin Yu, and Carl Yuan.
All 50 KFT Players that Earned 2022-23 PGA Tour Cards
This is the complete list of KFT Players that earned their 2022-2023 PGA Tour cards either after the KFT regular season or following the Finals and Championship.
Ben An
Anders Albertson
Tyson Alexander
Ryan Armour
Erik Barnes
Dean Burmester
Joseph Bramlett
Eric Cole
Austin Cook
Trevor Cone
MJ Daffue
Thomas Detry
Marty Dou
Austin Eckroat
Harrison Endycott
Nicholas Echavarria
Brice Garnett
Michael Gligic
Will Gordon
Tano Goya
Brent Grant
Ben Griffin
Harry Hall
Paul Haley II
Nick Hardy
Scott Harrington
Seonghyeon Kim
Michael Kim
Philip Knowles
Nicholas Lindheim
David Lingmerth
Brandon Matthews
Ben Martin
Taylor Montgomery
Henrik Norlander
Vincent Norrman
Augusto Nunez
Kevin Roy
Matti Schmid
Robby Shelton
Sam Stevens
Brian Stuard
Justin Suh (KFT Champion, fully exempt.)
Ben Taylor
Davis Thompson
Trevor Werbylo
Kyle Westmoreland
Carson Young
Carl Yuan
Kevin Yu
