On the bright side, Travis Trace of Jacksonville positioned himself nicely to make a run at a PGA Tour card for the 2027 season in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
Trace, a Sandalwood and University of North Florida graduate, posted his best career finish on the Korn Ferry Tour on Aug. 3 when he earned a spot in a five-way playoff at the Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club. Trace shot a bogey-free 66 to get into the playoff, and missed a 35-foot birdie putt attempt on the first hole of sudden death. Derek Hitchner birdied from 6 feet to win.
But Trace rose from 87th on the points list to 49th with his tie for second, and should have little trouble going the distance in the four-tournament Finals series.
Players have two more tournaments,
the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha, Neb., and Aug. 13-16, the Advent Health Championship in Kansas City, Mo., to make the top 156 on the points list and qualify for the opening playoff event Sept. 10-13, the Simmons Bank Open in Franklin, Tenn.
From then on, the top 144 play in the National Children's Hospital at the Ohio State Scarlet Course Sept. 17-20 and the top 120 advance to the Compliance Solutions Championship at the Patriot Golf Club in Owasso, Okla., Oct. 1-4.
The top 75 after that head for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship Oct. 8-11 in Glen Allen, Va., where the top 20 in points will earn their Tour cards.
Three former UNF players are inside the top 156 heading to Omaha: No. 45 Nick Gabrelcik (372.7 points), Trace (361.8) and No. 152 Philip Knowles (71). Two other former Ospreys have some work to do, No. 173 Nick Infanti (39.8) and No. 176 Robbie Higgins (30.3).
Area players and their FedEx hopes
There are 15 players with First Coast or Golden Isles ties in the field for this week's Wyndham Championship, at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., the final regular-season event on the PGA Tour schedule this season.
Nine of them are outside the top 70 on the points list, which is the threshold for making the first leg of the playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Classic Aug. 13-16 at TPC Southwide in Memphis.
Here are the area players at the Sedgefield Country Club and their playoff picture:
- On the Memphis (not playing in Greensboro):Ludvig Åberg (10th on the points list), Michael Thorbjornsen (38th).
- Will advance to Memphis: J.T. Poston (29th), Bud Cauley (33rd), Aaron Rai(35th), Keith Mitchell (47th), Harris English (49th).
- On the bubble: Brian Harman (63rd).
- Outside looking in (but a decent week might do it): Davis Thompson (81st), Jackson Suber (82nd).
- Better be there at the end (at least a solo second needed): Michael Brennan (105th), Chandler Blanchet (106th), Billy Horschel (107th).
- Win to get in (these players need a victory and the 500 points for a chance: Adrien Dumont de Chassart (123), Karl Vilips (128), Danny Walker (159), Patton Kizzire (164).
Aaron Rai on Ross
PGA Champion Aaron Rai, British by birth and now a Jacksonville resident, has won two PGA Tour events on courses designed by World Golf Hall of Fame architect Donald Ross, Aronomink, where he won the PGA, and the Sedgefield Country Club, where he won the 2024 Wyndham Championship.
He also has a runnerup in the 2024 Rocket Classic, at the Detroit Golf Club designed by Ross. And he's back at Sedgefield this week.
What is it about the Ross touch that Rai likes?
He said it comes down to the artistry involved in shaping shots on dogleg holes and conjuring short-game magic on Ross greens.
"It's hard to pinpoint one thing in particular," he said on Aug. 4 during a news conference at Sedgefield. "Maybe the one thing that comes to mind is maybe the green complexes. Generally they're sloped back to front … which enables some more creativity with approach play, shaping, flights, which is something that I like to do. I think also with the greens sitting back to front there's probably an element of softness that you get with some of the longer approaches."
Rai likes the fact that he doesn't have to bring the ball in from high trajectories.
"I wouldn't say I hit the ball particularly high, so it probably helps with some of the longer approaches."
PGA Tour
Event: Wyndham Championship, Aug. 6-9, Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, N.C.
Purse: $8.5 million r($1,530,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Defending champion: Cameron Young.
TV: Golf Channel (Aug. 6-7, 3-6 p.m.; Aug. 8-9, 1-3 p.m.); CBS (Aug. 8-9, 3-6 p.m.).
Area players: Chandler Blanchet, Michael Brennan, Bud Cauley, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Harris English, Brian Harman, Billy Horschel, Patton Kizzire, Ben Kohles, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai, Jackson Suber, Davis Thompson, Alejandro Tosti, Karl Vilips, Danny Walker.
LIV Golf
Event: LIV Golf New York, Aug. 6-9, Trump National Bedminster (N.J.).
Purse: $30 million ($4 million individual winner, $10 million team winners).
TV: Fox Sports App (Aug. 6, 1-6 p.m.; Aug. 7, 12-2 p.m.); FOX (Aug. 7, 2-5 p.m.; Aug. 8, 12-5 p.m.; Aug. 9, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.).
Area player: Cameron Smith.
Korn Ferry Tour
Event: Pinnacle Bank Championship, Aug. 6-9, The Club at Indian Creek, Omaha, Neb.
Purse: $1 million ($180,000 to the winner).
2025 champion: Christo Lamprecht.
Area players: Tyson Alexander, Sebastian Cappelen, Nick Gabrelcik, Will Gordon, Philip Knowles, Russell Knox, Rick Lamb, David Lingmerth, Paul Peterson, Doc Redman, Jimmy Stanger, Julian Suri, Travis Trace, Carl Yuan.
TV: None.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Trace's career-best Korn Ferry Tour finish positions him for Finals
