After 24 tournaments and 54 holes of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, it all comes down to Sunday and the final round at the Federal Club in Glen Allen, Virginia, to determine the top 20 in the season-long points list and who will earn a PGA Tour card.
The biggest mover this week has been Austin Hitt, who sits in second place and is projected to vault from No. 22 to No. 10 and claim his card. But Hitt can't fall too far down the standings on Sunday and still hold on to his spot, so, the pressure is on. The only other person who is projected to leap into the top 20? Japanese pro Yuta Sugiura, who we profiled earlier this week. He's enters the final round T-23 and projected a mere 12 points better than Cole Hammer, who entered the week as the Bubble
Boy at No. 20. Ben Kohles, who started the week at No. 23, is expected to fall out of the top 20 too, but he elected not to play and is competing this week at the PGA Tour's Baycurrent Classic. He enters the week at No. 84 in the FedEx Cup Fall, and should he finish in the top 100, he'll have better status than as a KFT grad.
South Africa's Barend Botha enters the final round in third place, two strokes behind Blades Brown, and could make a play for the top 20 should he win or finish solo second.
Hammer admitted that his nerves are fraying, and he's surely not alone. "I definitely was a little bit nervous coming into this tournament more so than the rest of the season just because there's finality attached to it," he said.
By virtue of qualifying for this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship, players are guaranteed full KFT status for 2027, plus those top 60 players who don’t finish in the top 20 will also get into the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School, where five more PGA Tour cards will be awarded to top finishers.
Korn Ferry Tour standings: Last 5 in for PGA Tour card
Korn Ferry Tour standings: Last 5 out for PGA Tour card
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Bubble watch: Final round at Korn Ferry Tour to decide PGA Tour cards
