BRAINERD, Minnesota – Projected 62nd in the Fortinet Cup Points List with 18 holes to play at the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens, Taylor Funk needed a strong finish Sunday to move away from the bubble drama. He couldn’t have scripted it any better. A course record-setting 10-under 60 in the final round propelled him to a tie for sixth finish. It allowed him to move to 43rd in the Fortinet Cup standings, comfortably inside the top 60 players who secured berths into this week’s Fortinet Cup Championship. The 2023 PGA TOUR Canada season-ending event will begin Thursday in Calgary, Alberta.

On his way to matching the lowest score of the PGA TOUR Canada season – tying Stuart Macdonald, who posted an 11-under 60 in the opening round of the Windsor Championship – Funk flirted with the possibility of a 59.

“It was an awesome experience just to be able to have a chance at 59,” said the 27-year-old from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. “I knew I had to play well (Sunday) to get in (this) week, and to go out and shoot 60 was just icing on the cake.”

Funk had four birdies and a bogey to shoot 3-under 32 on the front nine and then caught fire to shoot 7-under 28 on the back nine, making birdies on Nos. 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18. This was his second back-nine 28 at the Cragun’s Dutch Legacy Course. Last year, he made an eagle on 16 and birdies on 10, 11, 12, 15, and 18 for an opening 62.

Sunday, he reached the final hole, a 531-yard par-five, with his sights set on the sub-60 round. He jeopardized his chances by pulling his driver in the weeds but managed to hit the green in two. “I was probably a little more aggressive than I normally would have been just knowing that 59 was on the table and then got a great read and hit a good putt,” he said of the eagle putt he missed by about an inch off the left edge.

By his side this week, his mother, Sharon, flew back home early in the day to miss Taylor’s fireworks. “Maybe she doesn’t get any credit,” Taylor joked before explaining her role in his support system. “She is a prayer warrior, and she is praying for me every shot of the way. God's been great to me; she helps lead me towards him. I can't give her enough credit for anything. My mom is my best friend, and I love her to death,” added this loving son, whose father is Fred Funk, an eight-time PGA TOUR winner who has also collected nine tournament titles as a PGA TOUR Champions player.

Mathematically alive in the race to make the Fortinet Cup top 5, as No. 43 in the standings, Funk is focused on a more attainable goal of breaking inside the top 25 who will secure exemptions into second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School. “I'm excited for (this) week. My ball striking has come around, and I'm putting great,” Funk said looking into the season-ending event in Calgary.

All the players who finished the PGA TOUR Canada regular season inside the Fortinet Cup top 60 have secured exempt status for the PGA TOUR Americas’ inaugural season. The new Tour is the result of the merge of PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica into a singular Tour that will begin play in February 2024.