SAN DIEGO – Marcus Byrd opened 2026 just like he finished his 2025 campaign.

After winning twice and securing seven top-10 finishes in nine events on the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour last year, the APGA’s 2025 Jeff Dailey Player of the Year opened the 2026 season by capturing the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational this weekend.

Byrd shot 67-69 Saturday and Sunday on the Torrey Pines North Course for an overall score of 8-under 136 and a three-stroke victory over four other players. His ninth career APGA Tour victory came with a $30,000 winner’s check from a $100,000 purse and earned him a sponsor exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open.

The Temple Hills, Maryland, resident will play in the upcoming PGA TOUR event at Torrey Pines for a second time after playing on a sponsor exemption in 2024. He said winning the event this year and then having the opportunity to play in the PGA TOUR event just days later makes the experience extra meaningful.

“It always feels a little sweeter when you earn your way through,” Byrd said. “I think if you ask all 18 of us if we’d want to have a chance to play two rounds and get into the Farmers Insurance Open, we’d take that. It’s great to see where your game is at. It's early in the year, and it’s good to see hard work pay off in the offseason. I’m excited to get going this week.”

Byrd is the first two-time winner of the APGA’s Farmers Insurance Invitational, having also won this event in 2023. The Farmers Insurance Open will be the 28-year-old's ninth PGA TOUR start. He made the cut at the PGA TOUR’s 2024 The RSM Classic and the 2025 ISCO Championship.

The Washington, D.C., native, who played in 14 PGA TOUR Americas events and secured three top-10 finishes last season in addition to his success on the APGA Tour, came into the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational with the mindset that he’d be sticking around to play in the PGA TOUR event as well. He was tied for the lead Saturday after carding birdies on two of his last three holes. Despite an up-and-down front nine Sunday, he eagled the ninth hole and played the back nine with two birdies and no bogeys to close it out.

Willie Mack III, John-Baptiste Hakizimana, Wyatt Worthington III and amateur Ivan Barahona tied for second at 5-under 139.

Byrd said having Farmers as the title sponsor for the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational the past seven years means a lot to him and his fellow APGA players.

“It’s life-changing,” Byrd said. “I can’t tell you how many guys out here, without Farmers support and the APGA’s support, I can’t say that we would all be able to chase this dream. To be able to work hard every year and look forward to this opportunity, and now for Farmers to provide a spot into the (Farmers Insurance Open) field this year, that’s all we can ask for. I’m super blessed and super thankful. We can’t thank them enough for what they have done for us, and for me personally.”

The APGA Tour tees up its second tournament of 2026 at the Cisco Black History Month Classic from Feb. 18-20 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.