PGA TOUR University On TOUR: Eckroat earns PGA TOUR card, Goodwin wins again in Canada

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – Four players from the first class of PGA TOUR University presented by Velocity Global have earned their PGA TOUR cards for the 2022-23 season. After finishing second at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, Austin Eckroat finished 3rd in The Finals 25 and will join Davis Thompson, Kevin Yu and Trevor Werbylo, who earned their cards via The 25 from the Korn Ferry Tour regular season.

Thompson (2nd), Eckroat (3rd) and Yu (4th) finished in the top-five of the inaugural Velocity Global Ranking, while Werbylo (9th) was the PGA TOUR Canada Player of the Year last summer before winning on Korn Ferry Tour this season.

Noah Goodwin is hoping to follow in Werbylo’s footsteps, as the SMU product posted his second win of the season last weekend at PGA TOUR Canada’s GolfBC Championship. Since the first class graduated in June 2021, PGA TOUR University alumni have eight professional victories – five on PGA TOUR Canada and three on Korn Ferry Tour.

Korn Ferry Tour Finals

Austin Eckroat started the season as a conditional member on Korn Ferry Tour and he ended it with a PGA TOUR card. After missed cuts in January and April, Eckroat earned his third start in May as the 150th player into the 156-man field for the AdventHealth Championship, the first event after the third reshuffle of the season. Facing the prospect of needing four consecutive top-25s to continue earning starts ahead of the next reshuffle, Eckroat rattled off finishes of T23-T23-T25-T25, shuffled up the priority ranking, and eventually finished No. 34 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Eligibility Points.

He capped his season with a runner-up finish at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance and earned his first PGA TOUR card by finishing No. 3 in The Finals 25. In all, his season included 10 top-25 finishes and two runner-ups, and at one point he recorded 33 consecutive rounds of par or better.

Excludes “The 25” from the Regular Season

*Class of 2022 | #TOURBound

PGA TOUR Canada

Noah Goodwin birdied the 18th hole Sunday to win the GolfBC Championship and become the first two-time champion on PGA TOUR Canada this season. Goodwin, who finished 12th in the 2022 Velocity Global Ranking, moved to No. 3 in the Fortinet Cup and is in position to finish in the top-five and earn status on Korn Ferry Tour next season.

In addition to Goodwin, four other alumni finished the regular season in the top-60 on the points list and advanced to the Fortinet Cup Championship (Sept. 15-18). Parker Coody, who also has a win this season, is 11th in the standings between Joe Highsmith (10th) and Trent Phillips (12th), while Cameron Sisk finished third last week and improved to No. 14.

At the end of the season finale, the top player in the Fortinet Cup standings will be named Player of the Year and be exempt into all open 2023 Korn Ferry Tour tournaments, while players finishing 2nd-5th will earn conditional status.