SAVANNAH, Ga.– Zack Fischer became the first two-time medalist in the modern era (since 2013) of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage, breaking a four-way tie for medalist honors with a 12-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole. Fischer watched as final-group playing partner Andrew Kozan’s 8-foot birdie putt slid past the cup, thus securing his second Final Stage win. The 32-year-old Texan carded a 2-under 69 Monday on The Landings Club’s Marshwood Course and finished at 14-under par.

With the victory, Fischer, who topped a field loaded with future PGA TOUR winners at the 2013 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage, secured fully exempt status for the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season.

The 32-year-old Texan entered Monday’s final round with a three-stroke lead and turned at 2-under par for the day. A double bogey at the par-4 10th brought a group of contenders back into the mix. Fischer prevailed with birdies at the par-3 16th and the par-4 18th.

“I had the same kind of peace I had back in 2013,” Fischer said. “I've made a lot of strides in my mental game and it just really, really paid off today. It was awesome. I had a double bogey on No. 10 that really could have derailed my round, and probably would have in the past. I pulled through it and shot even (par) on the back nine, and it was good enough. It was awesome.”

Fischer, a 2011 graduate of University of Texas-Arlington, and his wife, Kaitlin, welcomed a daughter to their family earlier this year. Kaitlin works as a graphic designer, a videographer for the Little Rock Athletic Club, a wedding videographer, and is preparing to take her final test to become a court reporter.

“I have an amazing wife,” Fischer said in a story by Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine earlier this week. “She has really supported me through the worst times.”

And while Fischer was ensured 12 starts even if he missed the birdie putt at No. 18, the ability to set a schedule and avoid reshuffles all season long gives him a major advantage in his pursuit of a PGA TOUR card.

“If you start thinking about cuts and how many, it can get in your head big time,” Fischer said. “Just being able to set my own schedule… maybe my daughter will be able to make some events as well. That would be really cool.”

The 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage determined which players earned guaranteed starts for the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season. Here’s what was at stake:

• The medalist (and ties) receives fully exempt status for 2022
• Finishers 2-10 (and ties) are guaranteed entry into the first 12 events of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season
• Finishers 11-40 (and ties) are guaranteed entry into the first eight events of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season
• The remainder of the field receives conditional status for 2022

Guaranteed 12 Starts

The entire group of top-10 finishers began the day inside the top-40 and ties cutoff and played Marshwood. The most dramatic storyline within the top-10 was Tain Lee, who sank a 20-footer for birdie on the par-4 18th which broke up a T10 and earned him an extra four guaranteed starts. Patrick Newcomb played alongside Lee Monday and shortly thereafter lipped out a birdie putt which would have kept him at T10.

T2 (-13): Jonathan Brightwell, Vincent Norrman, Andrew Kozan

T5 (-11): Michael Feagles, Sam Stevens

7th (-10): Grant Hirschman

8th (-9): Andrew Yun

9th (-7): Conner Godsey

10th (-6): Tain Lee

Guaranteed Eight Starts

The cutoff line for guaranteed starts fluctuated throughout the day, with the eventual 1-under par cutoff moving anywhere from T37 to T41 as the day progressed. The final cutoff was an 11-way T39.

T11 (-5): Patrick Newcomb, Thomas Rosenmüller, Jeremy Paul

T14 (-4): Patrick Cover, Thomas Walsh, A.J. Crouch, Chris Baker, Trip Kinney

T19 (-3): Mac Meissner, Garett Reband, Luis Gagne, Augusto Núñez, Corey Pereira, Blayne Barber, Brad Brunner, Will Gordon, Steven Fisk, Kyle Westmoreland

T29 (-2): Brett White, Nicolas Echavarria, Carson Young, Martin Contini, Scott Harrington, Tano Goya, Mark Anguiano, Eric Cole, Ben Griffin, Pontus Nyholm

T39 (-1): Matt McCarty, José de Jesús Rodríguez, Clay Feagler, Seonghyeon Kim, John Augenstein, Alexandre Rocha, John Pak, Brandon Crick, Peyton White, Davis Thompson, Justin Suh

Final-Round Notes

• Thomas Rosenmüller (T11 / -5) shot a course-record 8-under 63 on Marshwood and rose from T67 to a T11 finish
• Justin Suh (T39 / -1), playing Magnolia, made an eagle at the par-5 11th and birdied Nos. 15 and 17 to make the top-40 and ties on the number
• Brandon Crick (T39 / -1), playing Marshwood, played his first four holes at 1-over par, but played Nos. 15-17 at 4-under par and closed with 10 consecutive pars (his round began on No. 10) to make the top-40 and ties on the number
• Davis Thompson (T39 / -1), playing Magnolia, went without a bogey in his final 12 holes and made three birdies, making the top-40 and ties cutoff on the number
• Matt McCarty (T39 / -1), playing Marshwood, birdied Nos. 16 and 17, then parred No. 18 to make the top-40 and ties on the number
• Peyton White (T39 / -1) shot a bogey-free 4-under 67 on Marshwood, closing his round with eight consecutive pars to make the top-40 and ties on the number
• Seonghyeon Kim and Alexandre Rocha (T39 / -1) played the last eight holes of Marshwood’s front nine at 3-under par to make the top-40 and ties on the number
• Tano Goya and Scott Harrington (T29 / -2), both playing Marshwood, carded matching 5-under 66s to make the top-40 and ties cutoff after they began the day at T67
• Steven Fisk (T19 / -3) was T127 after an opening-round 74 and entered the final round in T86 position; he fired a 7-under 64 on Marshwood to make the top-40 and ties cutoff
• Luis Gagne (T19 / -3), Augusto Núñez (T19 / -3), and A.J. Crouch (T14 / -4) all began the day outside the top-40 and ties cutoff; all playing Magnolia, Gagne shot a 4-under 67, Núñez fired a 5-under 66, and Crouch carded 7-under 64
• Andrew Brightwell (T2 / -13) was the 18- and 36-hole leader; he played four seasons and earned a bachelor’s degree from University of North Carolina-Greensboro (2016-20), then played a fifth season (awarded to NCAA student-athletes because of the COVID-19 pandemic) at University of Oklahoma in 2020-21
• Andrew Kozan (T2 / -13) was a First Stage medalist and saved bogey (after an unplayable lie) on his last hole at Second Stage to qualify for Final Stage on the cut number
• Vincent Norrman (T2 / -13) played four seasons at NCAA Division II Georgia Southwestern (2016-20) prior to a graduate transfer season at Florida State (2020-21); he is a native of Sweden
• Sam Stevens (T5 / -11), an Oklahoma State University alum who turned professional in 2018 is a third-generation professional golfer, as his grandfather, Johnny, made 30 PGA TOUR starts and made 21 cuts (mostly across the 1968 and 1969 seasons), and his father, Charlie, played collegiately at Oklahoma and Texas Christian University before he made two Korn Ferry Tour starts in 1992
  • Since the start of 2019, Sam Stevens earned $203,692 across 26 starts on the All Pro Tour; he won six events, with two victories coming earlier this year
• Members of the PGA TOUR University’s inaugural top-15 who earned guaranteed starts were:
  • No. 1 John Pak (T39)
  • No. 2 Davis Thompson (T39)
  • No. 5 Garett Reband (T19)
  • No. 7 Michael Feagles (T5)
  • No. 8 Mac Meissner (T19)
  • No. 10 Jonathan Brightwell (T2)

• Preferred lies were used during Sunday’s and Monday’s rounds
• Weather: sunny, high of 68 degrees, wind N/NW at 4-12 mph (gusts up to 15 mph)
• This week’s purse is $480,000, with $50,000 going to the medalist