Next stop PGA Tour: Mom surprises Hitt after KFT victory
Austin Hitt was surprised by his mother after winning the Korn Ferry Tour Championship and earning his PGA Tour card for next year.
Under a persistent rain, on a gloomy day, futures were solidified for a field of 59 in the Korn Ferry Tour season finale.
Three primary storylines were in effect Sunday at the Federal Club in Glen Allen, Virginia: who would win the Korn Ferry Tour Championship; who would finish atop the final points list; and, most importantly, who would finish in the top 20 in season points and earn 2027 PGA Tour cards.
WINNER
Austin Hitt used a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch around the turn to take control of the tournament. His 109-yard hole-out on the par-5 10th moved him four clear of 54-hole leader Blades Brown.
The 19-year-old Brown put up a fight with four back-nine birdies, only to come up two shots short. His solo second put him ninth on the final points list and with a PGA Tour card before age 20.
Hitt began the week 22 in points and finished sixth, thanks to his first career KFT victory. The 28-year-old former UNC Tarheel — who is roommates with Ryan Gerard — will be a rookie on the PGA Tour. His lone start was a missed cut in the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship.
Hitt was languishing outside the top 50 in points two months ago, but a runner-up finish at the AdventHealth Championship in late August and a tie for fourth two weeks ago at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship put him in position to claim a Tour card.
He did that Sunday with four birdies, one eagle and a lone bogey. Four straight pars closed out a 5-under 66 and put him at 20 under for the tournament, earning him $270,000.
TOP 20
Points projections buzzed like a live wire Sunday afternoon.
Davis Lamb, like Hitt, was outside the cut line to start the week, sitting in 23rd place. With his Tour future in peril, the 29-year-old birdied the 14th, 16th and 17th holes. The latter moved him to 20th in the projected standings, where he finished when everything settled.
With Lamb and Hitt in, Cole Hammer and Ben Kohles dropped out. Kohles, who started the week 19th in points, skipped the finale to play the PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan. Though he fell out of the top 20 in KFT points, he improved his FedExCup position to 80th thanks to a T-17.
Hammer, however, was in Virginia and had a regrettable finish as three birdies couldn’t offset five bogeys. His closing 73 dropped him from 20th to 22nd in points.
Carson Young shot 73-75 over the weekend and finished tied for 45th. He posted early Sunday and waited to see if it was enough – it was, barely. Young fell only one spot, to 19th.
Nick Gabrelcik had a much better weekend, going 65-66, but it was one shot too many. He needed, at worst, a two-way tie for third. When he birdied the 17th hole – his sixth birdie to no bogeys on the round – Gabrelcik was projected 19th. Before he could attempt his birdie putt on 18, however, so much shifted that he was projected 24th.
That’s where he finished after missing his 12-footer.
Steelman finishes atop KFT, earns PGA Tour card: ‘A year of growing up’
Ross Steelman finished No. 1 in the Korn Ferry Tour standings and earned his 2027 PGA Tour card following the KFT Championship.
NO. 1
Ross Steelman topped the points list after edging out fellow two-time winner this season, Sandy Scott. Steelman overcame Scott by finishing T-12 to Scott’s T-43 in the finale.
By jumping to No. 1, Steelman earned invitations to next year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and The Players Championship.
THE FULL LIST
Here’s a look at the top 20 in 2026 Korn Ferry Tour points:
1. Ross Steelman
2. Sandy Scott
3. Ian Holt
4. Alistair Docherty
5. Alvaro Ortiz
6. Austin Hitt
7. Cole Sherwood
8. Doc Redman
9. Blades Brown
10. Tommy Morrison
11. Cooper Dossey
12. Hunter Eichhorn
13. Dylan Menante
14. Michael Johnson
15. Jeremy Gandon
16. Taylor Dickson
17, Ian Gilligan
18. Davis Shore
19. Carson Young
20. Davis Lamb