Carry

The family just grew. Thursday, December 18. 6am PST.

In a memo sent to players today, the Tour announced numerous things including a $15,000 "bonus" for KFT members and an Earnings Assurance policy. They also approved rangefinders and made some good changes to the Americas Tour. My article. mondayq.com/posts/positive…

When you see guys get their card today don’t forget the journey: 2014- No status 2015- No status 2016- Made just 4 of 11 cuts in Canada. Made $2,533 2017- No status 2018- 11 of 14 cuts in China 2019- 5 of 6 cuts in China and 1 of 3 cuts on KFT 2020- No status 2021- 51st in points in Canada 2022- 7th in points in Canada 2023- 6th in points in Canada 1 of 3 cuts on KFT 2024- 81st on KFT 2025- Started with conditional status, struggled to start the season before an amazing finish to the year. Jeffery Kang is going to be a PGA Tour member in 2026. Awesome stuff. (Also wears @DunningGolf )

@acaseofthegolf1 As true a professional as you’ll find and one of the easiest TOUR players to cheer for… We couldn’t be more excited for Chandler and his family!!

In 2023 Chandler Blanchet was in Argentina playing on the Latin Tour. He was broke. Flat broke. He had $20,000 in credit card debt and his wife Michaela was one month away from giving birth to the couples first child. On the final hole that week he dunked a wedge to win by two. The win, the check, and the KFT card that came with it, couldn’t have come at a better time. Now he just won the KFT Tour champ just 18 months later. And he is headed to the PGA Tour. And one of the nicest people in golf.

I think because @Mike_kim714 is so open on twitter and played so well this year, that we forget his climb to this point. A long tweet on his career and his amazing comeback over the last few years. Kim played at the U of Cal and was teammates with Max Homa. In 2013 he was named National Player of the Year. Also that year he made the US Open and was in the top-10 before finishing T17 as an amateur. He turned pro later that year, played well on the KFT in 2014 and played great in 2015 to earn his PGA Tour card. But the PGA Tour has been a grind. He kept his card in 2016 and 2017, but not by a lot, finishing 117th and 100th in points. In 2018 Kim won the John Deere, but it was in the middle of a season where he struggled. He made 10 of 27 cuts for the season. And then Kim lost his swing. The following season Kim made the cut in the first event of the season, finishing 73rd at the Safeway...it would be his only made cut of the year. (Kim played in 3 non-cut events beating a total of 17 players combined). The 2020 season was somehow worse. Kim played in 15 events, not making a single cut (1 non-cut event). He broke 70 just twice and was a combined +42 for the season. The 2021 season started the same as the previous two. (Kim kept status for a third year from his JD win because of Covid). He missed the first 7 cuts. Combined with the previous two seasons, it added up to 41 straight events with a cut that Kim had failed to play the weekend. Players just don't comeback from being that lost very often. But Kim has done it. In 2022 he played great on KFT, eventually earning his full PGA Tour card back. He also played in a few PGA Tour events based on his past champions status and in the Barbasol in July that year he finished 7th. It was his first top-10 on Tour in 1452 days. Nearly exactly four years to the day of his win at John Deere. Back on Tour full time in 2023 he played very solid, finishing 79th in points. But last season proved to be another struggle and once again Kim was in danger of losing his full card. Heading into the fall he was 117th in points. However great play in the fall, where he made 4 of 4 cuts, including a T5 easily locked up his card. And this season played his way into signature events early, and continued to play well the rest of the year. He's into all the signature events next season and now an epic put to win. He's an amazing follow on twitter and it is awesome to see him playing well. He also wears amazing clothes (h/t @DunningGolf )

3-6 PM ET on Golf Channel today!

For the next four weeks the @KornFerryTour will be on TV, and it will be a life/career changing month for most of the 20 players who get their PGA Tour cards. All four of the events are on TV. Its must watch. I've said often, its why I love the KFT, most every week there is a career changing win. None more than the next four weeks. I encourage you to watch on TV. Shane Bacon and James Nitties do a great job. This isn't an ad. Again, I have a price to sell out, but the KFT can't afford it, lol. I just truly love the KFT finals and the stories it provides.

Dear Policy Board, First of all, I get it. Monday Qs don’t sell TV or tickets. And you saw your friends make more money and you wanted some of your own, so you shrank fields, made signature events, and got rid of a bunch of Mondays. I wish it was different, I wish you wouldn’t have made some of the changes but with the power to enrich myself, I’m not sure I wouldn’t do the same. But I hope all of you look at the Monday Q today and see what the stories that can come from them. Jim Knous works full time as an engineer at Ping and he got thru. Jason Dufner, a Major Champion who has struggled for years did too. Now he has a chance to win again. Sangha Park went to a tiny DII school, was mentored by KJ Choi, went years not seeing his family back in South Korea to work on his golf. And today that sacrifice paid off. And then there is Corey Pereira. His wife was just 28 years old when she passed away in June after a years long battle with cancer. He told me tonight that for months after her passing he didn’t have the energy to play golf, but has started to play more of late. And today he shot 65. Got thru. I challenge you to find a better story then that. Will those stories sell a bunch of tickets? Or help TV ratings? Nope, probably not. But Mondays are a part of the history. And they have made up a small part of the whole picture of what has made the tour great. I hope you consider that the next time you consider the future of the tour. Thanks.

Ahead of his Sunday night game vs. Baltimore, NFL MVP Josh Allen will wear the first of nine custom @NewEraCap hats designed by patients at Buffalo’s Oishei Children’s Hospital. After each home game, the “Director of Billustration” will have his hat auctioned off to support the Patricia Allen Fund. This week’s hat was designed by a five-year-old patient named Jaxson, and fans can start bidding at kickoff of the game at billustration.givesmart.com

If I could change one thing about the pga tour it would be this: Stop covering the Korn Ferry Tour as a set of golf tournaments. Stop putting it on TV as a traditional golf tournament. Stop showing wedge shots on socials from a guy 99% of golf fans don’t know. And use KFT only as telling stories and marketing future pga tour players. On TV, on socials, and in articles. Tell us why we should care about Emilio Gonzalez or SH Kim, or Chandler Blanchet. Tell us about Emilio growing up in Mexico, SH changing his life at a Monday Q in Korea, or Chandler’s wife who has held the family together while Chandler grinded on mini-tours. All of those guys will be on the PGA Tour next year, and 99.99% of golf fans don’t know a thing about them. In my time covering pro golf I’ve never heard other players, broadcasters, etc talk about other players like they do about Johnny Keefer. Yet what do we know about him? Sure, some might know he’s won twice, but lots of players have won twice on KFT, tell us why people think he’s different. When he wins on the pga tour next season (and he will) we shouldn’t have a majority of fans learn about him that week. Every major sports organization writes a top prospect article. Every single one….except for one. Why not? Wouldn’t that be great on a KFT broadcast, knowing that a player is #3 prospect. And I’m not talking points, KFT doesn’t graduate the best players. Just pure talent. I’m a casual baseball fan, I don’t follow the minor leagues closely but when a team calls up the #1 prospect, I pay attention. The fact is almost no one cares about the KFT, and i get it. A part of that is the Tour has tried to cover it as a golf tour. Instead they should treat it as a huge marketing arm of the pga tour. Rant over.

Our @driveftf has officially gone over $600,000 in equipment donated to schools and kids in need. A larger portion of my time is focused on this of late, and its one of the most reward things I've done in my life. Thank you to all that make it possible. On to a million +

Ben Griffin has come a long way in four years. 🤯

Reminder of full story of Ben Griffin and the Monday that changed his life.

The most galvanizing scenario possible played out for the U.S. team. The *one guy* who is most obsessed with playing in a Ryder Cup just said, "I'm going to sit it out because I value the team more than my own desires." I don't think (?) that has always been the U.S. attitude. Now he has a team that will literally do anything they can to get him a Cup. Big boy stuff from Keegan and an excellent outcome for the U.S.

From colleagues, to guest pickers, fans and beyond, those around the college football community share what Lee Corso means to them. We love you, Coach 🧡

🚨🚨🚨🚨Breaking news The Pga tour is reportedly bringing back Monday Qs for the opposite field events early in the season that had originally been eliminated. Puerto Rico and Myrtle Beach along with Corales. (Corales moved to Aug so they have had one with the schedule change anyway). Awesome news if it gets final approval.

One more reminder for everyone who wants my Limited Edition Signature Soft Spikes!! Get them before they’re gone 💗 softspikes.com

With every disappointment I truly know I’m closer and closer and even more determined than ever that I will get this done. The support I’ve received is invaluable and hugely appreciated, we’ll get there together! @JustinRose99, your win is inspiring, congratulations my friend!! A new week. See you at work!!

Shoutout to the hardest working person in golf @emilia_doran … won her U.S. Amateur match in 20 holes today and is now headed out to cover the afternoon matches for TV.