For seven years, Braden Thornberry has been, unfortunately for him, the answer to a trivia question.
While eight of the nine members of the 2017 U.S. Walker Cup team who turned professional had gone on to earn their PGA Tour cards (Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa have each won multiple majors), Thornberry was stuck in the minors, perhaps forever. He played four straight years on the KFT, then lost his card prior to last season. Last year, three of his four world-ranked starts came on the Challenge Tour – all missed cuts. He regained his KFT status this year via Q-School, yet was No. 51 in points entering this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship at French Lick.
Needing a solo second or better to move into the top 30 and earn his PGA Tour card, Thornberry did one better: He won.
Thornberry closed in 6-under 66 and then waited hours to discover that his 9 under was good enough for a one-shot win over Brian Campbell, Doc Redman and Alistair Docherty.
“I played good all year and just hadn’t quite got it to work out for me,” Thornberry said. “It’s a weird thing because it’s getting my first pro win as well as getting to the PGA Tour. I just worked so hard to get here. A lot of stuff I feel like hasn’t gone my way over the last five years or so, and to finally have something go my way and play well at the right time is just amazing.”
Campbell and Redman, another Walker Cupper in 2017 who was trying to get back to the PGA Tour, each birdied their final hole to knock Docherty out of position. Docherty’s misfortune was Noah Goodwin’s gain, as Goodwin, the former SMU standout who entered the week at No. 26 in points, ended up No. 30.
“Every second of it was awful,” Goodwin said of his lengthy wait after tying for 44th. “There was no break the entire time. I mean, God, at the end of the day I got lucky. But it takes a lot of luck to play this game, and it takes a lot of luck to get where we’re going. I’m just grateful.”
Meet Thornberry, Campbell, Goodwin and the 27 other players who graduated the Korn Ferry Tour this year:
Matt McCarty
KFT finish: 1
Age: 26
School: Santa Clara (2021)
PGA Tour career: 2 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Won three times on the KFT this season, all from July onward, to earn a battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour. However, McCarty didn’t play a Tour event until last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship as he wanted to lock up the No. 1 spot in points, which comes with exemptions into next year’s U.S. Open and Players Championship.
Fun fact: His caddie, Devrath Das, was his teammate in college.
Max McGreevy
KFT finish: 2
Age: 29
School: Oklahoma (2017)
PGA Tour career: 66 starts, 3 top-10s, 1 runner-up
Need to know: Played two straight seasons on the PGA Tour before losing his card after last season, but he earned his way back with two wins and nine top-10s this season on the KFT.
Fun fact: McGreevy’s dad, Brian, played collegiately at Kansas and won the 1998 Oklahoma State Amateur when Max was 3 years old.
Frankie Capan III
KFT finish: 3
Age: 23
School: Florida Gulf Coast (2022)
PGA Tour career: 4 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Turned pro two years ago after playing one final summer of amateur golf. He breezed through three stages of KFT Q-School, losing to just two players combined, before earning his card at final stage. This season, Capan has broken out with a win and two runner-up finishes.
Fun fact: Capan’s father, Frank, co-founded Access Cash International, which became one of the largest non-bank deployers of ATMs in the U.S. Also, Frankie is a massive Minnesota Vikings fan.
Steven Fisk
KFT finish: 4
Age: 27
School: Georgia Southern (2019)
PGA Tour career: 0 starts
Need to know: A Walker Cupper and nine-time winner in college, Fisk didn’t make it to the KFT until 2022. He needed a top-10 at Q-School at the end of that year to keep his card, though after a win and two runner-up finishes this season, he’s headed to the PGA Tour.
Fun fact: Fisk uses a homemade grip that is highlighted by a very weak left hand and overlapping right thumb over his left thumb.
Tim Widing
KFT finish: 5
Age: 27
School: San Francisco (2021)
PGA Tour career: 4 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Won back-to-back KFT events in April while also playing in two majors this year, including the U.S. Open, where he tied for 41st.
Fun fact: Met his now-wife, Jazmine, while in college, and on their first date, a 16-mile run, Widing was hospitalized with severe hydration.
Taylor Dickson
KFT finish: 6
Age: 31
School: Winthrop (2015)
PGA Tour career: 1 start, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Rookie year on the KFT was 2020-21, and he’s amassed 13 top-10s since then, including two wins this season.
Fun fact: Sets up to the golf ball with the hosel of the club outside the ball.
Brian Campbell
KFT finish: 7
Age: 31
School: Illinois (2015)
PGA Tour career: 24 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Campbell has been on the PGA Tour before, in 2016-17, when he missed 13 of 20 cuts and was penalized for slow play at the 2017 Zurich Classic. He’s played five seasons on the KFT since, though lost his card and made just three starts in 2022. This year was highlighted by two runner-up finishes and seven total top-10s.
Fun fact: His brother, Derek, was drafted by the Phillies.
Harry Higgs
KFT finish: 8
Age: 32
School: SMU (2014)
PGA Tour career: 120 starts, 2 runners-up, 6 top-10s
Need to know: After four straight seasons on the PGA Tour, including two seconds, Higgs experienced a resurgence on the KFT this year with two wins. He also qualified for the U.S. Open via a playoff at final qualifying that also included McCarty, who was eliminated.
Fun fact: Born in Camden, New Jersey, but grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, and now lives in Dallas.
Thomas Rosenmuller
KFT finish: 9
Age: 27
School: North Texas (2019)
PGA Tour career: 0 starts
Need to know: After winning three times on the Pro Golf Tour in 2020, Rosenmuller disappointed on the Challenge Tour in 2021, the same year that he missed the cut at the DPWT’s BMW International Open, where he hit a tree on his final hole and made double to miss by a shot. He then closed with a course-record 63 at final stage of KFT Q-School at the end of 2021 to punch his KFT ticket.
Fun fact: Dates Russian tennis player Maria Kononova.
William Mouw
KFT finish: 10
Age: 24
School: Pepperdine (2023)
PGA Tour career: 2 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Earned his KFT card last year via PGA Tour U and finished in the top 25 in half of his 12 starts. This year, he finished second three times in 21 events.
Fun fact: Married his high-school sweetheart, Hannah, the week prior to his final NCAA Championship in 2023.
Quade Cummins
KFT finish: 11
Age: 28
School: Oklahoma (2021)
PGA Tour career: 6 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Had six top-10s, including a runner-up finish, this year, his third on the KFT.
Fun fact: Was the sixth man on Oklahoma’s 2017 NCAA title team and used to wear a belt buckle in college that read, “Oklahoman Outlaw.”
Ryan Gerard
KFT finish: 12
Age: 25
School: North Carolina (2022)
PGA Tour career: 23 starts, 2 top-10s
Need to know: He Monday-qualified into the 2023 Honda Classic and tied for fourth on his way to earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. This year on the KFT, he won once and was top 25 in nearly half of his 25 starts.
Fun fact: Gerard told Golf Digest of his unorthodox golf swing, “I’ve been told my swing looks like Daniel Berger and Jon Rahm had an aneurysm on the downswing.”
Kevin Roy
KFT finish: 13
Age: 34
School: Long Beach State (2012)
PGA Tour career: 32 starts, 1 top-10
Need to know: Roy finished 24th in points on the KFT in 2022 to earn his PGA Tour card for the first time. However, he lost it after just one year and had to return to the KFT, where this year he posted two runner-up showings.
Fun fact: Was a senior on Long Beach State’s team when Xander Schauffele was a freshman.
Cristobal del Solar
KFT finish: 14
Age: 30
School: Florida State (2017)
PGA Tour career: 2 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Del Solar shot 57 at the Astara Golf Championship in February, but he didn’t get his first win until The Ascendant in July. At the time of his victory, Del Solar had already passed up an Olympic berth to focus on earning his PGA Tour card.
Fun fact: His cousin, Nicole Perrot, was the first Chilean-born player to win on the LPGA.
Kevin Velo
KFT finish: 15
Age: 27
School: San Jose State (2020)
PGA Tour career: 0 starts
Need to know: Velo won on PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2022 and finished fourth on the tour to earn his KFT card. He had just two top-25s last season, though, and needed to go through three stages of Q-School to regain his card. He notched a win and three total top-10s this year.
Fun fact: Velo’s dad, Jose, immigrated from Spain before Kevin was born and worked four jobs to support his family.
Braden Thornberry
KFT finish: 16
Age: 27
School: Ole Miss (2018)
PGA Tour career: 11 starts, 1 top-10
Need to know: Played three seasons on the KFT, but he lost his card after 2022, when he had no top-10s in 20 starts. He had no status anywhere in 2023 before regaining his KFT card via Q-School. Entering the KFT Championship, Thornberry had seven top-25s in 24 events, though just one top-10.
Fun fact: Was into motocross when he was a kid, though when he was 9 years old, he crashed and broke his leg.
Paul Peterson
KFT finish: 17
Age: 36
School: Oregon State (2012)
PGA Tour career: 2 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: A rookie last year on the KFT, Peterson clinched his PGA Tour card with a win at the Simmons Bank Open in mid-September. He also has won on the DP World Tour, Japan Tour and Asian Tour in his career.
Fun fact: He plays golf left-handed but does everything else right-handed.
Isaiah Salinda
KFT finish: 18
Age: 27
School: Stanford (2019)
PGA Tour career: 11 starts, 1 top-10
Need to know: The 2019 Walker Cupper and NCAA team champion at Stanford, Salinda won and had three top-10s this year, his second on the KFT.
Fun fact: Salinda’s win, in Panama, came just weeks after he had his appendix removed, a surgery that delayed the start of his KFT season.
Karl Vilips
KFT finish: 19
Age: 23
School: Stanford (2024)
PGA Tour career: 1 start, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Vilips tied for eighth at this year’s NCAA Championship to move to 10th in the final PGA Tour University rankings and earn the last partial KFT card. He then finished second in his third start and won in his fourth en route to graduating to the PGA Tour.
Fun fact: Developed a rapid following on YouTube as a young kid, going by the moniker, “Koala Karl.”
Jackson Suber
KFT finish: 20
Age: 24
School: Ole Miss (2022)
PGA Tour career: 3 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Suber didn’t post a single top-25 in eighth Canada starts out of school, but he had nine combined top-10s, including two seconds and a third the last two seasons on the KFT.
Fun fact: Was the last man into this year’s U.S. Open, where he made the cut.
Jeremy Paul
KFT finish: 21
Age: 30
School: Colorado (2017)
PGA Tour career: 0 starts
Need to know: Paul, who left Colorado early, played three of four years in Canada and didn’t have status anywhere in 2020 before getting back on the KFT full-time in 2022. He won the season opener in Great Exuma, Bahamas, this year.
Fun fact: Has a twin brother named Yannick, who plays on the DP World Tour.
Mason Andersen
KFT finish: 22
Age: 25
School: Arizona State (2022)
PGA Tour career: 2 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Didn’t earn pro status out of college, but got on the KFT last year and has eight combined top-10s in the past two seasons, including a win at this year’s Argentina Open. He finished 36th in KFT points last season.
Fun fact: Shot 116 in his first golf tournament round, which included taking six swipes at a ball stuck in a bush.
John Pak
KFT finish: 23
Age: 25
School: Florida State (2021)
PGA Tour career: 15 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: The No. 1 player in PGA Tour U in 2021, Pak chose to play PGA Tour event, but he missed five of six cuts that summer. The next year on KFT, he posted just a single top-25 in 16 starts and lost his card. He won on Canada last year and regained his KFT status for this season, which was highlighted by a victory at the Compliance Solutions Championship in late June.
Fun fact: He dates former Florida State and current professional golfer, Beatrice Wallin.
Kristoffer Ventura
KFT finish: 24
Age: 29
School: Oklahoma State (2018)
PGA Tour career: 51 starts, 1 top-10s
Need to know: Ventura made 29 starts on the PGA Tour in 2020-21, but he lost his card after posting only two top-20s. He’s played each of the last three seasons on the KFT, and this year he had a second among four top-10s and 10 top-25s.
Fun fact: Was the main recruiting target of Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton when Bratton discovered Viktor Hovland, who was later Ventura’s college teammate and fellow Norwegian Olympian this summer in Paris.
Kaito Onishi
KFT finish: 25
Age: 25
School: USC (2021)
PGA Tour career: 5 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: Onishi had a rocky start to his pro career, leaving USC prior to the postseason his senior year and then being disqualified from his pro debut in Japan for violating COVID-19 quarantine rules. Onishi reached the KFT in 2023 and finished No. 100 in points, on the number for retaining conditional status. That set the stage for a season that included a win among five top-25s.
Fun fact: Was born in Japan but attended high school at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Ricky Castillo
KFT finish: 26
Age: 23
School: Florida (2023)
PGA Tour career: 2 starts, 0 top-10s
Need to know: After winning in his first summer on the KFT, Castillo didn’t win this year, but he did post six top-20s in his first seven events. After falling out of the top 30 in July, Castillo responded with a T-2 at the Magnit Championship in August.
Fun fact: Wears pukka shells in honor of his late grandmother. Also, his brother, Derek, jumped on his bag earlier this season in Chicago, with the two playing a lot of mini-golf while on the road, including this week at French Lick.
Trevor Cone
KFT finish: 27
Age: 31
School: Virginia Tech (2015)
PGA Tour career: 30 starts, 1 top-10
Need to know: Cone’s rookie season on the PGA Tour in 2023 included a T-3 at the Barbasol Championship. That was his only finish better than T-23, however, and he was back on the KFT, where he won in 2018 and 2022. This year, he had six top-10s.
Fun fact: For years, his Twitter bio has claimed he’s a “big doughnut guy.”
Danny Walker
KFT finish: 28
Age: 28
School: Virginia (2018)
PGA Tour career: 1 start, no top-10s
Need to know: Walker was medalist at KFT Q-School final stage in 2019, but he lost his card after the 2020-21 season. Walker made a putter change before the Memorial Health Championship in June, and that resulted in his first of eight top-25 finishes to close the season.
Fun fact: Worked as a waiter at Bahama Breeze in late 2021 to earn some money to go back to school, but he only lasted a few weeks and returned to pro golf.
Aldrich Potgieter
KFT finish: 29
Age: 20
School: None (2023)
PGA Tour career: 1 start, no top-10s
Need to know: Became the youngest winner in KFT history last January by winning in the Bahamas at age 19. He also shot 59 in Bogota and finished T-20. He had missed three of four cuts entering the KFT Championship, where he shot 69 on the final day to finish T-40 and narrowly advance to the PGA Tour.
Fun fact: Counts former PGA Tour winner Tim Clark as a mentor.
Noah Goodwin
KFT finish: 30
Age: 24
School: SMU (2022)
PGA Tour career: 3 starts, 1 top-10
Need to know: Prior to this season, Goodwin was best known as a pro for winning twice in Canada in 2022 but also having to withdraw from the final stage of KFT Q-School that year because of illness. After finishing No. 110 in KFT points last season, Goodwin regained status at Q-School. He opened the year with two straight top-10s. He finished with sixth, his most recent coming two weeks ago in Columbus to bump him from No. 31 to No. 26 in points, setting the stage for him to hold on for the final PGA Tour card.
Fun fact: Was diagnosed at 9 years old with pituitary dwarfism, which means his pituitary gland fails to produce an adequate supply of growth hormone. Goodwin overcame that to win back-to-back AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year awards.
