PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) — Ben Kohles had one objective, and that was to lock up a PGA Tour card for 2027.
asserted
that → have → 2027
He had two options and chose to follow his hunch.
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He → have → hunch
Kohles, who won the BMW Charity Pro-Am the first week in June, was No. 19 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list heading into the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, where the top 20 earn PGA Tour cards for next year.
So he got on a plane to Japan.
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he → win → Japan
“There was no real way of knowing what it was going to take points-wise,” Kohles said before going to the airport for the long flight home.
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Kohles → be → flight
“I was just betting on myself.”
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I → bet → myself
It appears to have paid off.
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It → appear → ?
Kohles closed with a 3-under 68 in the Baycurrent Classic and tied for 17th, and those 48 points moved him to No. 80 in the FedEx Cup.
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points → close → Cup
He’s not a mathematical lock to finish in the top 100, but with only five events left in the FedEx Fall — he’s going to play four of them — he should be all set.
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he → ’ → them
Kohles was 17th on the Korn Ferry Tour points when he chose not to play the last three events, instead going to the PGA Tour stop in Asheville, North Carolina, (tie for 15th) and Utah (tie for 13th), going from 96th to 84th in the FedEx Cup.
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he → choose → Cup
“I looked it at like, I could play the last three Korn Ferry events and miss the first three in the fall and lock up my card.
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I → look → card
At the same time, I’ve been doing this long enough,” he said, pausing to chuckle.
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he → do → this
“The money is one thing — it’s a little more on the PGA Tour — but knowing how I was playing, I thought I could move up in the fall standings.”
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I → ’ → standings
Kohles was coming off a poor year and had only conditional status.
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Kohles → come → status
He started with nine Korn Ferry Tour events in his first 11 starts.
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He → start → starts
He got in the John Deere Classic and had a chance to win until he hit his approach into the water on the 18th, missed a long par putt to force a playoff and then went to tap in his meaningless bogey when that missed, too.
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that → get → bogey
That cost him 100 points and $318,200.
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That → cost → points
“I take the positives from that,” he said.
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he → take → that
Everything is where I want it to be.”
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it → want → ?
A big turning point for Vaughn Taylor
Vaughn Taylor won his first PGA Tour Champions title, and to get a sense if winning still matters at age 50 or older was to see him start to choke up after his playoff victory over Alex Cejka in the Constellation Furyk & Friends.
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him → win → Furyk
It had been 10 years — 3,892 days to be exact — since Taylor beat Phil Mickelson in the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
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Taylor → beat → Am
More worrisome was hip surgery from which Taylor never fully recovered.
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Taylor → recover → which
His last tournament was the RSM Classic to end 2022.
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tournament → end → 2022
And then he turned 50 in March.
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he → turn → March
“I wanted to play some Korn Ferry before I came out here but didn’t think I could physically do it,” Taylor said.
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Taylor → want → it
“I had to understand what was actually going on with my hip.
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what → have → hip
This year I’ve had a lot of help in understanding what was going on, so just that in itself kind of made me believe I can physically do this.
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I → have → this
It took nine starts before he cracked the top 10, and Taylor began contemplating career options.
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Taylor → take → options
“I wanted to give back to the game and thought teaching might be something that would do that,” Taylor said.
uncertain
Taylor → want → that
“Been thinking about how could I get certified as a teacher.
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I → think → teacher
This changes that.”
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This → change → that
Taylor made five straight birdies to start the back nine at Hammock Beach, felt the nerves over a three-putt bogey on the 17th hole and won on the second playoff hole.
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Taylor → make → hole
“This is huge for me,” Taylor said.
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Taylor → say → me
Jackson Koivun has been a pro for four months and is going places
Jackson Koivun always had the belief, along with the No. 1 ranking in PGA Tour University and among amateurs worldwide.
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Koivun → go → amateurs
But it’s been a lot to take in the last four months.
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it → take → months
Not only did he win in his third start at the 3M Open, qualify for the PGA Tour postseason and get picked for the Presidents Cup at age 21 ( he went 2-0-1 in a U.S. victory ), Koivun joins Brooks Koepka on the new Motor City Golf Club team for the indoor TGL.
And now he’s been selected to take part in the Skins Games on Black Friday, along with Koepka, Justin Thomas and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.
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he → win → Koepka
Koivun went to the SoFi Center for a photo shoot with Golf Digest and called it “truly a masterpiece of technology.”
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Koivun → go → technology
Still to come is meeting Koepka, who doesn’t live too far away from the Auburn alum’s new home in the West Palm Beach area of Florida.
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who → come → Florida
But they’ll see each other at the Skins Game.
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they → see → Game
That will be Nov. 27 at Atlantic Fields Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, at 9 a.m. on Prime Video (no subscription need), part of a long day on Prime that includes a college football game and an NBA doubleheader.
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that → include → game
In the meantime, Koivun will keep busy.
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Koivun → keep → meantime
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
