Monday Qualifiers: Mayakoba Golf Classic

A quick look at the four Monday qualifiers for this week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic. The qualifier was held at Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Course in Playa Del Carmen. (Note: Monday’s score in parentheses):

BEN SILVERMAN (64)
Age: 31
Hometown: Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater: Johnson & Wales University; Florida Atlantic University
PGA TOUR starts: 53
Cuts made: 28
Best finish: T7 Sanderson Farms Championship 2017-18.
Notes: Played the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons on the PGA TOUR finishing 136th and 181st in the FedExCup respectively… This is first start of this season after failing to keep card via Korn Ferry Tour Finals… Has one Korn Ferry Tour win – the 2017 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper… Was a great ice hockey player as a kid and didn’t really take golf seriously until he was 16 where he shot 118 in his first Canadian Junior Golf Association tournament… Has two top-10s on the PGA TOUR from the 2017-18 season at the Sanderson Farms Championship (T7) and The RSM Classic (T8)… Missed cut in only previous Mayakoba Golf Classic start (2017-18).

JIMMY STANGER (65)
Age: 24
Hometown: Tampa, Florida
Alma mater: University of Virginia
PGA TOUR starts: 4
Cuts made: 1
Best finish: T41, 2017-18 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Notes: Played 22 events on Korn Ferry Tour last season with three top-10s including a third place finish at the LECOM Suncoast Classic… Marks his golf ball with the initials, H.A. in memory of his best friend growing up, Harris Armstrong, who died of spinal cord cancer when he was 12… 2017 U.S. Palmer Cup team member… Won 2017 ACC individual championship… First player in University of Virginia history to earn first-team All-America honors… 2010 FL Boys Junior Champion, AJGA All-American, Wyndham Cup, Tampa Bay Times Player of the Year in high school.

EFREN SERNA JR. (67)
Hometown: Mexico
PGA TOUR starts: 2
Cuts made: 0
Best finish: MC, 2014-15 and 2011 Mayakoba Golf Classics.
Notes: Mexican national earning his third start at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, his first in five years… Advanced out of qualifying via a 3 for 2 playoff on the third extra hole… Has just one result in the last two years counting towards a world ranking of 2,068 – a MC at the 2018 San Luis Championship on PGA TOUR LatinoAmerica… Has 10 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour with three cuts made, including a third place finish in the 2010 Mexico Open... His older brother Oscar has played the Mayakoba Golf Classic twice, as has his father, Efren, Sr.

TYLER McCUMBER (67)
Age: 28
Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Alma mater: University of Florida
PGA TOUR starts: 7
Best Finish: T19 – Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (2018).
Notes: Survived a 3 for 2 playoff to get his spot – taking the final spot on the fourth playoff hole over Braden Thornberry… Son of Mark McCumber a 10-time PGA TOUR winner and 1988 PLAYERS Champion… Ranked 324th in the world… In his rookie season on the PGA TOUR after finishing 22nd on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season points list last season and ending up 46th in the final priority ranking… Has four of five cuts made this season with best finish of T28 at the Houston Open to be 139th in the FedExCup standings… Three-time winner on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada in 2018… Three-time winner on PGA TOUR LatinoAmerica (2014-2016).