Kevin Velo earns first Korn Ferry Tour title at Astara Golf Championship

Kevin Velo's hands were shaking, but his mind was calm. He looked over an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th green of Country Club de Bogota, then looked at his caddie.

“I told him we were built for this kind of moment,” Velo said. “Ended up hooping that and the rest is history.”

Historic, indeed. Velo overcame a four-shot deficit with two holes to play and won the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, his maiden Korn Ferry Tour title. That birdie putt on the 18th forced a playoff with Brian Campbell, which Velo won with another birdie at the 18th in the first playoff hole. Velo closed with three straight birdies (two in regulation, one in the playoff) to chase down Campbell, who made a double-bogey on the 17th, then could only muster a pair of pars on the 18th.

Velo, at 22-under 261, notched the lowest score in tournament history.

“This feels unbelievable,” Velo said after his final-round 66.

It’s a breakthrough victory for Velo, who struggled in his first full season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022. He missed 13 cuts in 25 starts and registered just two top 25s. That left him outside the top 100 of the points list and fighting for status at PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry. He finished T21 to earn 12 guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour this season. The win on Sunday secured him a lot more. Velo is exempt for the remainder of the Korn Ferry Tour schedule this season and is in the driver’s seat for a PGA TOUR card. Velo moved from No. 49 to No. 2 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List.

It comes just a week after Velo’s close friend Isaiah Salinda won The Panama Championship by eight shots.

“I had a call with my coach on Wednesday afternoon after I was hitting balls and I told him I'm ready to do what Isaiah did,” Velo said. “We're super competitive that if I didn't have enough motivation, that fired me up even more. So I'm really happy for him, but I'm glad I got him.”

Sunday was the biggest step toward reaching a dream that nearly ended years ago for Velo. The native Californian received just one scholarship offer coming out of high school, from San Jose State. He would not have played collegiate golf if he had not received that offer.

Now he’s on the precipice of the PGA TOUR. He’s built for the moment.

Final-round notes

• Brian Campbell (2nd / -22), who has made all four cuts to begin the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Season, turned in a final round 5-under 66 to enter a playoff against the eventual winner Velo, marking the third runner-up finish of Campbell’s career on the Korn Ferry Tour and first since the 2016 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation
• Campbell held a four-stroke lead with three holes left to play, but fell victim to a double-bogey on the par-4 17th, opening the door for Velo to catch him
• 54-hole leader Thomas Walsh (T3 / -20), who finished No. 54 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List last season, finished T3 at 20-under after a final-round even-par 71, recording the second top-five finish of his career and first of the season
• 18-hole leader Cristobal Del Solar (5th / -19), who carded the lowest round in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in the first round of this week’s event, bounced back from a third round 4-over 75 with an 8-under 63, matching the low round for the tournament on the Lagos Course; he rolled in eight birdies (Nos. 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18) and an eagle on the par 5 No. 8 against one bogey
• Del Solar notches his second top-five finish through four events with a solo fifth; he had one top-five in 25 events last season
• 24-year-old Cole Hammer (6th / -18) records the best finish of his Korn Ferry Tour career with a solo sixth at 18-under, previous best finish was a T7 at the 2022 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS; Hammer carded a final round 2-under 69 with three birdies (Nos. 4, 10, 18) against one bogey
• Second-year Korn Ferry Tour member Ricky Castillo (7th / -16), who finished T5 at the Panama Championship last week, records a top-10 finish for the second week in a row; he carded a final round 6-under 65 to climb 31 spots on Sunday
• Kaito Onishi (T8 / -1), making his first start of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, posted a final round 1-under 70 to finish T8 at 15-under, marking his second top-10 finish of his Korn Ferry Tour career; He began the 2024 season with conditional status after finishing No. 100 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• Raleigh, North Carolina native Carter Jenkins (T8 / -15), who finished No. 34 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, carded a final round 5-under 66 with seven birdies (Nos. 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18) against two bogey; Jenkins made the turn at even-par with one birdie and one bogey, he went on to birdie six of his final nine holes to post a back nine 31.
• Trent Phillips (T8 / -15), who finished T2 at The Panama Championship last week, posted a 5-under 66 to climb 30 spots in the final round; After opening the week with an 8-under 62 on the Pacos Course, Phillips stumbled in the second round with a 1-over 73, but bounced back a 4-under 67 to put him in position for a top-10 finish in the final round
• Mexico’s Emilio Gonzalez (T8 / -15) recorded the first top-10 finish of his career on the Korn Ferry Tour with a T8 finish at 15-under, surpassing his previous best finish of T16 that he posted at The Panama Championship last week; Gonzalez opened the week with a 7-under 63 on the Pacos Course for the lowest round of his career
• Étienne Papineau (T8 / -15), who earned guaranteed starts for the first eight events of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season with a T38 finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, recorded the first top-10 of his Korn Ferry Tour career with a T8 finish at 15-under; Papineau finished No. 4 in the 2023 Fortinet Cup on PGA TOUR Canada, now PGA TOUR Americas, notching a victory at the Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist