Luke List wins Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – Luke List closed with a 3-under 67 to earn a one-stroke victory over Joseph Bramlett and Shad Tuten at the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass. With the win, List broke a streak of 208 winless starts (62 Korn Ferry Tour, 146 PGA TOUR) since he won the 2012 South Georgia Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“It’s been a while since I’ve won, and it’s been a couple months since we’ve played competitive golf, so it feels great – first of all, to get back playing competitively, and then to win the first week, I’m really excited,” List said.

Playing in Sunday’s final threesome with Bramlett and 54-hole leader Will Zalatoris, List birdied three of his first four holes to turn a one-shot deficit into a two-shot lead. He was even-par the rest of the day, making bogey on No. 11 and birdie on No. 12, but he didn’t relinquish the lead at any point. He parred the final six holes, and a two-putt from 40 feet on No. 18 secured the win with a 12-under total.

“When the wind’s up, I think the back nine is more challenging, and fortunately I was able to get off to a good start, pretty much every day,” said List. “It was challenging out there today. The wind was swirling, it was gusting pretty hard, we had a lot of into-cross winds, so I’m happy with 3-under, for sure.”

List has qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs each of the last four seasons. Prior to that, his 2015 season on the Korn Ferry Tour featured three top-10s, and he earned his PGA TOUR card through the 2015 Korn Ferry Tour Finals. In 13 starts on the PGA TOUR in 2019-2020, List’s best finish was T13 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and he is 160th in the FedExCup standings.

Before this week, his last competitive round in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned was the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship, where he shot a 2-under 70 and was T37 before the tournament was canceled.

“The last time I was here was for THE PLAYERS and I was playing pretty well. I tried to just carry that (momentum) into the restart,” said List, who will travel to Hilton Head and play in the RBC Heritage on the PGA TOUR next week. “Obviously, I would have loved to have been at Colonial, but I’m glad I was here this week. It was really a perfect storm to be here and I’m just excited for the rest of the year.”

Bramlett was one of two players that made late charges, only to fall one shot short. In his bid to become the just the second African American to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, Bramlett birdied No. 16 to pull within two, and then he rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 17, the toughest hole of the week, to cut the deficit to one. However, he was unable to force a playoff, as he missed a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to finish with a final-round 68 and an 11-under total.

“I gave myself a chance to win, I was right there on a pretty big stage here on the Korn Ferry Tour,” said Bramlett, who will stay in Northeast Florida and compete in next week’s King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village in St. Augustine. “It gives me added confidence and experience being in the last group and feeling those nerves again, knowing I can come through when I need to. Hopefully I can keep building on it this summer.”

Bramlett posted his first career top-10 on the PGA TOUR this season, a T9 at the Puerto Rico Open, and he is currently 178th in the FedExCup. The 32-year-old Stanford product earned PGA TOUR membership for the first season since 2011 by finishing No. 22 in last year’s Korn Ferry Tour Finals 25.

In addition to Bramlett, Shad Tuten made a late comeback and finished T2 at 11-under. The 27-year-old from Naples, Florida, was 4-under on Nos. 14-18, a five-hole stretch that included three of the eight hardest holes on the week. He closed with a 3-under 67 and finished runner-up in just his seventh start on Tour.

Nicholas Lindheim carded the day’s best score, a 4-under 66, and he finished at 10-under and tied for fourth with Kristoffer Ventura. Zalatoris started Sunday as the leader for the first time on Korn Ferry Tour, and his final round included 17 pars and a bogey on the par-5 16th. He finished at 9-under and tied for sixth with Lee Hodges.