Adrien Dumont de Chassart wins pro debut at BMW Charity Pro-Am Presented by TD SYNNEX

GREER, South Carolina – Just 12 days ago, Adrien Dumont de Chassart concluded a decorated collegiate career at the University of Illinois. Fast forward (or simply skip ahead one scene) to Sunday’s final round of the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX, and Dumont de Chassart won his professional debut, immediately putting himself in contention for one of the 30 PGA TOUR cards awarded via the Korn Ferry Tour.

The last player to win their debut start on the Korn Ferry Tour was Englishman Tom Lewis at the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, and the last player to accomplish the feat prior to Lewis was 19-year-old Sungjae Im, who won the 2018 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay and led the money list for the entire season.

Overall, Dumont de Chassart is the 18th player in history to win his first Korn Ferry Tour start.

Dumont de Chassart, a 23-year-old Belgian, defeated 44-year-old Josh Teater with an up-and-down par save from just off the green of Thornblade Club’s par-4 18th on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. To force a playoff with Teater, who held outright 36- and 54-hole leads, Dumont de Chassart carded a final-round 6-under

65 (to go with rounds of 66, 67, 66 earlier in the week) with a star-making birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle stretch on the back nine.

Playing in the penultimate group, Dumont de Chassart began the final round two strokes behind Teater. By the time Dumont de Chassart reached the par-4 13th, he stood 2-under par for the day and 17-under par for the tournament, four strokes behind Teater.

Three consecutive birdies at the 13th, 14th, and 15th brought Dumont de Chassart within one stroke of the lead. From the fairway of the par-5 16th, The young Belgian opened the door for a massive scoring swing as he stuffed a long iron inside 15 feet, setting up the seventh and final eagle of the week at No. 16.

Dumont de Chassart gave a stroke back after a three-putt bogey on the 72nd hole and fell into a tie with Teater, who himself missed a quality look at birdie and the win roughly 20 minutes later. The rookie and the veteran headed back to the 18th tee together for the 2023 season’s seventh sudden-death playoff.

“I was pretty excited,” Dumont de Chassart said of the playoff. “I was like, ‘I’m here in a playoff, my first start, (I) should just be happy to compete right now. I was very comfortable with my driver, which I wasn’t 30 minutes before, and I just hit a great driver.”

A 9-iron came up just short of the back right hole location, leaving Dumont de Chassart with a short chip up a gentle slope. Teater hit the center of the green and lagged a lengthy putt within 10 feet of the hole, then watched as Dumont de Chassart’s chip rolled a foot past the hole for what turned into a winning tap-in par. Teater’s playoff-extending par putt missed off the right edge.

Dumont de Chassart earned 500 points for the victory, putting him at No. 22 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List. The top 30 players on the final Korn Ferry Tour Points List will earn PGA TOUR cards.

“I didn’t have any expectation,” Dumont de Chassart said of his debut week on Tour. “My goal for this year was just keep my (Korn Ferry Tour) card for next year. That was my main goal. Now that I’m inside the top 30… just getting my PGA TOUR card, play as well as I can. Every tournament I’m just going to get there, stay who I am, stay in the present and just play my game and we’ll see what it brings me.”

Dumont de Chassart finished No. 3 in 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, earning him a number of performance benefits. Perhaps the most prized perks were exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour for the remainder of 2023, an exemption to Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry – where PGA TOUR cards will be awarded to the top five finishers and ties – and the ability to accept unlimited sponsor exemptions on the PGA TOUR for the remainder of 2023 and 2024.

“Obviously very grateful, because I’m here and I was able to get a win in my first tournament,” Dumont de Chassart said of PGA TOUR University, which sent its first class into the professional ranks in 2021. “Without PGA TOUR U, I would probably ask for (sponsor) exemption to play Korn Ferry (Tour) or PGA TOUR (events) and start from the bottom.

“Being able to come here and play on the Korn Ferry Tour and on the PGA TOUR is just something I’m very thankful for.”

Dumont de Chassart is the fourth PGA TOUR University alum to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, joining two-time winner Pireceson Coody (won third and 14th starts), Trevor Werbylo (seventh start), and Davis Thompson (14th start). Of those four, only Dumont de Chassart and Coody, who finished No. 1 in the 2022 PGA TOUR University Ranking, won on the Korn Ferry Tour in their debut season.

PGA TOUR University Alumni to Win on Korn Ferry Tour

- Trevor Werbylo (No. 9 in Class of 2021) – Won 2022 Lake Charles Championship

- Davis Thompson (No. 2 in Class of 2021) – Won 2022 UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH

- Pierceson Coody (No. 1 in Class of 2022) – Won 2022 Live and Work in Maine Open, 2023 Panama Championship

- Adrien Dumont de Chassart (No. 3 in Class of 2023) – Won 2023 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX

“It just shows college golf has improved a lot over the years,” Dumont de Chassart said. “It’s cool to see how all those players were able to get a shortcut to continue to play well.”

Dumont de Chassart played five seasons at Illinois, earning three consecutive Big Ten Conference Player of the Year awards (2021-23) and an All-America First Team selection in 2023, which followed consecutive All-America Second Team honors in 2021 and 2022. The crown jewel of Dumont de Chassart’s four collegiate victories was co-medalist honors at the 2019 Big Ten Championship.

In addition to reaching match play at both the 2022 U.S. Amateur Championship and 2022 Western Amateur last summer, Dumont de Chassart qualified for the 2022 U.S. Open and made his major championship debut.

Oddly enough, Dumont de Chassart passed on an opportunity to qualify for a second consecutive U.S. Open earlier this week, as he withdrew from Final Qualifying in order to rest and prepare for his professional debut.

“I’m glad I did it, because if I had to play 12 rounds in a row, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” Dumont de Chassart said. “I’m glad I made that decision.”

Turns out, that decision, along with a daring long-iron shot, opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

“It’s going to be weird the next few months, weeks to travel by myself, not having my teamamtes all the time, or having coach just kind of doing everything for me,” Dumont de Chassart said. “It’s going to be a little different. I’m just glad to finally be professional and play on this tour.”

Final-Round Notes

Play was suspended from 12:08 p.m. due to inclement weather and resumed at 3:45 p.m.

Josh Teater (2nd / -21), the outright 36- and 54-hole leader, records his fifth career runner-up finish in his 164th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour; he also has two runner-up finishes in 219 career PGA TOUR starts; he also posts his fourth consecutive top-25 and second top-10 in his last four starts

Teater’s last runner-up finish was at the 2020 Puerto Rico Open on the PGA TOUR, while his last runner-up finish on the Korn Ferry Tour came at the 2018 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae

Teater’s last (and still only) Korn Ferry Tour win came at the 2009 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank (13 years, 8 months, 29 days ago)

David Skinns (T3 / -19) secures his third consecutive top-10 (T9/AdventHealth Championship; T3/HomeTown Lenders Championship) and fifth top-10 of the season

Off the strength of a season-low 7-under 64 in the third round, Brandon Crick (T3 / -19) logged his first top-25 since June 2022 and the third top-10 of his career (2nd/2019 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae; T10/2020 Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass)

John VanDerLaan (T5 / -18) cards a season-low 7-under 64 Sunday for his third top-10 of the season

Carter Jenkins (T5 / -18) matched VanDerLaan’s 64 for the low round of the day and clinched his fifth top-25 this season, as well as his third top-10 (T7/HomeTown Lenders Championship; T8/The Panama Championship)

Korn Ferry Tour rookie Joe Weiler (T7 / -17) cards a final-round bogey-free 6-under 65 to clinch his first top-10 in his 10 career start (eight missed cuts)

Chan Kim (T7 / -17), an eight-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour in his first season on the Korn Ferry Tour, records his first top-10 of the season

Other PGA TOUR University Class of 2023 alums making their Korn Ferry Tour debut this week: Ryan Burnett (T11/-16), Fred Biondi (T31/-11), William Mouw (T41/-10), Patrick Welch (MC)

Conditional member Jake Staiano (T19/-14) earns a spot in next week’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pedatrics with his first top-25 in his 11th career start