Paul Peterson wins Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, moves to verge of PGA TOUR card

Oregon native Paul Peterson has competed across the globe in a 12-year professional golf career. He has won in countries including the Czech Republic and Myanmar. Now he’s on the verge of a PGA TOUR card.

Peterson earned his first Korn Ferry Tour title Sunday at the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, carding 20-under 260 at Vanderbilt Legends Club’s North Course for a one-stroke win over Matt Atkins. Peterson, 36, trailed Ryan Gerard by two strokes into Sunday’s final round, where he rallied with a 4-under 66 that included back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 followed by three straight closing pars. Gerard closed in even-par 70 to finish in a five-way tie for third at 18 under, two back of Peterson’s winning total.

With the victory, Peterson moves from No. 51 to No. 15 on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Points List with two events remaining in the four-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals. The top 30 on the Points List after the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance in early October will earn 2025 PGA TOUR membership.

“It’s been amazing,” Peterson said of his international golf adventure. “The journey's been very, very long and it's been very expansive. So I missed getting through Q-School in 2013 and chose to go a different direction than some people. To be able to come back and be close to my family and win here in the States just means so much.

“I leaned on my wedge game big-time (this week), and driving the golf ball. To be able to hit it in the fairway and wedge it close was amazing.”

Peterson is on the verge of his childhood dream, which he traces to watching Payne Stewart win the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 as a kid on his grandparents’ living room floor. Peterson, who now resides in St. Simons Island, Georgia, grew up in Oregon from pre-kindergarten onward and played collegiately at Oregon State, where he met his wife Maggie in a class – they were randomly paired for a geology project.

Maggie and their nearly 2-year-old son Wyatt flew in Sunday for the winning moment, a full-circle capper to a decade-plus journey that has included multiple passports, hundreds of thousands of airline miles, and times of uncertain competitive status.

The Petersons have maintained an unwavering belief, though, in their shared PGA TOUR dream. It’s likely to come to fruition early next month in southern Indiana, with a TOUR card and a 2025 competitive season against the world’s best players – including close family friend Patton Kizzire, a fellow St. Simons Island resident.

“I had no idea they were here,” Peterson said of his family’s surprise appearance. “My wife came up Thursday morning, got in Thursday afternoon. We went downtown Nashville. She's a huge country music fan, so we kind of walked Broadway. I didn't partake in any beverage drinking, she did, so it was fun to go down there with her and have her here. She watched me play Friday morning and then left. It was the first time we've been away from my son in 22 months and so we got some alone time together, which was amazing … I had no clue they were going to be here.”

Atkins fell one stroke shy of his second Korn Ferry Tour title Sunday afternoon, but his runner-up finish felt close to a victory. The 33-year-old Kentucky native entered the week at No. 103 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with the understanding that PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry’s First Stage could be soon in his future. Yet with a clutch bunker save on the 72nd hole to preserve a solo-second finish, one stroke ahead of the five-way T3, Atkins jumped 59 spots to No. 44 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List. It means he’ll be fully exempt on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour, at minimum, and has a realistic chance at a PGA TOUR return across the next two Finals events – or at PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry’s Final Stage in December.

After falling short at Q-School’s First Stage last fall, Atkins faced the realistic possibility of walking away from professional golf. As a husband and father of two, it was becoming less and less financially viable. But he made the cut at The RSM Classic last fall as a Monday qualifier, connected with a group of sponsors who believed in him, and now has job security for 2025. His professional golf career is alive and well.

The top 120 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List after the Simmons Bank Open have qualified for next week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the third of four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events. Two players moved inside the top 120 this week: Morgan Hoffmann, who finished T3 to move from No. 136 to No. 90, and Bryson Nimmer, who finished T26 to move from No. 128 to No. 113.

Things to know

• Paul Peterson secures his first career Korn Ferry Tour win in his 56th start and climbs the Korn Ferry Tour Points List 36 spots from No. 51 to No. 15.
• Matt Atkins cards a bogey-free 3-under 67 to secure a solo runner-up finish and moves up from 103rd to 44th on the points list.
• 54-hole outright leader Ryan Gerard cards a final-round 70 and secures his second consecutive top-10 finish.
• Bryson Nimmer and Morgan Hoffmann were the only two players who entered the week outside the top 120 on the points list and moved inside the 120 line to get into next week’s field.
• The top 120 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List will be eligible to compete in next week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the third of four season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Finals events.
• Following the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, only the top 75 players on the points list will be eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.

Charting the leader

Additional notes

• Following a career-low 61 in the third round, Matt Atkins (2nd/-19) recorded a final-round bogey-free 3-under 67, including a five-foot par putt on the 18th hole, to secure solo second and climb from No. 103 to No. 44 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• Fabián Gómez (T3/-18) birdied three of his final five holes (Nos. 14, 15, 17) en route to a final-round 6-under 64 and his first top-10 finish of the season, moving from 108th to 74th on the points list
• Morgan Hoffmann (T3/-18) entered the week No. 136 on the points list and climbed to No. 90 via his first top-10 of the season in his 19th start this year
  • By moving inside the top 120, Hoffmann earned his way into next week’s field at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship
  • Hoffman carded a final-round 6-under 64, including birdies on his final three holes at the par-3 16th and par-4s 17th and 18th
• Max McGreevy (T3/-18) tallied his eighth top-10 finish of the season to maintain his No. 2 spot on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• Emilio Gonzalez (T3/-18) carded 19 birdies against just one bogey through 72 holes en route to the best finish of his Korn Ferry Tour career (35 total starts)
  • With the T3 finish, Gonzalez climbed 11 spots from 59th to 48th on the points list
• Ryan Gerard (T3/-18) entered the day with a two-shot lead but settled for a T3 finish after a final-round even-par 70, his fourth top-10 finish this season, and moves from 13th to eighth on the points list
• With his 10th top-25 finish of the season, Frankie Capan III (T12/-15) became the 14th player this season to be declared #TOURBound, assuring him of a top-30 finish on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List at season’s end to secure 2025 PGA TOUR status
• Bryson Nimmer (T26/-12) clinched his second consecutive top-25 finish and secured a start at next week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship by climbing from 128th to 113th on the points list