Frankie Capan III earns first Korn Ferry Tour win at Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship

Frankie Capan III has broken through in a big way in consecutive weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour.

After finishing tied for 12th last week at the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation and becoming #TOURBound in the process, Capan was the captain of the field at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, winning the penultimate event of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season.

“It was great. I'm just really happy and blessed to be standing with you here today and just really excited with how my game has progressed from last year to this year and just kind of continuing as this year has gone on,” Capan said in Columbus. “It feels fantastic.”

Capan fired a 1-under 70 in the final round at the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University Golf Club to beat a trio of golfers including William Mouw, Thomas Rosenmueller (#TOURBound, both) and Carter Jenkins, by two shots.

It was Jenkins’ fifth top-10 of the season, moving him up to No. 37 in the Points List with just one event remaining.

Capan jumped up nine spots to No. 5 in the Points List.

Regardless of the finish next week at the Korn Ferry Tour season finale, Matt McCarty has already clinched the top spot on the Points List. He mathematically cannot be passed by No. 2, Max McGreevy, even with a McGreevy victory. McCarty finished tied for fifth in Ohio, three shots back of Capan.

Capan, the overnight leader, was 2-under through three holes but bogeyed Nos. 5 and 7 to leave the door open a crack to the chasing pack. He also bogeyed the par-4 11th but added a circle on the scorecard on the very next hole. Capan parred his final six holes coming in which was good enough for the title. Jenkins was charging hard – his 4-under effort was tied for the second-lowest round of the day – but he eventually ran out of holes as the weather pivoted and made for a gusty final stretch.

It was a tremendous result, Capan said, after a ton of big learnings in 2023.

Although he had three top-10 results and finished 51st on the Points List last year, Capan said he “failed” a lot. But because of that, he learned a lot. The golf has been solid for a while, he explained, but with life also dialed in, the big results have followed.

“I think for me it's more just kind of putting the pieces together and kind of trying to figure out how they all fit. Was able to get them to fit pretty nicely this week,” Capan said. “It's been great. It feels tremendous to be here.

“I think for me it's a lot of stuff off the course, too. It's been really important just because this game is to incredibly mental, and you have to be in the right frame of mind the entire time when you're out there. I think a lot of my off-course stuff has gotten a lot better over the last year and a half.”

With the win, Capan joins a pair of FedExCup champions in Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler as players who have triumphed at the Scarlet Course. He said that raising the trophy at this event in particular was extra special.

“It's a PGA TOUR-style golf course and I'm not surprised that those guys had success, lots of success, out on the PGA TOUR,” he said.

Capan has already been close this season on the Korn Ferry Tour, with a playoff loss and another tie for second last month at the Magnit Championship. Constantly knocking at the door earned him a PGA TOUR card – mission accomplished, there – but to put a bow on the season with a win means just a little bit more.

“It’s been a lot of hard work,” Capan said. “It feels nice just to kind of get the monkey off my back.”

Notes

• Capan becomes the 17th first-time winner on Tour this season, there were just 10 first-time winners all of last year.
• Capan is the 12th 54-hole leader/co-leader to win on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.
• Three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Matt McCarty (T5/-10) locks up the No. 1 spot on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List with a T5 finish, earning exemptions into the 2025 PLAYERS Championship and U.S. Open.
  • McCarty’s rise to the top spot on the points list was fueled by three wins, nine top-10s and 13 top-25s.
  • The Scottsdale, Arizona native became the 13th player in Korn Ferry Tour history to achieve the Three-Victory Promotion, earning an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR, and is fully exempt for the 2025 season.
• Former North Carolina Tarheel Carter Jenkins (T2/-11) posts a 4-under 67 in Sunday’s final round to match his best career finish on Tour with a T2, logging his fifth top-10 finish of the 2024 campaign.
  • Jenkins moves up to 22 positions on the points list from No. 59 to No. 37 ahead of the season’s final event, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.
• Sweden’s Pontus Nyholm (T5/-10), who held the 36-hole co-lead, turns in his best result of the season with a T5, marking his third top-10 of the year (previous best; T6/BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX).
• Dan McCarthy (T7/-9), who started the week outside the top 75 on the 2024 points list, records his best result of the year with a T7 and ascends to No. 68 on the point list to lock up fully exempt status for the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season (previous best; T8/Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health).
  • McCarthy, who entered the tournament No. 87 on the 2024 points list, climbed the most positions (19) of the five players that moved inside the top 75 on the points list at week’s end.
• Second-year member Jacob Solomon (T17/-6), who started the week No. 78 on the 2024 points list, cards a bogey-free 5-under 66 to move up to No. 69 on the points list and secure status for next year on the Korn Ferry Tour.
  • Solomon matches Steven Fisk (T21/-5) and Marcus Byrd (T44/-2) for the low round of the day.
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Rick Lamb (T13/-7), who moves to No. 73 on the points list, logs his fourth top-25 finish in his last four starts to move inside the top 75 and advance to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
• In his first season on Tour, Davis Shore (T17/-6), who began the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season as a conditional member, locks up fully exempt status for the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season with a T17 finish this week to climb to No. 71 on the points list.
  • In his rookie year, Shore has accumulated four top-25 finishes and a top-10, coming in the form of a T4 at the Compliance Solutions Championship.
• Cole Hammer (T13/-7), who finished No. 5 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022, notches his fourth top-25 of the season to move to No. 66 on the points list to advance to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship and earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for the 2025 season.