Outlasts S.H. Kim with playoff birdie at 2025 season opener

Hank Lebioda earned his first Korn Ferry Tour title Wednesday at The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island, outlasting S.H. Kim with a birdie on the first playoff hole at The Ocean Course at Atlantis in the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season opener.

Lebioda, 31, earned his first Korn Ferry Tour title in his 62nd start. The Florida State alum played the PGA TOUR full-time from 2019 to 2023; he made 120 starts before losing his card and returning to the Korn Ferry Tour, from which he first graduated in 2018.

Lebioda carded a four-round total of 18-under 262 in the Bahamas, including a final-round, 4-under 66 to overcome a four-stroke deficit to 54-hole leader John VanDerLaan, who closed in 6-over 76 for a T9 finish. Kim, who played the last two seasons on the PGA TOUR, shot a final-round 63 to make up a seven-stroke deficit and earn his spot in the playoff. Lebioda stuffed a pitching wedge to a foot for a kick-in winning birdie on the first playoff hole, the 483-yard, par-4 18th, while Kim missed a 30-foot birdie try from the green’s back-right portion.

Last season, Lebioda finished No. 75 on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Points List to narrowly retain full status for this season. He won’t have to sweat that bubble in 2025; he can turn his attention to a PGA TOUR return via the top 20 on the season-long standings (down from 30 cards a year ago).

“It’s exciting,” said an emotional Lebioda afterward. “It will sink in in a couple days, but happy to talk to my family.”

Lebioda, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease as a college freshman in 2012, has always demonstrated a fighting spirit in his professional golf pursuits. He did the same in the Bahamas.

Charting the champion (stats updated through tournament)

Hank Lebioda (first/-18)

• Claims his first Korn Ferry Tour victory in what was his 62nd career start on Tour
• Entered the final round four strokes behind 54-hole leader John VanDerLaan, closes in 4-under 66 to overcome the deficit and defeat S.H. Kim with a birdie on the first hole in a sudden-death playoff (par-4 18th)
• Matches the best come-from-behind win at The Bahamas Golf Classic (four strokes/Chandler Phillips/2023)
• At 18-under 262, breaks the 72-hole tournament scoring record previously established by Zecheng Dou (270/2019)
• Marks his second top-10 in three career appearances at The Bahamas Golf Classic (T9/2018)
• Matched his career-low round on Tour with an 8-under 62 in the second round (previous: 2018 UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH/Round 2)
• Finished No. 75 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List to earn fully exempt membership for the 2025 season; he played the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season with conditional status from his Nos. 151-200 finish (No. 182) in the 2023 FedExCup Fall standings
• Previously maintained PGA TOUR membership from the 2018-19 season through the end of the 2022-23 season, and qualified for the 2021 FedExCup Playoffs
• Secured his PGA TOUR card for the 2018-19 season via the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour standings
• Winner of the 2017 Quebec Open powered by Videotron Business on PGA TOUR Canada
• Played collegiately at Florida State University (2012-16), where he was a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, 2013 ACC Freshman of the Year and 2016 ACC Player of the Year

Additional player notes

• Class of 2022 Korn Ferry Tour graduate S.H. Kim (second/-18) closes in 7-under 63, the lowest score of the final round, and birdies the 72nd hole to make his second playoff appearance on the Korn Ferry Tour, then falls to 0-2 in Korn Ferry Tour playoffs (2022 Lake Charles Championship/lost to Trevor Werbylo).
• Davis Shore (third/-17), who finished No. 73 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List as a rookie, birdies three of the final six holes, including the par-4 18th, to post a career-high finish in his 23rd career start on the Korn Ferry Tour (previous: T4/2024 Compliance Solutions Championship).
• Emilio Gonzalez (fifth/-15), who finished No. 49 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, records his second top-five finish in his last four Korn Ferry Tour starts (T3/2024 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation); he did not record a top-five finish in any of his first 34 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour.
• Competing via a medical extension, Sebastian Cappelen (sixth/-14) posts his first top-10 in a Korn Ferry Tour event since a playoff runner-up finish at the 2019 Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open.
• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Barend Botha (T7/-13) closes in 4-under 66 to total 13-under 267 and record a top-10 in his Korn Ferry Tour debut; he earned Korn Ferry Tour membership for the 2025 season via a No. 4 finish on the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas Fortinet Cup standings.
• Ross Steelman (T9/-12) records a top-10 finish in the season-opening event for a second consecutive year (third/2024 The Bahamas Golf Classic).
• John VanDerLaan (T9/-12), the 54-hole leader who carried a four-stroke lead into the final round, cards 6-over 76, the second-highest score in the final round.