Korn Ferry Tour Finals update: Cole Hammer keeps season alive with gutsy Friday at Nationwide

Cole Hammer played in the U.S. Open as a high schooler and has represented the United States at the Walker Cup. He competed for a national championship at the University of Texas and has played competitive golf in nearly every conceivable pressure situation.

Yet Hammer felt a new level of nerves in Friday’s second round of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the Korn Ferry Tour Finals’ third leg.

Hammer, 25, entered the week at No. 79 on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with the top 75 after the Nationwide advancing to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance and securing a fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour card in 2025. After an opening-round, 2-over 73 at the Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course, the Houston native was outside the cut line and needed a strong second round to keep his season alive.

For Hammer, this week represents professional golf’s ultimate performance review, and he passed the first segment with a second-round, 4-under 67 to make the cut at 2-under 140, three strokes inside the eventual cut line. He’s tied for 27th midway through the Nationwide, and he’s projected No. 76 on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Points List.

“I think relief is the only word that I can come up with right now,” Hammer said afterward. “I don’t know how long the round took today; I’m sure it was just under 5 hours, but it felt like 15. That was a grind, and I told myself when I woke up that I was going to give it everything I had. And I’m proud to say that I did that.”

He’s on the verge of a spot at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, and he knows it. The projections will move fast and furious this weekend, as several other pros around the top-75 bubble also made the cut in central Ohio and won’t intend to go down without a fight. He knows that too. But that’s what makes it fun, and Hammer plans to relish the challenge. Professional golf has been a bumpy ride at times for the third-year pro, who has made just six cuts in 22 PGA TOUR starts, and he arrived at the Nationwide on the heels of two straight missed cuts to begin the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

But when he needed it most, Hammer delivered a nearly flawless effort Friday, rebounding from an opening bogey at the par-4 10th with five birdies on an otherwise clean card. He was still shaking as he met the media post-round, offering an honest assessment of his thoughts and feelings.

“It was probably my best ball-striking round of the year, and it couldn’t have come at a better time,” Hammer said. “I went home this weekend after missing the cut (in Nashville) and worked with my coach Bruce Davidson, and it was just a really quick setup change … I was lined up a little bit too far to the right and too far from the ball, and really the last two days I hit the ball great, and then today I think I was just more comfortable with that change.

“Today was the most nervous I’ve ever been. I mean, I’m still shaking. I was numb on the last hole … I went through a stretch this year and probably still do wish that I didn’t get as nervous as I do, but I was out there and I came to terms with it and decided, you know what, I'm glad that I'm nervous because it means that I care and that I'm human and everyone else is dealing with this. It might manifest itself in different ways for other people, but I’m going to do my best to conquer what I’m feeling.”

The top 30 players on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List after the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance will earn 2025 PGA TOUR membership. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship marks the penultimate event of the season; the top 75 on the Points List after the Nationwide will advance to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship and secure fully exempt status on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour.

Nos. 76-100 on the Points List after the Nationwide will retain conditional status on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour, with the chance to improve their position at PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

Here’s a look at who’s projected to move inside/outside the top 30 after the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship’s second round.

Note: Projections are complicated by the two-way co-lead after Round 2, as each co-leader is projected to receive the winner’s allocation of 600 points. The event will ultimately crown a singular champion.

Projected in

Noah Goodwin (No. 31, projected to No. 8 with a win). The Southern Methodist alum entered the week just one spot outside the all-important top 30, and he and his dad/caddie Jeff “mutually fired each other” after missing the cut at last week’s Simmons Bank Open. It could be a win-win situation – Jeff traveled to the Nationwide in a dad role, and his son grabbed a share of the 36-hole lead with rounds of 66-67 at the Scarlet Course.

Pontus Nyholm (No. 50, projected to No. 17 with a win). The Sweden native matched Goodwin’s 9-under total at the event’s halfway mark, carding rounds of 68-65 at an increasingly firm Scarlet Course, as he eyes his first Korn Ferry Tour title and his first PGA TOUR card. Nyholm played collegiately at Campbell University, and he looks to join Canada’s Brad Fritsch as Campbell alums to earn TOUR cards.

Projected out

Trevor Cone (No. 27, projected to No. 31). The Virginia Tech alum carded rounds of 72-72 at the Scarlet Course to miss the cut by one stroke. The silver lining for the 31-year-old: he’ll have another chance to improve his standing at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.

Trent Phillips (No. 30, projected to No. 32). The University of Georgia alum posted scores of 74-71 at the Nationwide for a 3-over total, two strokes outside the cut line. Phillips moved inside the top 30 with a runner-up at the season’s third event, The Panama Championship, and has remained inside the top 30 to this point.