Jim Knous didn’t do himself any favors with the way he played holes 11-17 on Sunday, but the Littleton resident still is off to a good start in his quest to gain a PGA Tour card for 2018-19.
In the first event of the four-tournament Web.com Tour Finals, Knous shared the lead through three rounds at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio. And he was still in very good shape as he was even par for his Sunday round through 10 holes.
But that’s where he started a stretch of seven holes that he wishes he had back. Knous bogeyed the 11th, 12th and 15th holes and double bogeyed No. 7, going 5 over for that run.
He birdied the 18th hole to shoot a 4-over-par 75 and tie for 10th place, marking his second straight top-10 on the Web.com Tour.
Knous’ 8-under-par 276 total left him four strokes behind champion Robert Streb, with whom the Coloradan was tied after three rounds.
Should Knous (pictured) finish in the top 25 in cumulative money earnings for the four Web.com Tour Final events, he’ll earn a PGA Tour card for the coming season.
Another player who grew up in Colorado, Wyndham Clark, gained PGA Tour playing privileges by virtue of finishing in the top 25 on the regular-season Web.com Tour money list. Clark defeated Knous in a playoff to win the 2010 CGA Amateur at Boulder Country Club.
Players eligible to compete in the Web Finals include the top 75 money winners for the 2018 Web regular season and golfers who finished in the 126-200 range on the PGA Tour’s FedExCup points list at the end of the regular season.
Upcoming in the Web Finals are the DAP Championship in Beachwood, Ohio (Aug. 30-Sept. 2), the Albertsons Boise Open in Idaho (Sept. 13-16) and the Web.com Tour Championship in Atlantic Beach, Fla. (Sept. 20-23).
End of the Line for Laird, Saunders: The two players with strong Colorado connections who made the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs saw their postseason end on Sunday after one tournament.
Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird and former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders both finished in the top 125 on FedExCup regular-season points list to advance to the Northern Trust this week in Paramus, N.J.
But the top 100 was needed to move on to next week’s Dell Technologies Championship, and neither Laird nor Saunders made the grade. That means the season is over for both.
With a 60th-place finish on Sunday, Saunders remained 120th in FedExCup points. Laird placed 73rd in New Jersey and ended up 115th on the points list.
