UVA alum Kohles wins Korn Ferry Tour points championship

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Posted on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, 11:59 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Former UVA men’s golf standout Ben Kohles captured the Korn Ferry Tour Points List championship Sunday following the conclusion of the 2023 Tour. Kohles will become fully exempt on the 2024 PGA TOUR, not subject to reshuffle, and will gain access to the 2024 PLAYERS Championship and U.S. Open.

The top 30 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List earned PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season. Joining Kohles on next year’s tour will be former Cavalier Jimmy Stanger, who placed 15th in the Tour’s final points standings.

The 33-year-old Kohles earned his PGA TOUR membership for the second time in three seasons and the third time in his career (previously graduated 2012, 2020-21).

This year he had a pair of tour wins which came 28 days apart in April – Astara Chile Classic and the HomeTown Lenders Championship.

Kohles competed at UVA from 2008 to 2012. He set a school record for career wins (seven) and twice earned Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year recognition (2010 – co-winner with Brooks Koepka – and 2011).

The native of Cary, N.C., he turned professional in 2012 and became the first player (and remains the only player) in Korn Ferry Tour history to win his first two starts, as he won back-to-back weeks at the 2012 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and Cox Classic.

Kohles now resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where he plays and practices out of TPC Sawgrass.

Stanger earned his first PGA TOUR card off the strength of his first career Korn Ferry Tour win at the Compliance Solutions Championships. As a Cavalier, Stanger won three events during his UVA career (2013-17) and was the medalist at the 2017 ACC Championships.

At Sunday’s season-ending Korn Ferry Championship, Kohles tied for sixth while Stanger was 30th. Former Cavalier Thomas Walsh was 10th at the event. He was 54th on the points list. As a result, he is exempt to Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry AND fully exempt on Korn Ferry Tour for next season.