THE FLATS – Paul Haley II and Anders Albertson are making return trips to the PGA Tour after both finishing among the top 25 in points during the Korn Ferry Tour’s regular season just concluded on Sunday. Though both players missed the cut at the season finale, the Pinnacle Bank Championship, Haley stood No. 3 on the points list and Albertson grabbed the 25th and final spot.
Both players will be making a second foray into the top level of professional golf. Albertson was a full member in the 2018-19 season, while Haley returns for the first time since 2013.
A decade after earning his first PGA TOUR card via the 2012 Korn Ferry Tour regular season, the Georgia Tech alumcompleted the arc, rebounding from a mini-tour stint in his mid-20s and earning a Tour return with a win and runner-up this season. Haley, 34, won the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS in mid-July, exactly 3,780 days since his maiden victory at the 2012 Chile Classic. The Dallas, Texas native has worked with famed instructor Randy Smith, also known for his work with Justin Leonard and Scottie Scheffler, since age 8, and was a youth baseball teammate of Clayton Kershaw and Matthew Stafford.
“I feel amazing,” said Haley on returning to the PGA Tour. “I’ll be playing at the highest level, so what else could you ask for? This is what you dream about. I’m so excited.”
Previously graduated via the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour regular season, the 29-year-old earned his second career win at the Visit Knoxville Open. He held on to one of the last available PGA Tour cards despite a missed cut at the regular season finale, spending much of Sunday’s final round of the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna doing yardwork at home while awaiting the results. Albertson, a native of Woodstock, Ga., has three other top-12 finishes this season.
“Leaving the Tour in 2019, it went so poorly in spring and summer, and after playing this game for 20 years, I wanted to have another chance to play where I felt I could be myself and be calm and believe that I can do it,” said Albertson reflecting on his return to the PGA Tour. ”It was my goal to be able to get back to experience that again.”
The 25 TOUR card recipients will carry over points to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, where positions will be finalized for the priority ranking used to set TOUR fields each week. An additional 25 PGA TOUR cards will be awarded following the conclusion of the three-event Finals.
The second set of 25 cards will be based on points earned solely in the Finals, which begin this week.
- August 18-21 — Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron (Boise, Idaho)
- August 25-28 — Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (Columbus, Ohio)
- September 1-4 — Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance (Newburgh, Indiana)