Duluth native Seth Reeves became the third former Georgia Tech golfer to earn a PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 season when he scored back-to-back top-5 finishes in the Web.com Tour Finals.
Reeves collected $77,900, more than enough to guarantee him a spot among the top 25 from the Finals money list that will determine the 25 players advancing to the PGA Tour for the next season, which begins in a month.
Anders Albertson, Reeves’ Georgia Tech teammate, and former Yellow Jacket Roberto Castro, who played six years on the PGA Tour before losing his status after the 2017 season, both finished in the top 25 on the regular season money list to earn spots on the 2018-19 PGA Tour.
Reeves, who is living in Suwanee, needed strong showings in the last two events of the regular season to finish among the top 75 on the money list and qualify for the Web.com Finals. He opened with a 63 in an event in northern California and went on to tie for fourth, and closed with a 65 the next week in Portland to tie for 16th.
He began the tournament in California just outside the top 75 on the money list, but moved up to 66th after his clutch finish in the final two events of the regular season. Reeves placed 60th on the money list year, his first on the Web.com Tour, but after a solid showing in the first of four Finals events, missed the cut in the next three tournaments and finished well outside the top 25 on the Finals money list.
After tying for 10th in his first Web.com start of 2018, Reeves did not have another top-15 finish until his recent stretch of three top 5s in a 4-week span.
In the Finals opener, Reeves moved into contention with a third round 65 on the demanding Ohio State course in Columbus, matching the low round of the tournament. He held his position the final day with a 71, tying for fifth, three shots out of a playoff that included two players who have both won on the PGA Tour.
The next week at Canterbury GC outside Cleveland, Reeves closed with scores of 67-67-66 to tie for fourth and earn his PGA Tour card for 2018-19. With two events left in the Finals, Reeves is sixth on the money list, and if he can hold his position, would be among the top 12 on the 50-player priority list that will determine eligibility for tournaments at the outset of the 2018-19 season.
Reeves was part of a Georgia Tech that included Albertson and current PGA Tour members Ollie Schniederjans and Richy Werenski. The Yellow Jackets qualified for match play in the NCAA Championship during Reeves’ junior and senior seasons, but were unable to capture what would have been the school’s first golf championship.
Albertson, also in his second season on the Web.com Tour, finished the regular season eighth in earnings with a victory in Illinois, and has maintained his position among the 25 players who have already clinched PGA Tour cards for 2018-19. He tied for ninth in Cleveland, shooting a final round 63, the same score he shot on Sunday to win the event in Springfield. Albertson grew up in Woodstock and is living in Alpharetta.
Castro, who grew up in Alpharetta and is living in Atlanta, earned his return to the PGA Tour by placing 24th on the regular season money list, but elected not to play in the first three Finals events. Even if he finishes at or near the bottom of the priority list, he is likely to get into all five domestic PGA Tour events in the Fall, and if he plays well in them, will improve his priority status before the tour resumes its schedule in January on the West Coast.
The third Georgia resident who earned his 2018-19 PGA Tour card by placing in the top 25 on the Web.com money list is recent UGA golfer Joey Garber, who is living on St. Simons Island. Garber won a tournament in Raleigh and finished the season 19th in earnings. After the first two Finals events, he has dropped to 22nd among the 25.
Leading the way among the Georgia golfers competing for a spot on next season’s PGA Tour is former Augusta State standout Henrik Norlander, who is 20th on the Finals money list after two of four tournaments. Norlander, who has settled in Augusta, was 32nd in earnings on the season and tied for first in the Finals opener in Columbus.
Just outside the top 25 at the midway point of the Finals is former Georgia Bulldog Erik Compton, who comes into this week’s event in Boise in 26th place, $200 behind the player in 25th. Compton is a veteran Web.com member who played from 2012-16 on the PGA Tour. He was 59th on the Web.com money list this season, and tied for 14th in the Finals opener.
PGA Tour veteran Jonathan Byrd is 43rd on the Finals list after tying for 30th in Columbus with a final round 65. Byrd earned a return to the PGA Tour this past season with a strong showing in the Web.com Finals last year and will need to repeat that effort in the next two weeks. The St. Simons resident was 181st in the FedExCup standings in the 2017-18 season.
Alpharetta’s Billy Kennerly, who was 45th on the regular season Web.com money list, is 47th in the Finals after tying for 32nd in Cleveland. Kennerly, who played his college golf at Clemson, has played the past two seasons on the Web.com Tour.
Former Clayton State golfer Willy Wilcox, who won a Web.com event in Valdosta several years ago and has played on the PGA Tour, is 50th in the Finals after making the cut in the first two events. He was 37th during the regular season.
Sepp Straka, a recent UGA golfer, won a Web.com event this season in Kansas City and finished the season 31st in earnings. He is 69th in the finals with a tie for 51st and a missed cut. Straka, a native of Austria, attended high school in Valdosta and is living in Athens.
Cameron Tringale, who played his college golf at Georgia Tech and has played on the PGA Tout the last nine years, is 71st in the Finals after the worst season of his career, finishing 195th in the FedExCup.
Suwanee resident David Skinns won on the Web.com Tour this season in Omaha and ended up 41st on the money list, but did not make the cut in either of the first two Finals tournaments.
St. Simons resident Michael Thompson missed the first two Finals cuts, but after finishing 142nd in the FedExCup standings, will have partial status on the PGA Tour in 2018-19 if he does not finosn in the top 25.
Swainsboro native Will Claxton returned to action this year after being sidelined due to a hip injury since early in the 2014 season. Claxton played five PGA Tour events and four on the Web.com Tour, with his highlight a tie for 8th in the Web.com event in Knoxville. Claxton, who played two full seasons on the PGA Tour in 2012 and ’13, will still have some starts left on his medical extension next season if he does not regain his status in the Finals. He missed the cuts in the two events in Ohio.