The Club at Weston Hills in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., hosted a PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Qualifying Tournament earlier this year. (Courtesy of The Club at Weston Hills).
Elevated purse courtesy of BMW of Pembroke Pines greets players
CONTACT: Laury Livsey, PGA TOUR
904-525-5538 / [email protected]
STORY BY: Staff, PGA TOUR Staff
October 6, 2020
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida—The final full-field event of the 2020 LOCALiQ Series season has arrived, with 144 players gathering here in South Florida for the Classic at The Club at Weston Hills. This is the seventh event of the year, with the top-78 players on the points standings at the tournament’s conclusion qualifying for the LOCALiQ Series Championship. That tournament, originally scheduled for Paradise Island, Bahamas, moved to TPC Sugarloaf in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth in mid-November. COVID-19 issues at the Bahamas border and governmental restrictions for those trying to enter the country forced LOCALiQ Series officials to make the change.
The Classic at The Club at Weston Hills features an elevated purse of $125,000 vs. the traditional $100,000. The additional money is courtesy of BMW of Pembroke Pines, giving players their best money-making opportunity of the season. The winner will receive $20,000. All other LOCALiQ Series tournaments this year have paid the champion $16,000. In addition, this is the final event of the three-tournament Arcis Golf Florida Swing that will reward the two top points-earners at the three Sunshine State tournaments with $7,500 and $2,500, respectively. The Arcis Golf Florida Swing began at the Jacksonville Championship, continued last week in Lady Lake, at The Challenge at Harbor Hills and concludes this week. Carson Young currently holds a 13.667-point lead over No. 2 Toni Hakula. Young won the Jacksonville Championship, while Hakula broke through last week for the win in Lady Lake.
ARCIS GOLF FLORIDA SWING STANDINGS
Through The Challenge at Harbor Hills
| Pos. | Player (Home Tour) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carson Young (Mackenzie Tour) | 563.667 |
| 2 | Toni Hakula (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 550.000 |
| 3 | Cole Miller (Mackenzie Tour) | 308.333 |
| 4 | David Pastore (Mackenzie Tour) | 252.250 |
| 5 | Rowin Caron (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 245.000 |
| T6 | Jorge Fernández-Valdés (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 208.333 |
| T6 | Kyle Wilshire (Mackenzie Tour) | 208.333 |
| 8 | Chris O’Neill (Mackenzie Tour) | 182.500 |
| 9 | Michael Johnson (Mackenzie Tour) | 133.250 |
| 10 | Camilo Aguado (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 129.500 |
Not in the field this week is overall season points leader Bryson Nimmer. The two-time winner received an invitation to play in this week’s Korn Ferry Tour tournament in Orlando, the Orange County National Championship by virtue of winning the Southern Company Swing as the best player in the LOCALiQ Series’ first four tournaments. Young also trails Nimmer in the points standings and can significantly close the gap. However Young can’t catch Nimmer this week, with 500 points going to the winner and Nimmer still maintaining a 671.033-point advantage over Young. The top-two finishers on the points standings earn 2021 PGA TOUR tournament invitations.
SEASON-LONG POINTS STANDINGS
Through The Challenge at Harbor Hills
| Pos. | Player (Home Tour) | Points | Previous Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryson Nimmer (Mackenzie Tour) | 1,419.000 | 1 |
| 2 | Carson Young (Mackenzie Tour) | 747.967 | 2 |
| 3 | Toni Hakula (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 664.500 | 21 |
| 4 | Hayden Shieh (Mackenzie Tour) | 640.000 | 3 |
| 5 | Stoney Crouch (Mackenzie Tour) | 552.333 | 4 |
| 6 | Cooper Musselman (Mackenzie Tour) | 509.500 | 5 |
| 7 | David Pastore (Mackenzie Tour) | 472.150 | 6 |
| 8 | Alex Smalley (Mackenzie Tour) | 412.000 | 7 |
| 9 | Cole Miller (Mackenzie Tour) | 356.083 | 24 |
| 10 | Rowin Caron (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 337.417 | 8 |
Another battle will ensue among those just inside and outside the top-78 as they try to qualify for the 72-hole, season-ending LOCALiQ Series Championship. Korn Ferry Tour player Will Grimmer currently holds down the 78th and final position going into this week’s tournament. He will likely drop as he is not playing this week.
Despite not winning either of the last two weeks, Cole Miller may be the hottest player going. The former Penn State player tied for fourth at the Jacksonville Championship two weeks ago and then missed a birdie putt on the 54th hole last Friday at Harbor Hills that would have forced a playoff with Hakula. Instead, he settled for a tie for second. In his last seven rounds, each Miller score has been in the 60s, his stroke average 66.0.
SEASON-LONG POINTS STANDINGS, NO. 70-85
Through The Challenge at Harbor Hills
| Pos. | Player (Home Tour) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | Myles Creighton (PGA TOUR Series-China) | 77.233 |
| 71 | Ryan Snouffer (Mackenzie Tour) | 69.076 |
| 72 | Chris Wiatr (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 68.850 |
| 73 | Trey Shirley (Mackenzie Tour) | 68.821 |
| 74 | Steven Chervony (Mackenzie Tour) | 68.375 |
| 75 | Chandler Eaton (Korn Ferry Tour) | 64.375 |
| 76 | Byron Meth (Korn Ferry Tour) | 63.667 |
| 77 | Michael Feuerstein (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 63.321 |
| 78 | Will Grimmer (Korn Ferry Tour) | 60.000 |
| 79 | Andy Zhang (Mackenzie Tour) | 56.656 |
| 80 | AJ Crouch (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 55.356 |
| 81 | Akshay Bhatia (No Tour Affiliation) | 54.167 |
| Aaron Terrazas (Korn Ferry Tour) | 54.167 | |
| 83 | Peyton White (Korn Ferry Tour) | 52.560 |
| 84 | Shotaro Ban (PGA TOUR Series-China) | 50.000 |
| Horacio Leon (Korn Ferry Tour) | 50.000 |
About LOCALiQ Series
The PGA TOUR established the LOCALiQ Series in 2020 to give playing opportunities to members of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Series-China. The LOCALiQ Series is a set of seven 54-hole events played in the Southeastern U.S. (Georgia, Alabama and Florida), with the culminating 72-hole, limited-field tournament held at TPC Sugarloaf in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth. LOCALiQ, the sales and marketing arm of Gannett Co., Inc., and the Official Digital Marketing Services Firm of the PGA TOUR, is committed to the communities in its network and helping them build relationships with their local businesses.
