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Here is a look at the four players who qualified for the Vivint Houston Open. The last two spots were decided in a four-player playoff.
QUALIFIERS
Erik Barnes (63)
Age: 33
College: Austin Peay
Turned pro: 2011
PGA TOUR starts: 0
Twitter: @ebarnesgolf10
Q&A
PGATOUR.COM: Shooting 63 to earn a spot in your first PGA TOUR event, where does this rank among the competitive rounds you have played?
Barnes: It’s definitely up there. It’s really exciting. I’ve done some Monday qualifiers and I’ve missed so many by one or in a playoff. I knew I was playing good, though. When the Korn Ferry Tour season ended, I had some fun, did some casual golf, just kind of relaxed. I committed late (to the Monday qualifier) at first. I wasn’t going to go. The (Korn Ferry Tour) season was over, I was home in Florida and I just wasn’t going to go. I decided to commit last Sunday. I had been playing solid-ish. Played really well Saturday. I shot a really low score. Some of the guys in that game said, “Glad you are going to Houston.” It ranks up there for sure. It’s going to be a new experience.
PGATOUR.COM: You worked at a grocery store during the hiatus in the season, but even coming out of the break you didn’t have great status on the Korn Ferry Tour. This has been some six months or so hasn’t it?
Barnes: It really has. The hard part for me was being patient. I knew how well I was playing. From December of 2019 until the end of the COVID (hiatus), I was just playing really well. I had played three of the first eight events and I made every cut. I knew when the season got started again, I could make things happen and I did. The first two events I got into after the break, I was in contention. Then I went to San Antonio and actually played five holes at the Monday qualifier before they pulled me off the course. I think I was the last person in the field that week. Then the re-shuffle came, and I just kept it going. (Barnes is 49th on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points list.)
PGATOUR.COM: With the solid Korn Ferry season this year, does this make playing in this event sort of a “nothing to lose” situation?
Barnes: I really don’t have anything to lose. What is the worst-case scenario? I miss the cut. I’ve missed plenty of cuts in my life. It will be fine. I hope to, and expect to, play the weekend. If I continue to play the way I am playing, I will play the weekend. I’m not going into this event hoping I just make the cut; I promise you that. But it is a huge relief knowing I have a job for next year.
Bronson Burgoon (63)
Age: 33
College: Texas A&M
Turned pro: 2010
PGA TOUR starts: 95
PGA TOUR earnings: $3.2 Million
Twitter: N/A
Notes: Has played in three PGA TOUR events in the new season and has made one cut … Made nine of 19 cuts in previous season with a best finish of T6 at the Sanderson Farms Championship … Has five career top-10s in his PGA TOUR career, including two runners-up … Hit a wedge shot within inches of the hole to beat Andrew Landry, 1 up, in the final match of the 2009 NCAA Championship to clinch the national title for Texas A&M … Was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.
Sam Fidone (67, via 4-for-2 playoff)
Age: 27
College: SMU
Turned Pro: 2013
PGA TOUR starts: 1
PGA TOUR earnings: $0
Twitter: @SamFidone
Notes: Has wins on both the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica … Had a stretch on the All-Pro Tour in 2018 where he won four of six event and finished second in another … Has seven career wins on the All-Pro Tour … His only other PGA TOUR start was at the 2018 RBC Canadian Open, where he missed the cut.
Isaiah Salinda
Age: 23
College: Stanford
Turned Pro: 2019
PGA TOUR starts: 6
PGA TOUR earnings: $63,225
Twitter: @Isaiah_salinda
Notes: Was ranked as high as 11th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings before turning pro … Was a member of the United States’ 2019 Walker Cup team and a second-team All-American that year … Helped Stanford win the NCAA Championship as a senior when he averaged 70.82 for the season … Won 2018 Pacific Coast Amateur at Olympic Club and was semifinalist in 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach … Monday qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour’s San Antonio Challenge at Canyons where he missed the cut … Best PGA TOUR finish is T33 in his pro debut at the 2019 Safeway Open … Had a runner-up finish on the LOCALiQ Series this year.
NOTES
NOTABLE MISSES: Brian Richey 67 (playoff), Sebastian Vazquez 67 (playoff) Brandon Wu 69, MJ Daffue 70, Spencer Levin 71, Sahith Theegala 71
COURSE INFO
Name of course: Woodforest Golf Club, 6,937 yards, 73.5 rating, 136 slope
2019-2020 SEASON MONDAY QUALIFIER STATS
Average Medalist score: 64.0
Average last qualifying spot score: 66.5
Total number of cuts made: 17 of 73 (23.2%)
Most recent results (Bermuda Open): Michael Miller T49, Danny Walker MC, Seth Reeves MC
Money earned: $658,630
Best Finish: MJ Daffue T12, Sanderson Farms
NEXT MONDAY QUALIFIER
RSM Classic: Brunswick Country Club, Nov. 16.
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Source: PGA tour