John Chidley-Hill/ Canadian Press
Canadians Etienne Papineau and Myles Creighton have already observed that the fields on the Korn Ferry Tour are deeper than the occasions they’re used to enjoying. However they’re hanging in there two tournaments into the second-tier circuit’s season.
Papineau and Creighton are within the Korn Ferry Tour’s high 30 getting into The Panama Championship this week, after incomes their manner onto the circuit from the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada.
Papineau, who’s twenty fifth on the factors record, mentioned though there are nice gamers on the third tier of males’s skilled golf, it’s obvious that everybody is a wonderful participant on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“I really feel like every participant can win at any time, to be trustworthy,” mentioned Papineau from Membership de Golf de Panama in Panama Metropolis on Wednesday. “Each participant is absolutely good. I imply, they’re all right here for a similar cause: to get their PGA Tour card.”
Creighton gained the PGA Tour Latinoamerica’s Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship in Colombia final season and completed second total in that circuit’s order of advantage to maneuver as much as the Korn Ferry Tour. He agreed with Papineau that the Latinoamerica and Canada Excursions — now merged into the PGA Tour Americas beginning this yr — had stable gamers on the high of their rankings however have been extra inconsistent down the standings.
“I feel if you happen to ran a PGA Tour Americas occasion on the programs that we performed within the final two weeks, I feel the successful rating could be very related,” mentioned Creighton. “It’s simply possibly to complete twentieth or twenty fifth is sort of a couple photographs higher, or to make a reduce, it’s very marginally completely different.
“You develop with it, as properly. You don’t have a tendency to note that the competitors is a bit more durable, since you’re changing into a greater participant and also you’re adapting to that.”
Papineau, from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., tied for forty fourth at The Bahamas Nice Exuma Basic on Jan. 17 to begin the yr and adopted that up with a tie for 14th at The Bahamas Nice Abaco Basic on Jan. 24.
Creighton, from Digby, N.S., tied for twenty fifth on the Nice Exuma Basic and adopted that up with a tie for twenty seventh on the Nice Abaco Basic.
Though the way in which he performs his sport stays the identical, Papineau mentioned he’s altering his method off the course.
“I might say in my preparation, I feel I’ll have the ability to be extra cautious with that,” he mentioned. “It’s an extended season than PGA Tour Canada. We have now 25 occasions in the course of the season.
“It begins a lot earlier so I’m going to be enjoying just about all yr up till October.”
Each Canadians are on the Korn Ferry Tour with restricted standing that solely ensures them spots within the first eight occasions of the yr. There might be a reshuffle after the primary 4 tournaments and, in the event that they’re excessive sufficient within the standings, they’ll have their membership prolonged.
In the event that they’re nonetheless within the high 30 on the finish of the yr they’ll earn playing cards on the PGA Tour, the highest males’s golf circuit on the earth.
“It’s so necessary to get off to begin proper from the start,” mentioned Creighton. “You wish to play properly early and put your self in place early to then construct off that. You don’t wish to be enjoying from behind in that sense.
“It simply provides you a bit consolation figuring out that you simply’ve made a reduce, you’ve accumulate a few factors, and also you’re in a great spot to begin the yr.”
Papineau and Creighton might be joined at Membership de Golf de Panama by Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont., Edmonton’s Wil Bateman and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont. Yellamaraju is tied for ninety fifth on the Korn Ferry Tour rankings, whereas Gligic and Bateman have but to play on the second-tier circuit this season.
