Home News Wyatt Worthington II Becomes First African American To Win PGA Tournament Series Event Presented By Golf Advisor

Wyatt Worthington II Becomes First African American To Win PGA Tournament Series Event Presented By Golf Advisor

by Debert Cook

wyatt-worthington_600x350By CRAIG DOLCH, Special to PGA of America

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Nov. 29, 2016) – Wyatt Worthington II doesn’t just want to make birdies, he wants to make history.

 

Worthington did both Tuesday, shooting another 2-under 70 to win Event No. 1 of the PGA Tournament Series by two shots at PGA Golf Club.

 

The 29-year-old Worthington is believed to be the first African American to win a PGA Tournament Series event. Earlier this year, he became the second African American club professional to qualify for the PGA Championship.




 

“It’s a great moment in my life,” Worthington said. “This is one of the goals I wanted to achieve, and I’m fortunate I got it on the first try (this year).”

 

Worthington was 3-under through 12 holes on the Wanamaker Course before his only blemish, a bogey on the par-5 13th. He closed with five pars to win by two shots over four players.

 

Worthington, who teaches in the winter at famed Seminole Golf Club and works at the Golf Depot at Central Park in Gahanna, Ohio, earned $5,000 for the victory.

 

“I didn’t putt as well as yesterday, but I focused on giving myself as many opportunities as I could,” Worthington said. “It was a grind coming in, but I’m proud of how I played under pressure.”

 



Nick Beddow of Shirley, N.Y. shot the low round of the tournament, a 5-under 67, to share second place with Zac Oakley (71) of Palm City, Fla., Rod Perry (70) of Port Orange, Fla., and Jeff Sorenson (70) of Blaine, Minn. Beddow had a 5-under 31 on the front nine.

 

“I dunked a bunker shot on No. 1 (for birdie) and that got me some momentum,” said Beddow, who closed the front nine with eagle-birdie-birdie. “Unfortunately, I three-putted the last hole for a bogey.”

 

The conditions weren’t as difficult as Monday’s first round, when nobody in the 69-player field broke 70.

 

The last four months have been somewhat of a blur for Worthington, who gained national attention when he qualified for the PGA Championship at Baltusrol by finishing fifth in the PGA Professional Championship. Tom Woodard in 1991 was the first African American club professional to qualify for the PGA Championship.

 

“It’s definitely been a whirlwind,” Worthington said. “I didn’t think little ol’ me from Reynoldsburg, Ohio would be playing in a PGA Championship and have that type of impact on the culture of the industry.

“From here on out, my only goal is to affect others with positive energy and try to lead my example.”

 

The PGA Tournament Series, which consists of six events, is presented by Golf Advisor. Event No. 2 is Thursday and Friday.

 

Tuesday’s final-round results from Event No. 1 of the PGA Tournament Series at the 6,971-yard Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.:

 

Results for Round 2
Place Player Total to Par Today Prior R1 R2 Score
1 WORTHINGTON, Wyatt -4 -2 -2 70 70 140
T2 BEDDOW, Nicholas -2 -5 3 75 67 142
T2 PERRY, Rod -2 -2 E 72 70 142
T2 SORENSON, Jeff -2 -2 E 72 70 142
T2 OAKLEY, Zac -2 -1 -1 71 71 142
T6 SCHULLER, Rick -1 -3 2 74 69 143
T6 JOO, Yong -1 -2 1 73 70 143
T6 LABRITZ, Rob -1 -1 E 72 71 143
T9 LEWIS, Danny E -3 3 75 69 144
T9 SOWARDS, Bob E -2 2 74 70 144
T9 URESTI, Omar E -1 1 73 71 144
T9 FILLER, Nathalie E E E 72 72 144
T9 TERGA, Richard E 2 -2 70 74 144
T14 POLLAND, Ben 1 -3 4 76 69 145
T14 VERMEER, Ryan 1 -1 2 74 71 145
T14 MCALARNEY, Corey 1 E 1 73 72 145
T14 WONNELL, Clayton 1 E 1 73 72 145
T14 HIGGINS, Kyle 1 2 -1 71 74 145
T14 MATTHIAS, Greg 1 2 -1 71 74 145
T20 CORRIGAN, Colin 2 -4 6 78 68 146
T20 DOBBS, Kyle 2 E 2 74 72 146
T20 CORCORAN, Rob 2 2 E 72 74 146
T23 PAPADOPOULOS, Ari 3 -1 4 76 71 147
T23 SANDERS, Derek 3 E 3 75 72 147
T23 SHIFLET, Andrew 3 -3 6 78 69 147
T23 BALLO, Peter 3 3 E 72 75 147
T27 ST. CHARLES, Kent 4 E 4 76 72 148
T27 SCHMID, Jeffrey 4 -1 5 77 71 148
T27 BENSEL, Frank 4 -1 5 77 71 148
T27 DELMAR, Steven 4 -2 6 78 70 148
T27 WEINHART, Tim 4 4 E 72 76 148
T27 KONKOWSKI, C.J. 4 5 -1 71 77 148
T33 GIAMPAOLO, James 5 2 3 75 74 149
T33 LATIMER-ZABOR, Nicholas 5 3 2 74 75 149
T33 NORMAN, Brian 5 3 2 74 75 149
36 CHANG, Dakun 6 8 -2 70 80 150
T37 LEE, Daniel 7 2 5 77 74 151
T37 JEWELL, Morgan 7 3 4 76 75 151
T37 KALISTA, Ryan 7 5 2 74 77 151
T37 NOEL, Matt 7 5 2 74 77 151
T37 FENTON, Robert 7 E 7 79 72 151
T37 GAUGERT, Austin 7 -1 8 80 71 151
T43 RACKLEY, Joshua 9 5 4 76 77 153
T43 DULLY, Frank 9 3 6 78 75 153
T43 SCHMITT, Phil 9 3 6 78 75 153
T43 BERBERIAN, Rich 9 2 7 79 74 153
T47 ENGLISH, Kyle 10 4 6 78 76 154
T47 NIELSEN, Lon 10 4 6 78 76 154
T49 MELTON, Brett 11 8 3 75 80 155
T49 JOHNSON, Chip 11 5 6 78 77 155
T49 PROBEN, Joshua 11 5 6 78 77 155
T49 BAEHLER, Kyle 11 4 7 79 76 155
T49 WARREN, Shawn 11 1 10 82 73 155
T54 POWERS, Shaun 12 8 4 76 80 156
T54 CLEAVER, Thomas 12 5 7 79 77 156
T54 RICHBOURG, Gregg 12 2 10 82 74 156
T57 LUCKO, Tommy 13 7 6 78 79 157
T57 RANDALL, Dwayne 13 5 8 80 77 157
T57 MCCLIMANS, Gregory 13 4 9 81 76 157
T60 DENNY, Richard 14 10 4 76 82 158
T60 FUREY, Mike 14 2 12 84 74 158
T62 HAND, Sean 15 3 12 84 75 159
T62 FRITZ, Joshua 15 3 12 84 75 159
T64 MASSI, Patrick 16 7 9 81 79 160
T64 SINGLETARY, Josiah 16 7 9 81 79 160
T64 SWEENEY, Michael 16 4 12 84 76 160
67 EASTON, Erik 18 9 9 81 81 162
Click here to access the leaderboard for Event No. 1 of the PGA Tournament Series




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