Braden Thornberry’s can’t-miss label that he carried into professional golf in 2018 slowly eroded over time, the PGA Tour a moving target for him, until one remarkable week culminated with his victory in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship on Sunday.

The victory, the first of his professional career, allowed him to jump from 51st to 16th in the Korn Ferry Tour standings, with the top 30 earning PGA Tour cards.

“It’s amazing,” he said, unable to keep his emotions in check and wiping away tears. “I played good all year, and just hadn’t quite got it to work out for me. For this to all come together today is just special.

“It’s a weird thing, because it’s getting my first pro win as well as getting to the PGA Tour. I worked so hard to get here. A lot of stuff hasn’t quite gone my way over the last five years or so. To finally have something go my way and to play well at the right time is just amazing.”

Thornberry, 27, was once No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He won the prestigious Haskins Award given to the top college player while at the University of Mississippi in 2017 and won 10 college tournaments. In 2017, a 20-year-old playing in the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Classic as an amateur, Thornberry introduced himself to the golf world at large by tying for fourth.

He was unable to live up to the hype, however, and has been chasing a PGA Tour card since, finally earning one on Sunday. His rounds of 71-72-70-66 on the Pete Dye Course at French Lick (Ind.) Golf Resort, a 72-hole score of nine-under 279, gave him a one-stroke victory over Alistair Docherty, Doc Redman and Brian Campbell. Of those three, only Campbell earned a promotion to the PGA Tour by finishing seventh in the KFT standings.

Among other notable players to earn the PGA Tour promotion were Matt McCarty, who won three KFT events and finished first in points, former PGA Tour pro Henry Higgs and former Pepperdine star William Mouw. Among notable players to fail to earn their tour cards were Sam Bennett, the 2022 U.S. Amateur champion, who was low amateur in the 2023 Masters, finishing tied for 16th, and Doc Redman, the 2017 U.S. Amateur champion. Redman made double bogey on the 15th hole Sunday and a bogey on the 17th before closing with a birdie to tie for second place. Alistair Docherty ended the week in a three-way tie for second place. A two-way tie for second would’ve given him tour status for 2025.

Here are the 30 players who earned PGA Tour cards

1. Matt McCarty

2. Max McGreevy

3. Frankie Capan III

4. Steven Fisk

5. Tim Widing

6. Taylor Dickson

7. Brian Campbell

8. Henry Higgs

9. Thomas Rosenmueller

10. William Mouw

11. Quade Cummins

12. Ryan Gerard

13. Kevin Roy

14. Christobal Del Solar

15. Kevin Velo

16. Braden Thornberry

17. Paul Peterson

18. Isaiah Salinda

19. Karl Vilips

20. Jackson Suber

21. Jeremy Paul

22. Mason Anderson

23. John Pak

24. Kris Ventura

25. Kaito Onishi

26. Ricky Castillo

27. Trevor Cone

28. Danny Walker

29. Aldrich Potgieter

30. Noah Goodwin

First five out

1. Sam Bennett

2. Alistair Docherty

3. Trent Phillips

4. Zach Banchou

5. Trey Winstead

Main Image: Mike Mulholland