FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2022
Standout field includes Korn Ferry Tour players with strong area ties
GLENVIEW, Ill. – The road to the PGA TOUR runs through the Chicago suburbs this week, as the best players on the Korn Ferry Tour visit The Glen Club for the 2022 NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank on May 26-29.
Headlining the 156-player field are three of the top five players in the Korn Ferry Tour’s season-long standings: Carl Yuan, Seonghyeon Kim and Byeong Hun An. The top 25 players at the end of the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2021-22 season will earn PGA TOUR cards. Yuan and Kim have both earned more than 900 points this season to secure their PGA TOUR card for next year. An is just 10 points away from the 900-point threshold. Yuan and An are both looking for their second win of the season. Players who win three times in a season earn an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR.
The field is full of players who have competed in – and even won – other Western Golf Association championships. Dylan Meyer won the 2016 Western Amateur, while Sam Stevens (2018) and Davis Thompson (2019) were stroke-play medalists at the Western Amateur. Kevin Yu (2015) and Cody Gribble (2007) are past Western Junior champions.
Several players with ties to the state of Illinois are in this week’s field, including Nick Hardy (Northbrook), Vince India (Deerfield), Theo Humphrey (Chicago), Tee-K Kelly (Wheaton), Brad Hopfinger (Lake Forest), Bryce Emory (Aurora), Luke Guthrie (Quincy), Patrick Flavin (Highwood), Anthony Albano Jr. (Park Ridge) and David Perkins (East Peoria). India enters the week at No. 50 in the Korn Ferry Tour standings, while Humphrey is No. 99, Kelly is No. 109, Hopfinger is No. 115, Emory is No. 172 and Guthrie is No. 182.
Hardy, who earned his PGA TOUR card last year, is playing on the Korn Ferry Tour this week as he works his way back from an injury. He held a share of the lead after the first round of the 2021 NV5 Invitational, thrilling huge crowds at The Glen Club before finishing in a tie for fifth.
Meyer, Flavin and Guthrie received sponsor exemptions, along with former college standout Austin Eckroat (Oklahoma State). Flavin, 26, has made a name for himself by Monday qualifying for three PGA TOUR events this year – the Bermuda Championship, the Puerto Rico Open and the Mexico Open. He also received sponsor exemptions at the AT&T Byron Nelson and John Deere Classic on the PGA TOUR.
Players with in-state collegiate ties include Meyer, Guthrie and Michael Feagles, all Illinois alumni, and Emory (Northern Illinois), Albano Jr. (Illinois Wesleyan) and Perkins (Illinois State). Albano Jr. and Perkins are both making their first Korn Ferry Tour start after advancing through the Monday qualifier.
All three of the NV5 Invitational’s past champions are now playing on the PGA TOUR. Scottie Scheffler beat Marcelo Rozo – who is in the field this week – in a playoff in the inaugural event in 2019. Scheffler has won three times on the PGA TOUR this year, including the 2022 Masters, and is the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking. Curtis Thompson won the 2020 event at Chicago Highlands Club, and Cameron Young became the first player since 2013 to win back-to-back events on the Korn Ferry Tour when he won at The Glen Club in 2021. Young has five top-three finishes on the PGA TOUR this year, including at last week’s PGA Championship.
All proceeds from the 2022 NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank will benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation and its efforts to send caddies to college on full tuition and housing scholarships. There are 1,070 Evans Scholars attending 21 leading universities nationwide this year, and 11,556 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since 1930.
This is the event’s first year with new title sponsor NV5 after NV5, the WGA and Korn Ferry Tour announced a five-year partnership in September 2021. With more than 100 offices around the world, NV5 is a leading provider of compliance, technology, engineering and environmental consulting solutions.
Old National Bank is in the second year of a four-year presenting sponsorship agreement. Old National Bank will host a junior clinic during championship week while also supporting the Evans Scholars Foundation’s career services program, a resource that prepares Evans Scholars to launch successful careers after graduation.
For ticket, hospitality, and spectator information, visit www.nv5invitational.com.
About The Western Golf Association
The Western Golf Association conducts six national golf championships and sponsors the nationally acclaimed Evans Scholars Foundation. Headquartered in Glenview, Illinois, the organization was founded in 1899 by 11 Chicago-area golf clubs to promote their interests in golf. In addition to the BMW Championship on the PGA TOUR and the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank on the Korn Ferry Tour, the WGA conducts four prestigious amateur championships, the Western Amateur, the Western Junior, and the Women’s Western Golf Association’s Amateur and Junior championships.
About The Evans Scholars Foundation
Established by the Western Golf Association and famed amateur golfer Charles Chick Evans Jr., the Evans Scholars Foundation provides full housing and tuition scholarships to high-achieving caddies across the country. Currently, a record 1,045 caddies are enrolled in 19 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars. The Program, which is supported by the WGA, is funded by contributions from more than 33,500 Par Club members, including Evans Scholars Alumni, as well as proceeds from the BMW Championship. Since the Program’s inception in 1930, more than 11,320 caddies nationwide have graduated as Evans Scholars. To learn more, visit www.wgaesf.org.
About The Korn Ferry Tour
Founded (1990), owned and operated by the PGA TOUR, the Korn Ferry Tour identifies and develops golf’s next stars, preparing them to compete and win on the game’s biggest stage. The Korn Ferry Tour, which has served as a path to the PGA TOUR since its inception, began providing 50 PGA TOUR cards annually in 2013. Each season, the top 25 players secure PGA TOUR cards via the Korn Ferry Tour’s regular season and an additional 25 players secure promotion through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. With more than 550 PGA TOUR titles and 24 major championships, Korn Ferry Tour alumni make up over 75 percent of the PGA TOUR’s current membership. To learn more about the PGA TOUR, the Korn Ferry Tour and to follow the season-long quest for a PGA TOUR card, visit PGATOUR.COM, or follow the Tour on social media via Instagram (@KornFerryTour), Twitter (@KornFerryTour) and Facebook (facebook.com/KornFerryTour).
About NV5
NV5 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVEE) is a provider of compliance, technology, engineering, and environmental consulting solutions for public and private sector clients supporting sustainable infrastructure, utility, and building assets and systems. The Company focuses on multiple verticals: testing, inspection & consulting, infrastructure, utility services, buildings & program management, environmental health sciences, and geospatial technology services to deliver innovative, sustainable solutions to complex issues and improve lives in our communities. NV5 operates out of more than 100 offices nationwide and abroad. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.NV5.com. Also visit the Company on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact:
John Borneman
Senior Director, Communications
Western Golf Association
224-260-3772
borneman@wgaesf.org