Final-Round Notes: Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship

Final-Round Notes – Sunday, August 28, 2022

Course Setup: Ohio State University Golf Club – Scarlet Course (Par 71 / 7,444 yards)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – David Lingmerth drained a 13-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to win the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, capping the first wire-to-wire victory on the Korn Ferry Tour since Cameron Young accomplished the same feat at the 2021 AdventHealth Championship. At the time, Lingmerth’s birdie nudged him one stroke ahead of playing partner Paul Haley II, who ultimately three-putted for bogey and finished at 15-under par.

Lingmerth played the first 36 holes of the week at a record-shattering clip, but followed Saturday’s even-par 71 with a 3-under 68 Sunday at the Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course. Lingmerth’s winning total of 17-under 267 tied the 72-hole tournament scoring record established last year by Adam Svensson.

Three significant swings ultimately determined the final outcome. Haley double bogeyed the par-4 11th, which Lingmerth followed with a birdie at the par-5 12th, giving him a two-stroke lead with six holes to play. The second swing came at the par-3 17th, where Lingmerth found the greenside bunker and could not save par, while Haley poured in a birdie putt from outside 20 feet, leaving the two deadlocked at 16-under par heading to the final hole.

Haley missed the 18th fairway well left, only leaving a shot to the front of the green and a lengthy putt to the back-right hole location. Lingmerth found his 42nd fairway of the week (he led the field in driving accuracy at 75 percent) and hit “a little 8-iron” into the wind from 154 yards to set up the winning putt.

While Haley finished second, he earned enough points to pass Carl Yuan for the No. 1 spot on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Eligibility Points List. The two are separated by less than 30 points with one event remaining. The winner of the season-long points race earns fully exempt status for the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season, a place in the field at the 2023 PLAYERS Championship and, for the first time in history, an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Open.

Any one of the top 16 players on the updated season-long Korn Ferry Tour Eligibility Points List could finish No. 1 with a victory in next week’s season finale.

The three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals and 26-event 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season concludes with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, which begins Thursday, September 1 and finishes Sunday, September 4.

Final-Round Notes

Paul Haley II (2nd / -15) earned his third runner-up finish on the Korn Ferry Tour, all of which have come in the last two seasons

Final-Round Course Statistics

• Scoring Average (Total – Par 71): 70.636 [-0.364]
• Scoring Average (Front Nine – Par 36): 35.623 [-0.377]
• Scoring Average (Back Nine – Par 35): 35.013 [+0.013]
• Toughest Holes: No. 2, Par 4, 472 yards – 4.247 [+0.247] | No. 11, Par 4, 473 yards – 4.247 [+0.247]
• Easiest Hole: No. 4, Par 5, 575 yards – 4.558 [-0.442]

Cumulative Course Statistics

• Scoring Average (Total – Par 71): 70.457 [-0.543]
• Scoring Average (Front Nine – Par 36): 35.581 [-0.419]
• Scoring Average (Back Nine – Par 35): 34.876 [-0.124]
• Toughest Hole: No. 11, Par 4, 473 yards – 4.181 [+0.181]
• Easiest Hole: No. 12, Par 5, 562 yards – 4.406 [-0.594]

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