By Robert Wilson
By late Sunday afternoon, Jackson Academy alumnus Wilson Furr could have his PGA Tour card.
Furr is in 32nd place in the points list on the Korn Ferry Tour and needs to finish in the Top 30 to get his PGA Tour card for next season.
Furr tees off at 8:33 a.m. Thursday in the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana, the final event of this season. He is paired with Carter Jenkins (No. 26 on the points list) and Mason Andersen (No. 42 on the points list). There are 73 players in the four-round event, which doesn’t have a cut. All four rounds will be shown on the Golf Channel, 1-3 p.m. Central Thursday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Central Friday and Saturday and 12-3 p.m. Central Sunday. Keep up with Furr’s progress at pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour.
Furr has 789 points, 11 points behind No. 30 Jackson Suber. There are only 34 points separating No. 26 from No. 33.
Getting a PGA Tour card is a huge deal, especially in prize money. There are 124 players on the PGA Tour who have earned at least $1 million so far this year. In comparison, the No. 1 player in prize money on the Korn Ferry Tour (Ben Kohles) has earned $647,355. Furr is No. 30 on the money list with $275,878. The No. 30 player on the PGA Tour is Woo Kim, who has earned $5.3 million. It’s like going from playing Class AAA minor league baseball to getting called up to a Major League team.
This is Furr’s first year on the Korn Ferry Tour. Furr, 25, is in his third pro season after playing at Alabama.
All is not lost of Furr doesn’t make the Top 30. The No. 31-60 players get another shot to get a PGA Tour card to getting to the final stage of the PGA Tour Q-school. Furr has already clinched a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour for next season.
Furr made a big jump in June when he finished tied for second in the AdventHealth Championship in Kansas City. He set a course record when he shot a 63 in the first round and finished 18 under, tied with Rico Hoey and one shot behind winner Grayson Murray. Furr led after the first round, co-leader after the second round and solo leader after the third round, but Murray shot 4 under in the final round to pass Furr, who shot 1 under. Furr’s outstanding finish vaulted him from 78th place to 26th place.
“A couple of weeks ago I was staring at a wall, thinking I had just lost my card,” Furr said after finishing second in the event in June. “To be two Top 10s in the past two tournaments, I’m proud of myself for sure. I’m still hungry to get one of these things. I’m a big frustrated, I definitely had a shot at it. I’m pleased with the way the week went; I knew I play well to keep it going. I had a lot of fun. That was the coolest part. I really enjoyed it. I had a good time. I feel like I did a good job today, just didn’t make putts, which you have to do, especially on Sunday. There is a lot of learn from, but I’ll be back.”
Furr made another move back into the Top 30 recently with two consecutive Top 10 finishes.
He finished tied for third in the Magnit Championship in New Jersey Aug. 20 and tied for sixth in the Albertsons Boise Open Aug. 27 in Idaho. Those two finishes moved up Furr 17 places, from 45th to 28th. He was 50th two weeks before that, so Furr made a great surge in about a month.
Furr has made 16 cuts in 25 events and has one runner-up finish, one third place, two Top 5 and four Top 10 this season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Jackson native, former PGA Tour player and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame member Randy Watkins knows Furr has what it takes to make it to the PGA Tour and get this card.
“Wilson has his dream in his sights this week and is going to fight his hardest and effort to qualify for the PGA Tour,” said Watkins, who is the CEO of Randy Watkins Golf, owner of Lake Caroline, Patrick Farms, and Whisper Lake Golf Clubs. “Wilson has amazing athletic abilities and physically superior to most and perhaps the best I’ve ever seen from Mississippi. He’s long, accurate, has great touch and creativity and has great competitive courage. Wilson is a very very smart young man that is super driven to be the best he can be. He’s had and is having a tremendous year. Wilson has set two course records along with a stellar stroke average of around 68. I’ve very proud of him but I’m not as all surprised at his success. Wilson is a very good friend and all of Mississippi should be proud of him. I can’t wait to follow his every step this week. I’ll be in his corner all the way.”
Furr made his professional debut at the U.S. Open as an automatic qualifier in 2021 at Torrey Pines, Calif. Furr shot 77 and 82 in the first two rounds and didn’t make the cut. He received one of the 54 automatic qualifying spots when four players withdrew.
Furr helped Alabama reach four consecutive NCAA Regionals, including a national runner-up finish in 2018. He shot a 9-under 62 in the second round of the 2020 U.S. Amateur on his way to becoming the second player in Alabama men’s golf history to win stroke play medalist honors.
Furr was a second-team Rolex All-American in 2015 while at JA and finished second in the 2015 Junior PGA Championship. At age 16, Furr became the youngest player in the 100-year history of the Mississippi State Amateur to win the event, winning by eight strokes and missing the tournament record by two strokes.
In 2018, Furr won the Mississippi State Amateur for the second time, qualifying him to play in the PGA Sanderson Farms Classic in Jackson.
Furr was ranked as the No. 6 high school prospect in the country in the 2017 class by Golfweek.com. He was one of six players named to the boys United States Junior Ryder Cup team in the summer of 2016.
