The APGA Tour certainly did not disappoint in its first national television event ever.
By playing the South Course at Torrey Pines just a day after Luke List won the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open, veterans Tim O’Neal and Patrick Newcomb struck out on the 18th, leveling for the lead on equal footing . Both found the par-5 green in three, setting up a match from within six feet for birdie and the win. Newcomb was first to play and curled his shot into the bottom of the hole while O’Neal’s caught the left wing and missed.
“It was a long day. We’re been out there for a long, long time. “This is a difficult course that everyone has tested,” said Newcomb after the round on Golf Channel. “It was not my best hour on the greens, one finally ran there.”
Patrick Newcomb (@ ThreeWiggle99) won the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitation! 🏆
This is his first career @APGA_Toer victory and earn him a release in the @KornFerryToursee Simmons Bank Open. pic.twitter.com/81ZHnSCwB1
– PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) 31 January 2022
The win is Newcomb’s first on tour and follows a strong 2021 season where the 31-year-old in six starts did not finish weaker than T-10. O’Neal, winner of the 2019 APGA Scottsdale at TPC Scottsdale, finished runner-up with Marcus Byrd third on 4 overs and three T-4 players on 5 overs: Willie Mack III, Trey Valentine and Kevin Hall.
Since 2010, the APGA Tour, a non-profit organization, has been striving to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest levels of professional golf.
“I think it’s great. This tour was fantastic, I played it all year, ”said Newcomb of the APGA. “It was a wonderful place for me. The guys are great and I’m just excited to win. ”
