HILTON HEAD ISLAND | The Myrtle Beach Classic is expected to receive a lot of support from PGA Tour pros in the Carolinas, and some winners of multiple tour events from the two states gave their thoughts last week on the inaugural tournament being played in two weeks.
Meanwhile, another participant was divulged Tuesday.
Matt Atkins was revealed as the winner of much-promoted The Q Myrtle Beach, a 16-player, 18-hole qualifier featuring eight social media golf influencers with YouTube channels and eight aspiring golf pros and notable amateurs.
The Korn Ferry Tour veteran defeated influencer George Bryan in a playoff on March 4 at TPC Myrtle Beach. The winner remained a secret until the event’s three-hour recap show debuted at 1 p.m. Tuesday on the Golf Tourism Solutions-sponsored Play Golf Myrtle Beach YouTube page.
So Atkins has a spot in the field essentially through a sponsor exemption, along with University of Louisville senior Max Kennedy, who earned a reserved spot by winning the collegiate General Hackler Championship hosted by Coastal Carolina on March 20, and Jonathan Byrd, a Clemson alum who participated in a tournament media day in late February.
The inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic will be played May 9-12 at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club and have a purse of $3.9 million and field of 132 players. It will be played the same week as the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, a PGA Tour Signature Event with a purse of $20 million and no-cut field of approximately 70 players.
So while the pros from the Carolinas said they were happy and in some cases excited that Myrtle Beach was granted an event, they all hope they will be playing in the Wells Fargo in a couple weeks and in future years.
The Q winner disclosed
Bryan, the older of the Bryan Bros trick shot duo from the Columbia area and a former three-time All-American at South Carolina, took a two-shot lead into the 18th hole of The Q at 4-under par but made a bogey while Atkins made a birdie to force a playoff.
Bryan hit a short approach into the water over the green on the TPC’s par-5 18th to make his bogey, while Atkins rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt for the tie.
Atkins then hit a short approach to 4 feet for birdie on the first playoff hole – the 18th – while Bryan made par following a wayward drive to the right.
The broadcast on the Play Golf Myrtle Beach YouTube page had more than 26,000 viewers at its peak, according to YouTube’s count, and the broadcast had a very active and entertaining live chat board. The YouTube page began the broadcast with about 9,100 subscribers and finished it with more than 9,900.
Atkins, 33, is a USC Aiken alumnus, father of two daughters and North Augusta, SC, resident who has played six years on the Korn Ferry Tour, on which he won the 2017 Mexico Open, which helped him earn PGA Tour status in 2018.
He has made nine cuts in 26 PGA Tour starts with a tie for 22nd in the 2018 Corales Puntacana Championship being his best finish. He tied for 38th last November in The RSM Classic. He is playing this season with conditional Korn Ferry Tour status and will compete this week in the tour’s Veritex Bank Championship after Monday qualifying.
Bryan, 36, who has more than 400,000 subscribers and followers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, was trying to qualify for his second PGA Tour event. He made the cut last year in the Bermuda Championship. He and Atkins are friends who have played multiple rounds of golf together.
Area professionals Morgan Deneen of The Dunes Club and Ryan Wilkinson of Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club shot 2-over 74 and 4-over 76, respectively.
Other participants were Tyler Watts (71), Scott Stevens (72), Jay Card (72), Peter Finch (73), Turk Pettit (73), Dan Rapaport (76), Jamie Wilson (77), Luke Kwon (78), Grant Horvat (79), Fat Perez (81), Cole Lantz (83) and Micah Morris (86).
Quotes from the pros
A few PGA Tour members from the Carolinas were asked about the Myrtle Beach Classic while at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, which is another Signature Event with a $20 million purse.
The RBC Heritage has a long history of support from players with ties to the South Carolina over its 56 years, so the Myrtle Beach Classic should receive similar support from Palmetto State players.
For example, Greenville native Lucas Glover has played in every Heritage since 2004 and Aiken native Kevin Kisner has played in 11 straight and 12 overall with a runner-up finish.
Many Carolinas pros played on the Grand Strand in their youth, in junior or high school tournaments including the George Holliday Memorial Junior at Myrtle Beach National Golf Club and the Charles Tilghman Junior at The Surf Golf and Beach Club
_ Lucas Glover: The Greenville native played at Wade Hampton High and Clemson University, received the Order of the Palmetto from Gov. Henry McMaster last week and will be inducted into the State of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in May. He has six PGA Tour wins, including the 2009 U.S. Open and last season’s FedEx St. Jude Championship and Wyndham Championship, and is exempt into all Signature Events in 2024.
“I think [S.C. players will support it]. I hope so. I can’t say for sure, I can’t speak for anybody else. But it looks like it’s going to be a great event and hopefully they get a good field. It seems like a great market to have an event, a huge golf market obviously so I would think it would be pretty well supported.”
_ Webb Simpson: The Raleigh native and Charlotte resident has already won a significant title at The Dunes Club. Prior to his sophomore year at Wake Forest, he won the Southern Amateur in July 2005 at the venerable course. He is a seven-time PGA Tour winner, including the 2012 U.S. Open and 2018 Players Championship. Though not fully exempt into 2024 Signature Events, Simpson has played in three of the five thus far, including the Heritage.
“I think it’s cool. Myrtle Beach is known for destination golf and obviously being on the coast it’s a beautiful area of the country. I was excited to see it. . . . It’s not 100 percent [if not at Quail Hollow]. It would have to be considered against the ebb and flow of the rest of the schedule, but I always love playing at the coast, so maybe.”
_ Kevin Kisner: The Aiken native and resident has four PGA Tour wins and is one of four tour members who are members of the historic Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, along with Matt NeSmith, Richy Werenski and Scott Brown. Kisner played in a lot of junior events on the Strand and owns land in Plantersville on the Pee Dee River in Georgetown County, where he often hunts and fishes in the short offseason. The RBC Heritage is the only Signature Event he has played in this season, and Kisner said he will play in Myrtle Beach if he’s not in the Wells Fargo field.
“It seems to be a hotbed for people to come play golf and an attractive area for people to get out of the cold and come play. So it should be a good place for fans to come watch, and I’m always excited when my home state can have another attraction to bring people to town, and I think Myrtle Beach will show out. . . . The state is excited to have people (in Myrtle Beach) and they think they can give back to charity there, so I think it’s a great idea.”
_ J.T. Poston: The Hickory, N.C., native and two-time PGA Tour winner played at Western Carolina earned his first collegiate victory on the Grand Strand at the Golfweek Fall Challenge at True Blue Golf Club. His family owns a vacation home in Pawleys Island that he often visited growing up. He’s 12th in the 2024 FedExCup Points rankings so will surely qualify for the three remaining Signature Events.
“Myrtle Beach obviously has a lot of golf and is a popular golf destination for a lot of people. I think it will be great. I was happy to see that they got a golf tournament down there. As a North Carolina guy I love seeing tournaments in the Carolinas. I’ll be in Charlotte that week but I’ll definitely be tuning in to see how it looks on TV. . . . If I find myself in a position where I’m in that tournament and if it’s an opposite field event still and I’m not in the other one, I’ll definitely go play. I like playing in the Carolinas, it’s familiar. I have a lot of friends and family in the Carolinas and Georgia so I’m sure it would be a fun week.”
_ Jonathan Byrd: The Anderson native and Clemson alum is 46 and has five PGA Tour wins. But this year he has played in just two PGA Tour events under the past champion category after a poor 2023 season and two Korn Ferry events, in which he finished in the top 20. He spoke about the tournament during the media event in February.
“I’ve gotten to play in the Heritage a lot, and just to have fans from South Carolina, everybody talks about the southern hospitality of our state and how great the people are, and I know this tournament is going to be a great event for that and will represent our state well. . . . For the rest of the PGA Tour to get exposed to Myrtle Beach and all that it has to offer from the entertainment to the beaches to the golf course, I think the rest of the tour is going to be very impressed with all the facilities. Everybody loves golf in this area. I’ve spent a lot of time here and always enjoy playing golf here. There are a lot of areas of the country that you visit or spend time and you’re like, ‘Man this would be a great spot for a PGA Tour event.’ It makes sense to have an event here and I think it will do well.”
Who is in, who is out
The Wells Fargo Championship is the sixth of eight Signature Events with elevated purses of $20 million and a limited field of 70 or so of the top players on the tour.
The criteria determining who will qualify for Charlotte and therefore won’t be in Myrtle Beach is as follows in order of priority:
_ 1, The top 50 players from the 2023 FedExCup points list through the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. With Tyrrell Hatton moving to LIV Golf, this number is at 49 with no alternates.
_ 2, The top 10 players on the 2024 FedExCup point list through the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas from May 2-5 who aren’t among the top 50 from last season. Alternates are permitted.
_ 3, The five players not already qualified who accumulate the most FedExCup Points during the swing of tournaments between and during Signature Events, which in the case of the Wells Fargo will be the Corales Puntacana Championship, Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Byron Nelson. Alternates are permitted.
_ 4, PGA Tour winners in 2024 full FedExCup Points events (excludes additional opposite-field events such as Puntacana).
_ 5, Any PGA Tour member in the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking through the Byron Nelson not already qualified.
_ 6, Up to four sponsor exemptions at the tournament’s discretion for PGA Tour members not already qualified.
