Brandon Wu grew up in Scarsdale, New York, less than 10 minutes from Winged Foot. He will now be able to spend a week at home, eating his father’s homemade Chinese food, as he competes in his second consecutive US Open.
23-year-old Wu, who qualified and tied for 35th at last year’s national championship at Pebble Beach, he won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship at Victoria National in Newburgh, Indiana on Sunday. It was his first win on the development tour and thanks to some one-time eligibility changes by the USGA, it earned him a spot at next month’s US Open.
“It hasn’t arrived yet,” Wu said. “I’ve been going through the scenarios so many times in the last few days, you know, what it would be like to go home, play and tell my friends I can play this year. It’s hard to believe. I am just very happy. “
Wu was among five players who received their Winged Foot tickets on Sunday. He was joined by Stephan Jaeger, Curtis Luck, Greyson Sigg, and Dan McCarthy, the other four top-getters from KFT’s three-event “Finals” series, which was denied in its original purpose after the COVID-19 pandemic nullified graduated and extended the tour season until next summer. Instead, it served as one of several impromptu qualifiers for the second of three majors of the year. (Will Zalatoris, Davis Riley, Lee Hodges, Taylor Pendrith and Paul Barjon had already qualified for the US Open for finishing the “regular season” in the top five in points.)
Sunday’s loot was the reward for an unconventional journey by Wu, the former Stanford champion who started the season on conditional status only after failing to reach his full membership at KFT Q-School last winter.
Wu started the year by playing in Monday’s qualifiers. When the pandemic disrupted play, he won a professional event at the Maridoe Golf Club near Dallas. The win gave him some momentum in his first KFT start in Colorado, only he never got to do it after testing positive for the new coronavirus.
He ultimately managed to clinch a field for the Price Cutter Charity Championship at the end of July and finished ninth after maintaining his 54-hole lead. The start of this week was his sixth consecutive event, a trait that also included a second place finish at the Albertsons Boise Open.
Wu was five behind Sigg as he entered the final round at the Victoria National, who played unusually docile this week. He thought he would have to shoot 6 under to get into the US Open. He made a better one, firing a 7-under 65 to finish at 18 under and hook Sigg by one shot.
Wu only had to throw two chip shots all day, as he made seven birds and no bogeymen. The final chip went to the final par-4 hole, where he rose and fell by punching a 3-foot par to secure his first win as a pro. The win also propelled Wu into fifth place in KFT points, and although he will have to wait until next July to potentially earn his PGA Tour card, he will be among the 10 players who will receive some opposite-field starts on the Tour next season.
“Just to be able to compete in these three playoff events … it’s a testament that you just have to remain patient and be prepared,” Wu said. “I’ve come a long way for sure.”
McCarthy finished third with Vince India and Seth Reeves at 16.
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