BioSteel Championship pre-tournament notes
Published
Pre-Tournament Notes – July 30, 2024
PGA TOUR Americas 2024 Season: 12th of 16 events
North America Swing: 6th of 10 events
Fortinet Cup Points: 500 (winner)
Purse: $225,000 ($40,500 winner)
Field Summary (as of July 30, 2024)
156 players from 20 countries
99 – United States
25 – Canada
9 – Argentina
4 – Mexico
2 – England, Chinese Taipei, South Africa
1 – Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, China, Chile, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, Zimbabwe
Players to Watch
Barend Botha (South Africa) – Botha earned his first professional win last week at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open in his second PGA TOUR Americas start; A native of George, South Africa, Botha earned exempt status for the North America Swing after earning medalist honors at PGA TOUR Americas Q-School and is currently No. 13 on the Fortinet Cup points list
Johnny Keefer (United States) – Keefer has four top-10 finishes in five professional starts; Keefer finished No. 25 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University ranking and is currently No. 4 in the points list
Connor Creasy (United States) – Creasy finished T2 in Ottawa after earning a spot in the field as a Monday Qualifier; The University of Georgia alum earned conditional status for the North America Swing through PGA TOUR Americas Q-School
Devon Bling (United States) – Bling returns to Windsor after a T2 finish at the 2023 BioSteel Championship; Bling has made the cut in eight of nine starts this season with three top-10 finishes and is currently No. 20 in the points list
Michael Brennan (United States) – Brennan finished T6 in Ottawa and has finished in the top-10 in two of his last three starts; Brennan earned exempt status for the North America Swing after finishing No. 12 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University ranking
Matthew Anderson (Canada) – The Mississauga, Ontario native and Team Canada member reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the Fortinet Cup points list after a T19 finish at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open; Anderson has finished in the top-20 in his last three starts after missing back-to-back cuts to start the North America Swing
Ricardo Celia (Colombia) – Currently No. 41 in the points list, Celia was the low-Latin at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open after a T15 finish; Celia’s best finish of the year was a T3 performance in his season debut at the KIA Open
Tournament History
The BioSteel Championship, formerly the Windsor Championship, returns to Ambassador Golf Club for the fourth time following Sam Choi’s win in 2023. The BioSteel Championship has hosted current PGA TOUR members Paul Barjon (T2/2019), Patrick Fishburn (T2/2019, T47/2018), Hayden Buckley (T8/2019), Taylor Pendrith (T4/2018), Greyson Sigg (T13/2018), Ben Griffin (T19/2018) and Matt NeSmith (T28/2018).
This week’s field includes four players who finished inside the top-10 at the 2023 BioSteel Championship: Stuart Macdonald (T2), Devon Bling (T2), Joey Vrzich (T8) and Lawren Rowe (T8).
Fortinet Cup Overview
The BioSteel Championship is the sixth stop of the North America Swing, and the 12th event of the season. The 10-event North America Swing is comprised of nine events in Canada and one in the United States.
After the North America Swing’s ninth event (CRMC Championship presented by Gertens, Aug. 29-Sept. 1), the top 120 players in the Fortinet Cup will be exempt into the Fortinet Cup Championship (Sept. 5-8), the final event of the season. The season will conclude in Caledon, Ontario at TPC Toronto with the top 10 players in the Fortinet Cup earning exempt membership for the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season.
PGA TOUR Americas – 2024 Season Summary
Up to 15 Korn Ferry Tour cards are on the line during the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas season – five conditional memberships will go to the top players from the Latin America (Matthew Anderson, Harry Hillier) and North America (3) Swings, and the top 10 players in the season-long Fortinet Cup points list will earn exempt membership.
Latin America Swing
March 21-24 | Bupa Championship at Tulum (Tulum, Mexico)
Winner: Clay Feagler
March 28-31 | Totalplay Championship at Atlas Country Club (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Winner: José de Jesús Rodríguez
April 18-21 | 69th ECP Brazil Open (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Winner: Matthew Anderson
April 25-28 | Diners Club Peru Open (Lima, Peru)
Winner: Stuart Macdonald
May 2-5 | KIA Open (Quito, Ecuador)
Winner: Thomas Longbella
May 16-19 | Inter Rapidísimo Golf Championship (Bogotá, Colombia)
Winner: Harry Hillier
North America Swing
June 20-23 | The Beachlands Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist (Victoria, British
Columbia)
Winner: Frederik Kjettrup
June 27-30 | ATB Classic (Strathcona County, Alberta)
Winner: Frederik Kjettrup
July 11-14 | Explore NB Open (Mactaquac, New Brunswick)
Winner: Ian Holt
July 18-21 | Bromont Open presented by Desjardins (Bromont, Québec)
Winner : Ryan Burnett
July 25-28 | Commissionaires Ottawa Open (Ottawa, Ontario)
Winner: Barend Botha
Aug. 1-4 | BioSteel Championship (Windsor, Ontario)
Aug. 15-18 | Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open presented by Lake County Co-op (Waskesiu Lake, Saskatchewan)
Aug. 22-25 | CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Aug. 29 – Sept. 1 | CRMC Championship presented by Gertens (Brainerd, Minnesota)
Sept. 5-8 | Fortinet Cup Championship (Caledon, Ontario)
About PGA TOUR Americas
PGA TOUR Americas is an international tour that provides professional golfers with competitive opportunities and prepares them to advance their careers on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR. The 2024 schedule consists of 16 events – six in Latin America and 10 in North America – and the inaugural season culminates in September with the Fortinet Cup Championship, where the top-10 players