Long considered one of the majors of Monday qualifying, the Honda Classic qualifier did not disappoint.
With three spots in this week’s tournament at PGA National already secured, 16 players who carded 5-under 67 returned to Banyan Cay Resort and Golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday morning to compete for the final berth. The 16-for-1 playoff consisted of three groups, two fivesomes and a sixsome, and began on the par-5 10th hole.
They only needed one hole. Teeing off in the second group of five, Rick Lamb canned a 40-foot eagle putt and then watched as no one from the sixsome matched him. Of the non-qualifiers, Maxwell Sear had come the closest to making eagle, missing a 12-footer in the first fivesome.
Lamb joins Sam Stevens, Fabian Gomez and Martin Contini as the four qualifiers. Stevens, an Oklahoma State product and current Korn Ferry Tour member who dominated the mini-tours last year, shot 7-under 65 on Monday and capped his round with a chip-in eagle at the par-5 18th.
“I didn’t know exactly what I needed, but I thought 6 under would be good enough,” Stevens told reporters after the round. “It came off great and looked like it was going to stop close, so it was just icing on the cake when it dropped.”
The rest of those falling short in the playoff: Chase Seiffert, Jesse Smith, Mickey DeMorat, Ruaidhri McGee, J.T. Griffin, David Lingmerth, M.J. Maguire, Justin Doeden, D.J. Trahan, Turk Pettit, Brian Richey, Anders Alberston, Andy Svoboda and Ben Griffin.
Seiffert still got into Honda field, though, as he was the first alternate when Tyler Duncan withdrew on Tuesday morning.
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