Will Chandler Leads by One in Last Sprint to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals with Career-Best Opening Round 8-under 64
By Jeremy Friedman
JACKSON TOWNSHIP, N.J. – The dog days of summer on the Korn Ferry Tour has made its way to New Jersey and Metedeconk National Golf Club, where former Georgia Bulldog Will Chandler took the early lead by one over a crowded leaderboard with an 8-under par 64.
In a round that featured nine birdies and one bogey, Chandler turned in his lowest competitive round of his Korn Ferry Tour career in his seventh Korn Ferry Tour start in 2024.
Chandler, who did not have status on the Korn Ferry Tour to start the season, Monday qualified into his first four Korn Ferry Tour events of the year. After a T10 finish at The Ascendant presented by Blue that advanced him to the following week (T40 at Price Cutter Charity Championship), he Monday qualified into last week’s event, the Pinnacle Bank Championship, finishing T44. With Chander sitting at 134th on the Korn Ferry Tour Points list heading into this week’s Magnit Championship, he is looking to vault up the Points List to secure status in 2025.
“You make the most of your opportunities. I haven’t quite done that but I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” said Chandler. “I’m trying to do the best I can and see where it puts me.
“These events are marathons,” Chandler continued. “You’ve got to play smart, play the percentages, and over the course of four days it is going to leave you in a better position.”
On the heels of Chandler at one stroke back are four players – including two who are #TOURBound in 2025 – who are tied at 7-under par: Chandler Blanchet, Frankie Capan III, Max McGreevy and Tim Widing.
“I love this course. It’s a great layout and it fits my eye very well. I really enjoyed it here last year and was really looking forward to this event this week, so that helps too,” said Widing, who was the first Korn Ferry Tour player to become #TOURBound this year back in June. “If you enjoy the course and the challenge it gives you, it helps with the focus and the enjoyment. I had a lot of fun today.”
Widing and McGreevy are two of the 10 players who have earned PGA TOUR status in 2025 by assuring themselves of finishing within the top-30 in the Korn Ferry Tour Points List by at the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
“This course is so beautiful, it kind of shapes your eye – at least for me – kind of shapes the ball perfectly, what you have to do off the tee box and stuff like that,” said McGreevy. “That always makes it a little bit easier for me when you step up on the tee and kind of know exactly what you have to hit. So yeah, beautiful golf course and it’s a fun course to play.”
For Blanchet and Capan, getting off to hot starts helps both players in moving up on the projected Korn Ferry Tour Points List in advance of next week’s four-week Korn Ferry Tour Finals stretch to close out the 2025 season.
“I’ve been playing solid all year, I feel like it has just been a couple of swings here and there,” said Blanchet, who is currently 83rd on the Points List with four top-25 finishes in 17 events this season. “Got a great opportunity these next few weeks and I like these courses ahead of me.”
In total, 21 players are within two shots of the leaders in a bunched up leadersboard as play heads into Friday at Metedeconk, where players are jockeying for position heading into next week’s Korn Ferry Tour Finals and competing this week for a share of the $1 million purse. The top 156 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List will advance to next week’s Korn Ferry Tour Finals, which kicks off with the Albertsons Boise Open at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho.
Tee times on Friday start at 6:45 am ET off of No. 1 and No. 10 tees. Following Friday’s second round a cut will be made to the low 65 players plus ties.
