Scottish Duo Among A Dozen PGA Tour Champs Teeing-Up In Korn Ferry New Season Opener

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The 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season opens tomorrow (Sunday Jan, 11th) with The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island, the first of the Tour’s 25-event schedule.

This will be the ninth hosting of The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island, and the second at the Ocean Club Golf Course at Atlantis.

Heading the field will be a dozen former PGA Tour winners, led by Columbia’s favourite Camilo Villegas with five wins.

Joining Villegas will be the Scottish duo of Martin Laird, with five PGA Tour victories and his Home of Golf countryman in Russell Knox with two PGA Tour wins.

Tournament notes

  • The field includes 56 Korn Ferry Tour winners — including eight from the 2025 season — with 84 career victories, led by Ben Kohles and Robby Shelton with four wins each.
  • Four players in the field stand inside the top 200 of the Official World Golf Ranking: Carson Young (No. 174), Taylor Montgomery (No. 191), Barend Botha (No. 197) and Harry Higgs (No.200).
  • The field includes 11 first-time members, with six making their Korn Ferry Tour debut, including Tyler Leach, who makes his Korn Ferry Tour debut after securing membership via medalist honors at Second Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry. Leach advanced through each stage of PGA TOUR Q-School, beginning at Pre-Qualifying.
  • Last year, Hank Lebioda defeated S.H. Kim with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff (No. 18) to capture his first career Korn FerryTour victory at the 2025 The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island. Lebioda’s season-opening victory set the foundation for his return to the PGA TOUR, and he collected an additional six top-10 finishes en route to a No. 6 finish on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List. Lebioda became the third consecutive player to win the season-opening event and go on to earn a PGA TOUR card at season’s end, joining Chandler Phillips (2023) and Jeremy Paul (2024).
  • In total, five of the eight winners of The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island have gone on to earn their TOUR card at season’s end since the event became the Tour’s season opener in 2017.
Key 2026 storylines
  • The 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season, the 36th in the Tour’s history, will feature 25 events across seven countries and 15 states. There will be 10 televised events throughout the season, beginning with this week’s The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island.
  • At the conclusion of the 25-event Korn Ferry Tour season, the top 20 players on the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Points List will be awarded PGA TOUR cards (I.e. membership) for the 2027 season. Additionally, the No. 1 finisher will earn exemptions for the 2027 THE PLAYERS Championship and 2027 U.S. Open.
  • Following the Compliance Solutions Championship, the third of four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events, the top 60 players on the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Points List will advance to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by Virginia’s Richmond Region at The Federal Club in Glen Allen, Virginia. Those 60 players will earn fully exempt status for the 2027 Korn Ferry Tour season.
Tournament facts
  • Course: Ocean Club Golf Course at Atlantis, par 72, 7,159 yards
  • Field: 132 players
  • 2025 champion: Hank Lebioda
  • Purse: $1,000,000 ($180,000/winner)


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