Longbella's Eagle at 17 Gives Him 54-hole KIA Open Lead

QUITO, Ecuador -- Scottie Scheffler has made $40 million in official money on the PGA Tour in the last 16 months, and that doesn't count all the endorsements and other sources of income available to the best players on the PGA Tour.

There is an opposite end to golf's fame and fortune spectrum, however, and Thomas Longbella knows what that's like. In 2020, he won the Wisconsin State Amateur by 10 shots, but by the next summer he had graduated from the University of Minnesota and turned professional. Since then, he's been trying to work his way up the pro golf ladder. For the former Gopher from Chippewa Falls, that has meant finding tournaments wherever he could, such as the Minor League Golf Tour in Florida (he's No. 16 on the MLGT money list this year, with $9,925 in eight tournaments), the Korn Ferry Tour, when his limited status gets him into a tournament (he's 0 for 2 making cuts out there in 2024), and the PGA Tour Americas.

That's where he is this week, in Quito, Ecuador. When you play the PGA Tour Americas, among other things, you learn that Quito is the capital of Ecuador. But right now, Quito might be Longbella's favorite city, because he shot a 7-under-par 65 at the Quito Tennis & Golf Club on Saturday, and he leads the Quito Open by one stroke with one round to go, with a 54-hole total of 200.

The highlight of Longbella's round was an eagle 3 at the 585-yard, par-5 17th hole. That moved the 26-year-old former Wisconsin State High School champion past former U.S. Amateur champ Gunn Yang, the 36-hole leader, who posted a 68 on Saturday and is in second place at 201. There is a three-way tie for third at 203 -- Ben Carr (66), Ricardo Celia (68) and Harry Hillier (67).

Derek Hitchner, the former Minnesota State Amateur champion (2021) from Minneapolis, is tied for 54th after a 74.

Longbella opened the tournament with a 66 and had a 69 on Friday. On Saturday, he birdied three of the first four holes. His only bogey of the day came at the 435-yard, par-4 ninth, but he bounced back with birdies at the 10th (450 yards) and the 12th (357) and capped off his round with the eagle at the 17th and a par at the 18th.

So far this year, Longbealla has played in three PGA Tour Americas events, made the cut in two of them and collected $7,374. The first prize this week is $40,500. That will move him up into the top five on the PGA Tour Americas money list. (Matthew Anderson is currently the money leader with $54,913.)

The PGA Tour Americas is new this year. It combines the old PGA Tour LatinoAmerica and the PGA Tour Canada.This is the last month of the Latin American portion of the tour, which will be in North America from June through September. At the end of the schedule, the top 10 players on the points list (roughly the same as the money list) will earn membership on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2025 -- and be exempt into the Final Stage of PGA Tour/Korn Ferry Q-School this fall. The top five from there graduate to the PGA Tour.

In addition the top two on the money/points list for the Latin American part of the schedule will have partial status for the Korn Ferry next year, and the same goes for the top three on the money/points list for the North American part of the schedule.


KIA Open

At Quito Tennis & Golf Club

Quito, Ecuador

Third-round results

1. Thomas Longbella 66-69-65--200

2. Gunn Yang 67-66-68--201

T3. Ben Carr 70-67-66--203

T3. Ricardo Celia 68-67-68--203

T3. Harry Hillier 65-71-67--203

T54. Derek Hitchner 67-71-74--212