Springer Is No. 1 in Canada after Fortinet Cup Victory; Hitchner Ties for 3rd

CALGARY, Alberta -- Hayden Springer completed his ascent to the top of the PGA Tour Canada Points List on Sunday by winning the season-ending Fortinet Cup Championship.

The 26-year-old former Texas Tech All-American shot his second straight 4-under-par 67 on a windy day at Country Hills Golf Club, and the resulting 72-hole total of 262 (minus 22) was good enough to give him a five-stroke victory. It was his second victory in the last three weeks, and the 600 points he collected -- along with CAD$40,500 -- moved him past Sam Choi and into first place on the points list, with1,311. Choi, who tied for 19th, picked up only 49 points and finished No. 2 with 1,276.

Yi Cao, who like Springer, was nowhere near the top 10 on the points list, or the money list, just a few weeks ago, got around in 66 and fiinished second at 267. Cao won the CRMC Championship last week at Craguns Legacy Course in Brainerd, and the $24,300 that he made on Sunday vaulted him into fourth place on the Canadian Tour money list. He also earned 300 points, which elevated him to fifth on that list. Of the 963 points he ended up with this year, 800 came in the last two weeks.

Derek Hitchner, the former Minnesota state high school champion and 2021 MGA Player of the Year, started the day tied for the lead with Springer. But he struggled from the beginning of the round and had to settle for a 73, and a tie for third, along with Jeffrey Kang, at 268. Kang shot the low score of the day, a 63, and thereby propelled himself up the leader board 20 places.

There was a four-way tie for fifth at 269. Myles Creighton, Noah Steele and Eric McCardle all got there with valedictory 68s. Eric Lilleboe shot 69.

For Springer, ending the PGA Tour Canada season at No. 1 on the points list means he will be fully exempt for the Korn Ferry Tour next year. No. 2 Choi and Nos. 3, 4 and 5 (Cao), will be conditionally exempt for the Korn Ferry, which is the highest minor league in golf, and a platform from which to move on to the PGA Tour.

Springer and Hitchner started Sunday's round tied at 18 under, but Springer pulled ahead for good when he birdied the 574-yard, par-5 second hole, and Hitchner bogeyed it. Springer bogeyed the par-3 fourth, but Hitchner bogeyed the fifth, and Springer further separated himself from Hitchner -- and from everyone else -- with two more front-nine birdies at the seventh and eighth holes.

Hitchner, who matched Springer's 62 on Friday, made 17 birdies, two eagles and three bogeys in the first three rounds. On Sunday, he made one birdie and three bogeys. He notched the birdie at the par-4 10th, and Springer bogeyed made his second -- and last -- bogey of the day there. So his lead was cut from four shots to two, but that was as close as it got. Springer birdied the 13th, 16th and 17th holes, which meant there wasn't really any suspense left by the time he got the 18th tee. Hitchner bogeyed the 17th, which dropped him from a tie for second into a tie for third, and that cost him roughly CAD$5,500.

As it was, Hitchner made CAD$13,050. That moved him up from No. 46 on the money list to No. 23, with CAD$26,442. He wound up No. 22 on the points list with 931.

Because his point total was in the top 25, he is exempt into the Second Stage of PGA Tour Q-School. (There are actually four stages in the Q-School series, including a Preliminary Stage, which begins at various sites Wednesday.)

Both Hitchner and Choi concluded their college careers at Pepperdine this spring. Hitchner had a slightly better final year. He won one of the biggest tournaments in college golf, the Western Intercollegiate, and was a second team All-American. Choi was a third-team All-American. And Hitchner ended up No. 14 on the PGA Tour University Rankings. That was how he got a spot this summer on the Canadian Tour. Choi was No. 16, which got him onto PGA Tour Canada, as well.

But Choi had the better of it this summer in Canada. Although he didn't quite hang on to the No. 1 spot on the points list this weekend, he did end up No. 1 money list, with CAD$93,534, to CAD$91,496 for No. 2 Springer.



Fortinet Cup Championship

At Country Hills Golf Club -- Talons Course

Par 71, 7,79 yards

Calgary, Alberta

Canada

Final results

1. Hayden Springer CAD$40,500 66-62-67-67--262

2. Yi Cao CAD$24,300. 66--67-68-66--267

T3. Derek Hitchner CAD$13,050 67-62-66-73--268

T3. Jeffrey Kang CAD13,050 70-64-71-63--268

T5. Myles Creighton CAD7,903 69-65-67-68--269.

T5. Eric Lilleboe CAD7,903. 64-67-69-69--269

T5. Eric McCardle CAD7,903. 72-64-65-68--269

T5. Noah Steele CAD7,903 69-66-66-68--269

T56. Thomas Longbella CAD5,515. 70-68-75-70--283