SILVIS, Illinois (July 15, 2021) – SILVIS, Illinois (July 15, 2021) – Willie Mack will try to continue his string of top performances and Ryan Alford will attempt to put a stranglehold on the Lexus Cup Points Standings title when the APGA Tour returns to action July 19-20 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. The ninth event of the APGA Tour season takes place just eight days after Lucas Glover’s victory in the PGA TOUR’s John Deere Classic at the prominent Tournament Players Club (TPC) course, one of five hosting APGA Tour events this year.
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Mack has been on a roll, taking advantage of sponsor exemptions to make the cut at consecutive PGA TOUR events, finishing tied for 64th in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in his hometown of Detroit and tied for 71st in the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run last week. Mack, the APGA Tour 2019 Player of the Year, also made the cut at the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am in the spring.
Alford, the APGA Tour’s surprise first-year player from Louisiana Tech, leads the Lexus Cup Point Standings with 1280 points on the strength of wins at APGA Tour Scottsdale in April and APGA Tour Louisville in May. Alford is 13 points ahead of Marcus Byrd (1267), who won the most recent event, APGA Tour New Orleans, on June 2. On their heels is Rovonta Young, winner of the APGA Tour World Golf Village tournament in March, with 1005 points. For all three players, the APGA Tour wins were their first professional victories.
Each tournament victory is worth 600 Lexus Cup points and the final regular season event of the year, the APGA Tour Championship, is set for August 8-10 at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia. Thus, all of the Lexus Cup contenders are in another loaded APGA Tour field along with four of the five top players in the APGA Collegiate Rankings. In partnership with the PGA TOUR’s PGA University, the APGA Collegiate Rankings evaluated results from the spring NCAA season and is rewarding the top five competitors with exemptions into APGA Tournaments for the rest of the year. Mulbe Dillard IV (ranked 1st), Mahindra Lutchman (2nd), Cameron Riley (3rd) and Prince Cunningham (4th), all of Florida A&M, will be in the field at TPC Deere Run.
The defending Lexus Cup Point Standings Champion is Tim O’Neal who also won the title in 2018. O’Neal, who now has his eyes on The PGA TOUR Champions at the age of 48, has over 150 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. In addition to Mack, other previous APGA Tour Lexus Cup Point Standings Champions are Kevin Hall in 2017 and David Lawrence in 2016. The winner of the Lexus Cup becomes the APGA Tour Player of the Year and earns a $17,500 bonus for season-long excellence.
In just the past six months, five APGA Tour players have teed off in 13 Korn Ferry Tour or PGA TOUR events via sponsor exemption or through qualifying opportunities. Mack has a total of six starts, Kamaiu Johnson four and Kevin Hall, O’Neal and Dillard one each.
Upcoming on the APGA Tour schedule is the newly-minted Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco, set for July 29-31 in Jacksonville, Florida. The special event will bring together 18 top APGA Tour competitors at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass for tournament play and career development programs in an initiative hosted by the six-time PGA TOUR winner. The field will include the top players from the APGA Collegiate Rankings and the activity consists of a pro-am, a roundtable and seminars plus a 36-hole competition at the annual home of the PGA TOUR’s Players Championship.
APGA Tour Deere Run will be conducted under social-distancing and health/safety guidelines in conjunction with regional authorities. The 36-hole event offers a $25,000 purse.
The APGA Tour Presented by Lexus is a nonprofit organization with the mission of bringing greater diversity to the game of golf. Now in its 12th year, the tour consists of 13 events offering over $350,000 in prize money.
The 2021 APGA Tour Lexus Cup Point Standings top 20 are listed below:
- Ryan Alford 1280
- Marcus Byrd 1267
- Rovonta Young 1005
- Landon Lyons 989
- Willie Mack 947
- Jarred Garcia 829
- Kamaiu Johnson 766
- Patrick Newcome 646
- Tim O’Neal 632
- Tommy Shaff 566
- Trey Valentine 562
- Rafael Guerrero 532
- Nyasha Mauchaza 527
- Wyatt Worthington II 396
- Kevin Hall 375
- Joey Stills 371
- Michael Herrera 327
- Davin White 324
- Andrew Fernandes 323
- DeVaughn Robinson 254
