DIVERSITY TOUR STAR AWARDED EXEMPTION FOR
SAVANNAH GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP, OCT. 1-4
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Tim O’Neal of Savannah, Georgia, won the APGA Tour Lexus Cup Points Race for the second time this summer and now turns his sights on a familiar goal – winning on the Korn Ferry Tour.
O’Neal excelled both before and after the sports world-wide shutdown this year, winning the APGA Tour at Farmers Insurance Open special event on Torrey Pines North in January and then the APGA Tour at Dubsdread in Orlando in July. As the mini-tour for minority pro golfers returned with a stretch of six events in 10 weeks to close the regular season, O’Neal finished no worse than third in any of the APGA Lexus Cup Tournaments and topped the field with 1,858 points. He was awarded the $17,500 Lexus Cup Point Standings bonus following his second-place finish at the APGA Tour Championship on September 2.
Next week in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Savannah Golf Championship at The Landings Club – Deer Creek Course, O’Neal will be shooting for a portion of the $600,000 purse as the recipient of an exemption into the field based on his Korn Ferry Tour experience and his stature as a native of Savannah. O’Neal made the Savannah Golf Championship field as a Monday qualifier two years ago and proceeded to take the lead after the first round before finishing T62.
“I’m playing better now, so I’m hoping to give myself a chance on Sunday,” stated O’Neal, who had status on the Korn Ferry Tour for several years earlier in his career. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it showed in the APGA tournaments. I knew I had a chance to win the Lexus Cup again.”
O’Neal had a distinguished amateur career, winning 16 college tournaments during his time at Jackson State University. He also has three wins on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica – two in 2013 and one in 2016 – and more than 150 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. He won the Georgia State Amateur in 1997 and the Georgia Open in 2018.
RELATED: Landon Lyons Wins in Playoff To Capture APGA Tour at TPC Deere Run championship
Kamaiu Johnson of Tallahassee, Florida, finished second in the APGA Tour Lexus Cup Points Race with 1,465 points after winning the APGA Tour Championship. Landon Lyons from Austin, Texas, also won two 2020 events – APGA Tour at TPC Deere Run and APGA Tour Los Angeles – to finish third with 1,150 points. J.P. Thornton from Houston, Texas, won the APGA Tour at TPC Sugarloaf finishing fourth with 839 points. Willie Mack from Flint, Michigan, took fifth by scoring points in every event, totaling at 816.
O’Neal also won the Lexus Cup Points Race in 2018. Other previous APGA Tour Lexus Cup Point winners are Mack in 2019; Kevin Hall in 2017; and David Lawrence in 2016.
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 11th year, the tour consists of 10 events offering over $250,000 in prize money.
The final 2020 APGA Tour Lexus Cup Point Standings are listed below:
- Tim O’Neal 1858
- Kamaiu Johnson 1465
- Landon Lyons 1150
- JP Thornton 839
- Willie Mack 816
- Brad Adamonis 741
- Tommy Schaff 634
- Kevin Hall 595
- Marcus Manley 555
- Kelby Burton 520
- Rovonta Young 405
- Davin White 383
- Joe Hooks 371
- Nyasha Mauchaza 270
- Jarred Garcia 263
- Michael Herrera 256 points
- Jabir Bilal 250 points
- Maurice Jeffries 203 points
- Francis Biondi 188 points
- Christian Heavens 186 points
- Mark Victorian 180 points
- Travis Wells 133 points
- Joey Stills 125 points
- Trey Valentine 117 points
- Nick Wade 117 points
- Evin Jenkins 97 points
- Joseph Dent 92 points
