View Scorecards – https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/9197040333379105542
LAS VEGAS, NV. (April 11, 2023) – Longtime professional golf standout Wyatt Worthington II captured his first APGA Tour victory Tuesday, conquering windy conditions and a strong field for a two-stroke triumph in APGA Las Vegas at TPC Las Vegas. He entered the final round of the two-day event with a three-stroke lead and held off Marcus Byrd to secure the win with a final round score of even par 71.
One of the APGA Tour’s most recognizable players, the 36 year-old Worthington is a PGA of America-certified teaching pro who has competed in two PGA Championships. He won the John Shippen Invitational in 2022, earning him an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.
A resident of Reynoldsburg, Ohio (suburban Columbus), Worthington has had several top five finishes in APGA Tour competition and was happy to finally break through. “It feels great and it’s also a relief,” said Worthington, who works out of The Golf Depot at Central Park in Gahanna, Ohio. “It’s a notch on the belt against extremely tough APGA Tour competition. Now, I have to keep getting better and better.”
He held a three-stroke advantage over Gabriel Lench to lead the pack after the first round on Monday. Tuesday, he parred the last 11 holes to hold off Byrd, who won two of the first three APGA Tour events this year. “I saw Marcus running up the leaderboard, which was no surprise. So, I knew I had to keep the pedal to the metal,” Worthington added. He earned $7,500 from the purse of $25,000.
Byrd closed to within a couple of strokes with consecutive birdies on eight and nine to make it interesting. Thanks to his stellar play over the last six months, Byrd earned exemptions into The Genesis Invitational and Honda Classic earlier this year. His 69 on Monday left him five strokes behind Worthington heading into Tuesday’s final round.
Next up for Worthington is the PGA Professional Championship April 30-May 3 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. The top 20 finishers among over 300 players qualify for the PGA Championship. Worthington accomplished that feat in both 2016 and 2022.
Salvador Rocha Gomez of Austin, Texas, finished in third place with a 69-72-141. Aaron Beverly of Roseville, California, Joe Hooks of Detroit and Kamaiu Johnson of Oviedo, Florida, all tied for fourth with totals of even par 142.
Kendel Hodges, the Las Vegas resident who works as a club fitting specialist at Las Vegas Golf Superstore, finished tied for 15th in the field of 56 players.
The APGA Tour is back in action on April 30 – May 2 with APGA Tour at PGA Golf Club in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
ABOUT THE APGA TOUR
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works to accomplish this by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting an expected 18 tournaments awarding close to $1 million in prize and bonus money in 2023, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers as they work to chase their goals in professional golf.
