Former CU golfer Yannik Paul and Colorado native Gunner Wiebe posted their best results of the year on the DP World Tour; with Parker's Sean Belch (Champions Tour) and former AFA golfer Tom Whitney ( PGA Tour) Same as
By Gary Baines – 10/13/2024
On the same course hosting this year's Olympic golf tournament, two players with major ties to Colorado posted their best DP World Tour results in quite some time on Sunday.
Seven days after his twin brother Jeremy officially locked up his 2025 PGA Tour card, Yannick Paul finished tied for second at the French FedEx Open at the Golf National near Paris. It was the former University of Colorado golfer's highest finish on the DP World Tour since back-to-back runner-up finishes in February 2023.
Colorado native, Kent Denver graduate and 2010 CGA Match Play champion Gunner Wiebe tied for eighth, his best performance on the European Tour since early last summer.
Meanwhile, also on Sunday, Shane Bertsch Parker posted his best finish at the PGA Tour Champions in more than four years since winning in August 2020. He finished third, three strokes behind winner Jerry Kelly and two strokes behind Padraig Harrington.
and former Air Force Academy golfer Tom Whitney He set a PGA Tour record by finishing 11th at the Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah.
— At the DP World Tour’s FedEx French Open: Yannik Paul, who played for CU from 2013-18, came close to picking up the second win of his DP World Tour career. After making a 7-foot birdie on the 17th on Sunday, he tried a 27-foot birdie on the 18th, just around the left edge of the hole. Had it gone in, he would have forced a playoff with champion Dan Bradbury, who ended up winning by a quarter, including Paul.
Paul, who won his only DP World Tour title two years ago, shot rounds of 66, 70, 67 and 66 in France for a total of 15 under. The last time he finished second (or better) was 20 months ago.
This is the fourth time this season that Paul has finished in the top ten, this time worth €197,202. With this result, his ranking in the DP World Tour season standings rose from 66th to 37th.
After finishing eighth on Sunday, Wiebe also made a huge jump in the standings, jumping 36 places to 145th. In France, he shot rounds of 70-68-65-68 for a 13-under total that left him three points behind Bradbury. The Kent Denver graduate enters the top 10 for the second time this year, earning €70,440.
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Shane Bertsch had a stellar performance at the PGA Tour Champions.
— At the PGA Tour Champions SAS Championship: In the final regular-season event on the Champions Tour, Belch finished at 10 under after shooting rounds of 69-67-70 in Cary, North Carolina.
Belch has been performing well on the Champions Tour since finishing third at the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open in late August. This week marks his third top-seven finish on the tour, adding to his CSO performance.
With Sunday's game, Belch will enter the three-game Charles Schwab Cup playoffs at No. 26 in the standings. He has a total of five top-10 finishes on the Champions Tour this year.
Belch will join former Aspen resident Justin Leonard and Denver-area residents Chris DiMarco and David Duvall in the Schwab Cup playoffs.
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— At the PGA Tour Black Desert Championship: Whitney, who had missed the cut in 10 of his last 11 starts on the PGA Tour before this week, finished tied for 11th in his first year in Utah.
Whitney's previous best finish on the PGA Tour was 13th at the American Express in January.
In Utah, Whitney shot 68, 68, 68 and 65 for a total score of 15 under, finishing eight strokes behind champion Matt McCarty.
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About the author: Gary Baines has been covering golf in Colorado since 1983. He was a sports writer and later sports editor for Boulder's Daily Camera newspaper and has been a regular contributor to ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. University of Colorado Evans Scholar alumnus inducted into Colorado Golf Hall of Fame class of 2022. He owns and operates coloradogolfmag.com