Brandon Matthews heads for the 2020 professional golf season with renewed confidence, not from the now-famous aftermath of his most recent tournament, but because of his play in the past two weeks of an otherwise difficult season.
In a move comparable to a promising baseball player stalling at Triple-A and moving back down to Double-A, Matthews lost his place on the Korn Ferry Tour in his second season there.
Back on the PGA Latinoamericas Tour, where he won the title at the 2017 Molino Canuelas Championship, Matthews made the most of two late-season tournament entries.
“There were a lot of factors that tied into it,” said Matthews, who has battled back problems in recent years, forcing adjustments in his swing. “I’m just really happy to see I came out stronger on the other end of things.”
After earning $65,200 and finishing in the top 10 twice in 2018 to finish his first season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 82nd place, Matthews made three straight cuts to begin 2019.
Matthews made just one more cut in his remaining 18 tournaments, withdrew from tournaments three times and tumbled all the way to 184th place with just $8,215 in prize money.
“Two weeks ago, before I went down to Argentina, I didn’t have status on any tour for the year 2020,” Matthews said.
Matthews fired a third-round 65 on the way to a fifth-place finish at the Neuquen Argentina Classic. He then made it into the playoff to finish second at the Argentine Open, climbing all the way to 33rd on the tour’s Order of Merit with $25,550 in earnings.
“I earned enough money and points to get inside the top 60 on the Order of Merit for the Latinoamericas Tour, which exempts me for 2020,” Matthews said. “I will have full exemption there next year.”
It was on that tour in 2017 that Matthews played his way on to the Korn Ferry Tour, one step short of the PGA Tour.
The former Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state champion at Pittston Area and winner of multiple college tournaments for Temple University is feeling better about his game.
“I’ve explained this a lot lately,” he said. “Athletes kind of go through lulls in their career. I kind of went through a lull this year when my golf game was not as good as it has been; my mental game was not as good as it has been.
“As of the past few months, I am in as good a place as I have been maybe ever.”
