Pittston Area graduate Brandon Matthews missed the cut in his PGA Tour debut when he shot rounds of 75 and 81 Thursday and Friday during the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Country Club in Orlando, Fla.
Matthews would have needed to shoot 3-over-par, 147 or better to make it into the Saturday and Sunday rounds to complete the tournament.
The 25-year-old from Dupont was playing on a sponsor’s exemption.
Matthews bogeyed two of his first four holes Thursday, then settled in to play 1-over the rest of the way.
Friday was a rougher round.
Matthews finished the tournament with just one birdie on a three-foot putt on the fourth hole Friday.
Starting on the back nine in the second round, Matthews drove into fairway bunkers on his first two holes, leading to bogeys.
Matthews lost just one more stroke to par over the next five holes before hitting into the water on 17 and 18 for consecutive double bogeys.
From there, Matthews recovered to play the front nine in 2-over-par, 38.
Matthews also drove into a bunker on his first hole of the tournament Thursday, resulting in a bogey. He had bogeys on the first and fourth holes when he followed drives into bunkers with approach shots into green-side bunkers.
After nine straight pars, Matthews had a bogey on 14.
Matthews was given an invitation to the tournament after an incident involving Matthews and a fan with special needs went viral.
Matthews faced an 8-foot putt to extend a sudden-death playoff in the PGA Tour Latinoamerica event. A victory would mean a spot in the British Open and, perhaps more importantly to his career, graduation to the Korn Ferry Tour.
A fan screamed out in the middle of his stroke, and Matthews missed. He turned around in disbelief at such behavior, only to learn it was a middle-aged man with Down syndrome. Soon after, Matthews consoled the fan with a hug and signed a glove for him.
Matthews’ handling of the event drew wide-ranging praise. Organizers of the Arnold Palmer Invitational offered him an exemption into the tournament.
The former Temple University standout has competed in 46 tournaments since turning professional in 2016, making 19 cuts and earning $78,012.
