Pittston Area graduate Brandon Matthews shot three rounds in the 60s to make it into the money for the second time in three starts on the PGA’s new LOCALiQ Series.
Matthews shot 67-67-69 Wednesday through Friday to finish 13-under-par, 203 and tied for 16th in the Classic at Callaway Gardens, a 54-hole event in Pine Mountain, Ga.
The tournament drew a 144-player field made up primarily of players who normally compete in the PGA’s International Tours that have been shut down this year by the coronavirus pandemic. The eight-event LOCALiQ Series was created to replace some of the opportunities lost with the cancellation of those events.
Matthews finished in the top 10 in the first event of the series, then missed the cut by one stroke in the next.
Stoney Crouch defeated Hayden Sheih in a three-hole, sudden-death playoff after each finished at 20-under-par.
Matthews played a six-hole stretch in 4-under Wednesday. He shot 4-under-par, 32 on the front nine both Wednesday, when he started on the 10th tee, and Thursday.
After 10 pars and a birdie to begin the final round, Matthews eagled the 508-yard, par-5, 12th hole. He got to 14-under before a bogey on 17, a par-3.
Matthews entered the event tied for 26th in the season point list, but this week’s performance will move him up in those rankings. The top 78 players in the Race to The Bahamas Points Standings qualify for the season-ending, 72-hole tournament.
The next stop for the series is The Invitational at Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala., Tuesday through Thursday.
