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Summerhays earns Korn Ferry Tour status to begin 2023
Daniel Summerhays earned Korn Ferry Tour full membership to begin the 2023 season by tying for 17th place in the final stage of qualifying at Savannah, Georgia, in mid-November.
Approaching his 39th birthday in December, Daniel Summerhays is eliminating “retirement” and “comeback” from his vocabulary. A two-year detour from his touring pro life, time spent as a Davis High school teacher and BYU volunteer assistant coach, has led him back to Korn Ferry Tour membership.
His outlook? Enjoying what he’s doing in the moment.
Summerhays earned Korn Ferry Tour full membership to begin the 2023 season by tying for 17th place in the final stage of qualifying at Savannah, Georgia, in mid-November. The top-40 finish gives the graduate of Davis High School and BYU eight guaranteed starts as the season begins in January in the Bahamas. As of mid-April, he’ll be subject to periodic, performance-based reordering of golfers’ access to tournaments.
Summerhays will join BYU alumnus Patrick Fishburn, who earned full status for a third KFT season with a top-75 finish in the 2022 standings. Another ex-Cougar, Peter Kuest, will have low conditional status in 2023 after tying for 125th in the final stage.
Summerhays (65-69-72-72) finished two strokes out of the top 10, which would have given him 12 guaranteed starts. He deserves credit, though, for steadying himself during the final round, playing the last seven holes in 1 under par. Summerhays stayed comfortably inside the top 40, a goal he targeted this past summer.
Approaching his 39th birthday in December, Daniel Summerhays is eliminating “retirement” and “comeback” from his vocabulary.
“I wasn’t planning and scheming for a PGA Tour comeback or anything,” he said. “I just wanted to keep the goal short term and put in my best effort in preparation. (The final stage) was so fun and terrifying at the same time. I was nervous the entire week, which is so healthy and natural when you work hard for something and when you want to perform at a high level. … I was able to deal with some adversity and anxiety and finish how I wanted to.”
Summerhays added, “Now, I will reevaluate what my next short-term plans are and work toward that.”
Feature written by Fairways Media Senior Writer, Kurt Kragthorpe. Photos by Fairways Media.