Hubbard falls short of Tour Championship, but won almost $1.9 million this season on PGA Tour; former Buff Lee places 15th after making her first LPGA cut
By Gary Baines – 8/30/2020
Mark Hubbard’s first season back on the PGA Tour after a three-year hiatus was ever so successful, but it ended on Sunday at the BMW Championship in Olympia Fields, Ill.
The Denver native and Colorado Academy graduate needed to finish in the top 30 in season-long FedExCup points in order to advance to the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. But a 51st-place showing on Sunday at the BMW dropped him to 44th in points, thus ending his 2019-20 wraparound season.
Hubbard went 70-77-69-75 at Olympia Fields for an 11-over-par 291 total. Jon Rahm claimed the title with a playoff birdie, beating Dustin Johnson after both finished at 276.
After never placing better than 15th place in a PGA Tour event before this season, Hubbard recorded seven top-15 showings on the PGA Tour in 2019-20, including a runner-up at the Houston Open. He earned a whopping $1.84 million this season.
Elsewhere in tour golf for players with strong Colorado connections:
— Former University of Colorado golfer Esther Lee not only made her first career cut on the LPGA Tour, but she finished 15th on Sunday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers.
Despite a rough finish — bogey-par-double bogey — that kept her from a top-10 showing, Lee finished at 11-under-par 202, nine strokes back of champion Austin Ernst.
Lee carded scores of 64-69-69. On Sunday, she made six birdies to go along with two bogeys and the 18th-hole double bogey.
— Coloradan Chris Korte tied for ninth on Friday in The Classic at Callaway Gardens, in Pine Mountain, Ga., part of the Local iQ Series. The former University of Denver golfer posted rounds of 67-68-66 for a 15-under-par 201 total, which left him five strokes behind champion Stoney Crouch, who won in a playoff. Korte made seven birdies and one bogey in the final round.
— Former Colorado State University golfer Colton Yates tied for 10th place on Wednesday on the Golden State Tour’s Temecula Creek Championship in Temecula, Calif. Yates went 71-64-72 for a 9-under 207 total. He finished 10 strokes back of winner Austin Bautista of Altadena, Calif.