Former CU golfer Yannik Paul and Colorado native Gunner Wiebe post best finishes of year on DP World Tour; same with Parker’s Shane Bertsch (Champions circuit) and former AFA golfer Tom Whitney (PGA Tour)
By Gary Baines – 10/13/2024
At the same course that hosted this year’s Olympic golf tournaments, two players with major Colorado ties had their best DP World Tour finishes in quite a while on Sunday.
Seven days after his twin brother Jeremy officially locked up his PGA Tour card for 2025, Yannik Paul tied for second in the FedEx Open de France at Le Golf National near Paris. That was the former University of Colorado golfer’s top finish on the DP World Tour circuit since posting back-to-back runner-ups in February 2023.
And Gunner Wiebe, a Colorado native and Kent Denver graduate who won the 2010 CGA Match Play, shared eighth place, marking his top showing on the European circuit since the early summer of last year.
Meanwhile, also on Sunday, Shane Bertsch of Parker recorded his best finish on PGA Tour Champions in more than four years — since his victory in August 2020. He ended up in third place, three strokes back of winner Jerry Kelly and two behind Padraig Harrington.
And former Air Force Academy golfer Tom Whitney notched his top finish ever on the PGA Tour as he placed 11th in the Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah.
— At FedEx Open de France on DP World Tour: Yannik Paul, who played for CU between 2013-18, very nearly notched the second victory of his DP World Tour career. After making a 7-foot birdie on the 17th hole on Sunday, his 27-foot birdie try on 18 just skirted the left edge of the hole. Had it gone in, he would have forced a playoff with champion Dan Bradbury, who ended up winning by one over four players, including Paul.
Paul, whose lone DP World Tour win came two years ago, carded rounds of 66-70-67-66 for a 15-under-par total in France. His last runner-up — or better — finished had come 20 months ago.
It’s Paul’s fourth top-10 of the season, with this one being worth 197,202 euros. With it, he moved from 66th to 37th on the DP World Tour’s season-long points list.
After his eighth-place finish on Sunday, Wiebe also made a big jump in the point standings, vaulting 36 spots up to 145th. In France, he posted scores of 70-68-65-68 for a 13-under-par total, which left him three back of Bradbury. The Kent Denver grad earned 70,440 euros in notching his second top-10 of the year.
Shane Bertsch has been on a good roll on PGA Tour Champions.
— At SAS Championship on PGA Tour Champions: In the final regular-season event on the Champions circuit, Bertsch ended up at 10 under par after carding rounds of 69-67-70 in Cary, N.C.
Since shortly before placing third at the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open in late August, Bertsch has been on a nice run on the Champions circuit. This week marks his third top-7 finish on that tour during that span, in addition to how he fared at the CSO.
With Sunday’s showing, Bertsch will going into the three-tournament Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs 26th in the standings. He has five top-10s overall on the Champions Tour this year.
Bertsch will be joined in the Schwab Cup Playoffs by former Aspen resident Justin Leonard, and Denver-area residents Chris DiMarco and David Duval.
— At the Black Desert Championship on the PGA Tour: Whitney, who had missed 10 cuts in his last 11 events on the PGA Tour prior to this week, tied for 11th place at the first-year event in Utah.
Whitney’s previous best showing in his PGA Tour career was 13th at The American Express in January.
In Utah, Whitney went 68-68-68-65 for a 15-under-par total, which ended up eight strokes behind winner Matt McCarty.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com