College Star Follows Rose Zhang And Wins Korn Ferry Tour Event On Pro Debut

All-American college star Adrien Dumont de Chassart won on the Korn Ferry Tour in his pro debut, prompting record ranking rise

Adrien Dumont de Chassart
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Paul Higham
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Just a week after Rose Zhang won on her professional debut, Belgium’s Adrien Dumont de Chassart followed suit by winning the BMW Charity Pro-Am on the Korn Ferry Tour to prompt a record rankings jump.

The 23-year-old was a college star at Illinois and made his pro debut look like a walk in the park as he won at his very first attempt thanks to a playoff victory over Josh Teater.

Dumont de Chassart shot a final-round 65, with a bogey on his final hole dropping him into a playoff with Teater instead of claiming the title outright.

However, showing remarkable character for a youngster on his debut, the Belgian got a par in the playoff to beat Teater’s bogey and win his maiden pro title at his very first attempt.

“I’m not going to lie, I was very nervous out there," Dumont de Chassart said. "I was like four behind after 12. I just remember looking at the leaderboard on 13 and kind of got on a roll. I’m glad it’s over now, and that was a great chip on 18."

A first-team All-American, Dumont de Chassart finished third in the PGA Tour University standings to earn a Korn Ferry Tour card for the rest of the season – and his win instantly fired him into 22nd in the standings, with the top 30 earning PGA Tour cards at the end of the season.

Straight out of college, Dumont de Chassart pocketed the $180,000 first prize – not a bad first payday as a professional golfer.

“I’m not doing it for the money. But that was pretty exciting stuff,” Dumont de Chassart said.

“I came here with no expectation. . "I had a good college career and I just wanted to play my game and see where I was compared to all these players.

“I hit the ball very well this week. I had a great short game, too. I was cool to see I can compete at this level.”

Along with the professional victory and pay check, Dumont de Chassart also had a huge, record boost in the Official World Golf Ranking, rocketing up from 3681 to 479 in the latest standings.

The rise of 3202 places is a new record, according to rankings guru Nosferatu (@VC606) on Twitter – and is even more than the 3003 place Michael Block jumped up after his epic PGA Championship run.

It was a huge event for Illinois golf, with second-year pro Michael Feagles shooting 59 in the event to cap a superb tournament for the college.

Paul Higham
Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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