When he arrived in Manitoba three weeks ago, Étienne Papineau had not yet secured his short-term future on the fairways and greens of the Canadian circuit. After finishing in the top five in the final standings, he became the first Quebecer in more than 10 years to make it to the PGA anteroom.
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A superb second-place finish in Manitoba in a nerve-wracking moment in late August gave him a bit of a sigh of relief and almost secured his Korn Ferry Circuit card. At the Canadian PGA Tour Championship last weekend, his 24th place secured him fourth place in the final standings.
What is the significance of this achievement?
The golfer, who turns 27 today, will compete in the PGA Lobby at least four times in 2024.
It’s a good start.
Get to know the 5 newest ones @KornFerryTour Members:
🏆Hayden Springer
Sam Choi
Davis Lamb
Etienne Papineau
Yi Cao— PGA TOUR Canada – Fortinet Cup (@PGATOURCanada) September 11, 2023
The Quebecer is insatiable and wants more to avoid getting stuck in the administrative labyrinth of the PGA priority lists.
Status problem
Because of this, he will look to improve his preliminary status by participating in the final qualifying round at Korn Ferry in December. An outstanding performance would earn him full-time status, if not direct access to the PGA Tour.
“I’m not quite where I want to be yet. I have earned Korn Ferry status and am happy with it. But I can’t stop here. “It’s just a step in my career,” the golfer said in an interview with Le Journal from Calgary before returning home Monday night.
A speech that rhymes with the speech he gave in June after his victory at the inaugural Canadian circuit tournament in Victoria. Papineau demands more and more.
But when he sees the progress that has been made since last year, riddled with pitfalls and injuries, he is more than satisfied.
“I showed perseverance because it wasn’t always easy, especially last winter. I’m happy with the quality of my game. I did it well and the results were there. I can’t complain about that.”
But?
“I’m not 100% satisfied yet. I need to improve my consistency on the greens and in my short game, which is too inconsistent for my taste. These aspects have hurt me in certain tournaments.
Bernard Brault, Golf Canada
Tough competition
Rightly so, as Papineau begins his first experience on the KFT, he has to work double or even triple to improve on the greens. The putter must work together to perform well in this pond full of sharks hell-bent on eating their PGA Tour card.
The Korn Ferry Circuit recognizes golfers who rank in the top 30 in the final season standings, in addition to a pass to the Players and the United States Open.
Of the five members of the PGA Tour Canada Top 5 in the final 2022 rankings, only one has cracked the top 30 this year, American Jake Knapp. The winner, Canadian Will Bateman, is in 60th place.
Papineau knows the competition will be tough. He says he is ready to face it vigorously. If he manages to maintain consistency through good results, anything is possible.
“I have to keep the same approach. I’ve been planning this since I was young. I worked a lot to get here,” explained the man who has two starts on the PGA Tour, at the Phoenix Open in February 2022 and the Canadian Open this summer.
Bernard Brault, Golf Canada
External challenges
Even off the track, he says he is ready to take on the many challenges that await him.
The KFT’s schedule will become more demanding if it manages to achieve full status. This includes almost 30 tournaments. Due to traveling through the USA and Latin America, this is more taxing on the body and more taxing on the wallet.
The Quebecer has been well cared for and well supervised for many years and is not too worried in this regard. He has valuable sponsors and will work hard on training in the gym during the off-season.
Étienne Papineau’s season on the Canadian circuit
10 tournaments
1 win
2 top 10
5 Top 25
2 failed cleavers
Average score: 68.5 shots (13th)
Profit: $68,202
The Korn Ferry tour in brief
PGA anteroom
The top 30 will receive a PGA Tour card with “KFT Graduates” status the following season.
Season starts in January (around 30 tournaments)
Playoffs of 4 tournaments at the end of the season