Sandy Scott goes back-to-back on Korn Ferry Tour, while Williams Sides extends season despite playoff loss

OWASSO, Oklahoma – Sandy Scott’s impressive comeback from a serious wrist injury continued Sunday at The Patriot Golf Club, where the 28-year-old from Nairn, Scotland, won on the Korn Ferry Tour for the second straight tournament, this time capturing the Compliance Solutions Championship in a four-hole playoff over rookie William Sides.

Scott, a former Walker Cupper and standout at Texas Tech, missed about a year and a half from late 2020 to early 2022 after undergoing two surgeries to repair torn ligaments in his right wrist. He didn’t know if he’d ever play golf again. Now, Scott, who also captured the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship two weeks ago in Columbus, Ohio, is No. 1 on the KFT points list with one event left, already having clinched his place on the PGA Tour next season.

“I think my golf has felt good for a while,” Scott said. “Like I’d say the results have started to come in recently in kind of grand fashion. I feel like it’s been just right there for a long time.”

Scott’s wrist flared up earlier this summer, forcing him to miss about two months and knocking him down the points list; he was 36th entering the regular-season finale in Kansas City, where he tied for fourth to start this magical run.

Scott somehow lost nearly two shots on the field with a third-round 67 on Saturday as six players shot 61 or better, led by Yuta Sugiura’s 58. But he got off to a quick start on Sunday with four birdies in his first six holes and despite a back nine that included a pair of par-5 pars and only one birdie, Scott slipped into overtime after Sides blew his drive on the par-4 18th into the grandstands and eventually left a 15-footer for par on the lip.

Scott and Sides each finished regulation at 24 under while eight others also crossed the 20-under barrier this week, which saw the 16th hole changed from a par-5 to a par-4 following last year’s 33-under winning performance by Adrien Dumont de Chassart.

On the fourth extra hole, the fourth spin around the par-4 18th on the day, Scott ended things by sinking an 18-foot birdie putt.

“I think I always had the belief I can do it and that’s why we all tee it up,” said Scott, who matches Ian Holt as the second player this season to win back-to-back events. “I think that’s where we all see ourselves going. Yeah, the belief is a big part of this game. To do it in this fashion is pretty special. I’m proud of the fight to get here. I’m grateful for the support that I’ve had to get here.”

As far as consolation prizes go, Sides received a decent one. The SMU product from Tulsa, who overcame the putting yips in college that he conquered by switching to a left-handed stroke, entered this week with a free roll of sorts. He was fourth in the PGA Tour University’s total points list, with the top five performing grads between both tours earning full KFT status for 2027.

But his blazing finish — 60-64, which was capped by a back nine Sunday that featured a 6-under stretch from Nos. 12-16, including a 15-foot eagle at No. 15 and holed bunker shot on No. 16 that hit the flagstick with force and dropped for birdie — bumped Sides from No. 82 in KFT points all the way to No. 39. He will likely need a win at next week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Glen Allen, Virginia, to crack the top 20 and earn a PGA Tour card, but he’s at least got a chance by finishing among the top 60 players who advance to the playoff finale.

Also moving inside the top 60 this week was Chad Sewell, the 27-year-old from Conroe, Texas, who played four seasons at UTSA before transferring to Sam Houston, where he also spent time after graduation as an assistant coach. Sewell, a rookie who earned status via Q-School last winter, hit an 8-iron 147 yards to a few feet to birdie his last hole, shoot a closing 64 and eventually secure a seventh-place finish that moved him from No. 72 to No. 59.

“I honestly pulled my drive a little, and that makes that hole a lot shorter and a lot easier, and then hit probably the best 8-iron of my life there,” Sewell said. “I’ve learned a ton this year. Going into today, it was a win-win situation regardless; I kept some sort of status going into next year, and then obviously, cherry on top going to Virginia.”

Nicolo Galletti started the week as Mr. 60, and he ended it as Mr. 60. Galletti also birdied the 18th hole on Sunday and ended up T-27 to finish just ahead of the first two players out of next week, Will Chandler and Phichaksn Maichon.

“Never give up,” said the 31-year-old Galletti, who was a college teammate of Jon Rahm at Arizona State. “You never know what can happen.”