Sydney trio Justin Warren, John Lyras and Nathan Barbieri and Brisbane’s Gavin Fairfax have taken the first step to earning a card on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023.
The Aussie quartet all successfully navigated the First Stage of Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School across the United States last week, Warren’s tie for seventh in Arizona the most comfortable of the qualifiers.
A PGA Tour Monday qualifier at the Barracuda Championship in July, Warren was domiciled within the top 10 for the entire week at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club.
He followed up an opening round of three-under 69 with a superb 66 on day two, adding a further 11 birdies across the two weekend rounds of 68-70 to finish well inside the top 25 and ties.
Like Warren, Fairfax spent all four rounds inside the qualifying mark, posting rounds of 69-70-70-71 for an eight-under total to finish tied for 12th at Walden on Lake Conroe in Texas.
A graduate of the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program, Fairfax was tied for 17th at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in January and is now positioned to take his game internationally.
Lyras has already made appearances on the PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR and secured his spot at Second Stage with a top-10 finish at Illinois.
A top-six finisher three times across the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia season, Lyras had to fight back hard on the final day to squeeze inside the top 25.
Tied for 26th through three rounds, Lyras went bogey free for the first time all week in the final round, his five-under 67 launching him into a tie for ninth and safely through to stage two.
Barbieri squeaked through courtesy of a birdie on his final hole in his final round of even-par 72 at Crown Colony Golf and Country Club in Florida.
Tied for 10th entering the fourth round, Barbieri seemed certain of securing one of the spots on offer to the top 25 finishers and ties.
Two-under on his round, Barbieri dropped shots at both the 16th and 17th holes to fall below the cut-off, a closing birdie at the par-5 18th booking his place at Second Stage starting October 11.
Despite a third round of nine-under 63, Queenslander Tim Hart missed out by a shot in Arizona.
