Ben Kohles was named the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, it was announced Wednesday.
The 33-year-old finished No. 1 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List behind his two victories: the astara Chile Classic and HomeTown Lenders Championship. Kohles also recorded eight top-10s, including four in the final five events of the season. Kohles made 23 starts throughout the 26-event season, posting the fourth-lowest scoring average on tour (68.80).
By virtue of his No. 1 finish on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, Kohles earned fully exempt status for the 2024 PGA Tour season, as well as exemptions for the 2024 U.S. Open and 2024 Players Championship. It marked Kohles’ third time earning PGA Tour membership, as he previously earned a Tour card following the 2012 and 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour seasons.
Both of Kohles’ wins came in April. Kohles’ victory at the astara Chile Classic marked his first PGA Tour-sanctioned title in over 10 years, dating to his rookie season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2012. Four weeks after his win in Chile, Kohles won the HomeTown Lenders Championship following a two-hole sudden death playoff, earning his fourth career Korn Ferry Tour victory.
Kohles turned professional in 2012 after a highly decorated collegiate career at Virginia, where he was a two-time All-American and back-to-back winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year award in 2010 and 2011. He became the first (and remains the only) player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win each of his first two starts, as he won at the 2012 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and Cox Classic.
Kohles will make his 2024 PGA Tour debut at this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii.
