The best golfers at the Memorial Health Championship
Panther Creek Country Club is hosting the seventh annual Memorial Health Championship this weekend. The Korn Ferry Tour tournament begins at 6:45 a.m. Thursday and ends Sunday.
Here are the top five contenders and potential future stars to watch at the tournament.
The 29-year-old Houston, Texas native won the tournament in 2018 and held the course record until Taylor Moore eclipsed that benchmark with a 257 27-under en route to the championship. last year. Albertson also reached the top five in 2017 and 2020 but missed the cut last summer. He won the Visit Knoxville Open in May and has three top 10s this season to finish 15th in the Korn Ferry Tour standings.
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The 23-year-old South Korean has made a stellar debut on the Korn Ferry Tour with four top-10 finishes this season. He ranks No. 6 in the standings and has two international wins at the 2020 KPGA Championship and the 2021 PGA Championship of Japan. He lost to Trevor Werbylo in the Lake Charles Championship in late March and also finished tied for second in the LECOM Suncoast Classic in Florida towards the end of February.
The 29-year-old Argentinian native has scored seven top-10 finishes this season but is still looking for his first win on the tour. He recently tied for third place at TPC Colorado and has finished in the top 10 in three consecutive tournaments.
![Erik Barnes hits his approach shot on the No. 1 hole during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Illinois on Sunday, July 18, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/07/18/NSJR/98f9cd5a-a733-42a2-aac4-206570db22df-ILSPR-07162021-PHOTO-KFTourD4-01.jpg?width=300&height=418&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
The 34-year-old Michigan native has an incredible 18 top-10 finishes during his career on the Korn Ferry Tour, but no wins. That includes second place at last year’s Memorial Health Championship. He shared the lead with eventual winner Taylor Moore before going three strokes short. He has six top-10 finishes this season and ranks No. 8 in the Tour standings.
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It would be crazy to leave out the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Korn Ferry Tour standings. Yuan, 25, retains the top spot after being runners-up at TPC Colorado behind fellow Chinese Zecheng Dou, who moved up 17 spots to No. 2 with the victory. Yuan, who started with Kim at 7:45 a.m. at No. 10, won the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in late March and has seven top 10 finishes.
Contact Bill Welt: (217) 788-1545, [email protected], Twitter.com/BillWelt