Kickoff event of 2023, scheduled for January 28-29 at Torrey Pines Golf Course, will be hosted in conjunction with PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open and will air on Golf Channel

La Jolla, CA – Officials with the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour, a non-profit organization with the mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, today announced the 18-player field for the exclusive APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational. The kickoff to the APGA Tour’s 2023 season will include a collection of the top, young, minority professional golfers playing 36 holes, with the first round being played Saturday, January 28 on the North Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course and the final round Sunday, January 29 on the South Course. For the second straight year, Sunday’s play will be broadcast live on Golf Channel.

Saturday’s round on the North Course will be played as the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open concludes the same day on the South Course. Sunday’s final round of the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational on the South Course will use the same final-round hole locations that the world’s top pros putted to the day prior.

Removing the financial burden and providing opportunities associated with the game are a top priority for both Farmers® and the APGA Tour. The organizations are also focused on ensuring players have access to the tools and support they need, allowing them to better focus on their career paths and development in the game. The purse will again pay $100,000, with $30,000 to the tournament winner.

“The APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational has served as our landmark event for several years,” said APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley. “Our players and staff relish the opportunity to enjoy access to the PGA TOUR and the best players in the world to witness and learn from the way in which they sharpen their craft. Additionally, this event provides the APGA Tour with the ability to highlight and promote the stories of perseverance and dedication that our players represent.”

The field of 18 includes the following players along with how they qualified:

Top player in the season-ending 2021-22 APGA Collegiate Rankings (May 23, 2022)

• Quinn Riley

Top six (6) eligible players from the final 2022 Lexus Cup points list (Aug. 10, 2022)

• Kamaiu Johnson
• Marcus Byrd
• Daniel Augustus
• Joe Hooks
• Andrew Walker
• Kevin Hall

Top three (3) eligible players from the final 2022 Farmers Fall Series standings* (Nov. 10, 2022)

• Michael Bradham
• Wyatt Worthington II
• Christian Heavens

Top player in the 2022-2023 APGA Collegiate Rankings as of Nov. 18, 2022**

• Greg Odom, Jr. (a)

Top player from the 2022 APGA Cisco Junior Series presented by APGA Tour and Cameron Champ Foundation final ranking (Nov. 18, 2022)

• Matthew Vital (a)

Six (6) APGA Tour players as nominated by APGA Tour and approved by the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational exemption committee (Nov. 18, 2022)

• Toks Pedro
• Ryan Alford
• Joey Stills
• Jarred Garcia
• Aaron Grimes
• Davin White

Additional Criteria:

*not otherwise qualified through the above Lexus Cup standings
**players are eligible to receive this exemption one time during their college career
(a) Player is an amateur

Included in the field are 2022 APGA Tour Lexus Cup Champion Kamaiu Johnson, who won three times in 2022, as well as 2022 APGA Farmers Insurance Fall Series winner Marcus Byrd.

Johnson won his third event of the season at the APGA Charlie Sifford Centennial at the Clubs of Kingwood just two months after winning the APGA Mastercard Tour Championship and the season-long Lexus Cup Points race. The Tour Championship win also earned Johnson an exemption into 12 events on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica series. Johnson now has five APGA Tour wins in the last three years, having also won the Tour Championship in 2020 and the APGA Tour’s Las Vegas stop each of the past two years. Byrd won the second Fall Series event at the APGA Tour Valley Forge for his first win of the season and followed with a runner-up finish at the APGA Charlie Sifford Centennial. After finishing fifth in the 2022 Lexus Cup Standings, he went on to win the Fall Series standings. He also finished T2 at the Butterfield Bermuda APGA Championship. On the year, Byrd played in 14 APGA Tour events and had 11 top-10 finishes including 8 top-3s and five runner-up finishes to go along with his victory in August. In his last seven starts on the APGA Tour, he had finishes that included T2, T2, T5, 1st, T2 and 2nd.

Daniel Augustus, who finished 6th in the Lexus Cup standings has 8 top-10 finishes and two runner-up finishes on the APGA Tour this year. Earlier this year, Augustus conducted an interview with Golf Digest and the Fire Pit Collective revealing a childhood of tragedy and abuse.

Quinn Riley came to the APGA Tour mid-season after finishing No. 1 in the 2021-22 APGA Collegiate Ranking. Since joining the APGA Tour this summer after a strong college career at Duke University, he had three top-10 finishes.

Wyatt Worthington II enters the event having qualified for the 2022 PGA Championship as a PGA professional and winning The John Shippen National Golf Invitational, which granted him an exemption to play in the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier this year.

Andrew Walker is in his first full season on the APGA Tour and captured his first APGA Tour win at the APGA Cisco Invitational at Baltusrol in August.

Ryan Alford teed it up at the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA TOUR and stuck around to caddie for Byrd, his good friend, in the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational. A two-time APGA Tour winner in 2021, Alford struggled through health and injury complications and looks to rebound in 2023.

Thanks in part to victories this fall at the River Run Collegiate and USF-Howard Intercollegiate, Greg Odom, Jr., overtook Michigan State’s Troy Taylor III for the top position in the most recent APGA Collegiate Rankings, putting Odom in the field standings. Odom’s Howard University teammate Everett Whiten Jr. sits in third place.

Farmers leaders have taken time to listen to APGA Tour players, APGA Tour leadership and many others throughout the golf industry, and recognized the importance of offering additional support on the collegiate level, resulting in Farmers sponsorship of the Black College Golf Coaches Association (BCGCA) and their HBCU events. As part of the organization’s efforts to help grow golf and increase access, Farmers has also expanded its relationship with the APGA Tour and the APGA Foundation to help provide assistance for players at all stages of their journey.

Original article by Staff on PGATour.com