Frankie Capan III awoke Sunday morning determined to end his dry spell in a city facing its own drought.
Capan succeeded, winning the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship by two strokes. The light rain that fell on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course was unofficially awarded runner-up, bringing brief relief to one of the driest Septembers on record.
“I’ve come close (to winning) a few times, so it really feels nice to get the monkey off my back,” said Capan, whose 1-under 70 Sunday made him 13-under for the tournament, two shots better than Carter Jenkins, William Mouw and Thomas Rosenmuller. “I wasn’t my best today, but you’ve got to find a way to get the job done and I’m happy with what I did. Being in contention before and not getting the job done helped me today, to stay patient.”
Capan went to bed Saturday night holding a one-stroke lead with 18 holes to play in the NCHC, the third of four Finals events on the Korn Ferry Tour. The 24-year-old Minnesotan had never won in 55 tries. His closest calls were two runner-up finishes this season.
The winless streak looked to be snapped early, when Capan birdied three of the first six holes to stretch his one-shot lead to four, but by hole 11 the cushion was down to two.
Then the clouds rolled in and the rain – remember what that is? – arrived. Then the wind picked up. Boy, did it ever. Suddenly, hot, still air turned violent, reaching gusts of 30 mph as Capan teed off at No. 11.
Considering Columbus had seen 0.08 of rainfall all month – the average for September is 2.4 inches – any farmers in the gallery had to be pleased. But Capan was not. Playing in the last group meant he would be competing in the wind longer than the groups of challengers playing ahead of him.
“I was a couple back at that point,” said Matt McCarty, who finished tied for fifth, three strokes back. “And on a day like today maybe some bogeys pop in there, so I think (wind) is good when you’re chasing, not when you’re just trying to hang on.”
Capan was hanging on after bogeying No. 11 to see his lead drop to one.
“It wasn’t my favorite thing to happen,” Capan said of the gusty weather. “I didn’t want it to start blowing 30 mph out of nowhere. We were playing a hole (No. 11) that is straight into the wind and the guys in front of us who were just trailing got a 30-mph downwind on the par-5. So I was thinking, ‘OK, they definitely can at least birdie and maybe eagle that hole.’ ”
But instead of melting, Capan got his mental game under control, telling himself he wasn’t the only one having to play in the jet stream. Call it growth. He said that a year ago the windy weather pattern would have shaken his confidence. Not this time. He birdied No. 12 and, after the winds subsided relied on a strong short game down the stretch, including a sand save for par at No. 17, to secure the win. The victory earned him $270,000 from a purse of $1.5 million.
Capan enters this week’s Korn Ferry Championship in French Lick, Indiana, ranked fifth on the tour’s points list and having already secured his PGA Tour card two weeks ago by finishing 12th at the Simmons Bank Open. The majority of players competing at the final KF event of the season are still seeking their cards. Of the 75 who will tee it up in Indiana, only those who finish in the top 30 on the season-ending points list will earn PGA Tour cards for 2025. Seventeen of those spots have already been claimed, based on a full season of play, leaving 13 to be had.
“It’s everything,” Capan said of earning his card. “It’s what we work for. I failed a lot last year, so I learned a lot. For me, it’s about putting the pieces together and trying to figure out how they all fit, and I was able to get them to fit well this week.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Capan wins Korn Ferry Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship
