Winding Bay, ABACO – Five players with ties to the Bluegrass State continue their pursuit of a PGA TOUR card beginning Sunday at the second stop on the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season – the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at the Abaco Club.
Kentuckians Matt Atkins (Owensboro), J.M. Butler (Louisville), Billy Tom Sargent (Georgetown), Josh Teater (Lexington), and Jared Wolfe (Louisville) are five of 132 players competing for the $1 million purse.
“Just another testament to the talent our state continues to produce in the sport of golf,” said Brooks Downing, President and Founder of Lexington, Ky.-based bdG Sports, which operates both the Abaco event as well as last week’s Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island. “We are so proud to brag about our Kentuckians, and their pursuit of their PGA TOUR cards.”
Wolfe, who played collegiately at Murray State, won the 2020 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at Baha Mar. Teater, who played at Morehead State, used a sponsor exemption in this event a year ago to propel himself to a top-10 finish. The Henry Clay High grad was then automatically placed in the field the following week at Panama, which he then won, re-establishing his status on the Korn Ferry Tour and narrowly missing earning a TOUR card at the end of the 2025 season.
Butler, who played collegiately at Auburn, was the first-round leader last week at Atlantis after firing a 62, before finishing 44th while Atkins (South Carolina-Aiken) made the cut and finished 22nd at 14-under. Teater missed the cut and Wolfe and Sargent (Western Kentucky grad) are making their first starts of the season in Abaco.
The event features a competitive field that includes 11 PGA TOUR winners, collecting 25 total wins, including five-time winner Jonathan Byrd and three-time winner Cameron Champ. In addition, the field has 44 Korn Ferry Tour winners, who have totaled 86 KFT wins.
The four-day event runs Sunday, Jan. 18 through Wednesday, Jan. 21 and will be televised worldwide by the Golf Channel with more than 12 hours of live programming. The Golf Channel will air the event from 2-5 p.m. ET on Sunday through Tuesday and from 1-4 p.m. on Wednesday. Live results also are available at https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour/leaderboard.
Seven of the last eight Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at the Abaco Club victors have gone on to earn their PGA TOUR Card at the conclusion of the season, including last year’s winner, Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju.
The top-20 players on the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Points List will earn 2027 PGA TOUR membership, with the season-long standings finalized after the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by Virginia’s Richmond Region in mid-October.
PLAYERS WITH TIES TO KENTUCKY
Matt Atkins – The Owensboro native attended USC Aiken (2011-13) where he was a two-time All-American and the PBC Golfer of the Year as a senior. A top 75 points leader during the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, Atkins has played in 199 tournaments on the KFT during his career, with one win and two runner-up finishes. He won the 2017 El Bosque Mexico Championship; took second at the 2024 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation and tied for second at the 2016 Club Colombia Championship.
J.M. Butler – A former Trinity High School alum and Auburn star, Butler turned pro in 2024 after helping lead the Tigers to the NCAA golf championship. He earned exemption status on the Korn Ferry Tour after finishing among the top 10 point scorers on the 2025 PGA TOUR Americas List. Last season on the PGA TOUR Americas , Butler posted six top-25 finishes, highlighted by winning the Bupa Championship in Mexico City, Mexico.
Billy Tom Sargent – The Georgetown native turned pro in 2019 after starring at WKU. The 2025 season was his best on tour with five top-25 finishes and a top-10 finish in the 2025 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open.
Josh Teater – The Lexington native and former Morehead State star turned pro in 2001 and has played in more than 200 events on the PGA Tour. Teter owns 18 Top 10 finishes and one tournament win (2020 Puerto Rico Open) in his professional career. He has qualified for the PGA three times through the Korn Ferry Tour (2009, 2018, 2023), including a 26th-place finish in 2023. Teater tied for seventh place at 17-under 271 at last year’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at the Abaco Club.
Jared Wolfe – The Louisville native and Morehead State alum (2010) owns two career wins on the Korn Ferry Tour with both coming in 2020 – at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at Baha Mar and the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth. He has competed in 130 Korn Ferry Tour events during his career with eight Top 10 finishes.