Winding Bay, ABACO – Owensboro-native Matt Atkins carded a 4-under par 68 and was tied with seven golfers for sixth place Sunday when darkness halted first-round play at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at the Abaco Club.
First-round play will resume Monday at 7 a.m. ET with the second round slated to begin at 7:30 a.m. The Golf Channel airs live coverage of the event from 2-5 p.m. Monday.
In breezy but dry conditions, Atkins climbed among the leaders after posting five birdies in his first 10 holes. He finished the day with six birdies and eight par scores to offset three bogies. Ben Taylor leads the 132-player field at 6-under through 15 holes.
Four other Kentuckians are competing in the second event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season along with Atkins, including J.M. Butler (Louisville), Billy Tom Sargent (Georgetown), Josh Teater (Lexington) and Jared Wolfe (Louisville).
Sargent completed his opening round with a 1-under 71 score, tying for 33rd place. He birdied two of his last four holes to finish below par.
Butler, who was the first-round leader last week at Atlantis after firing a 10-under 62 before finishing the event in 44th place, was not able to complete Sunday’s first round. He returns to action Monday tied for 33rd place at 1-under 50 through 13 holes.
Teater, who tied for seventh place at 17-under 271 at last year’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, posted a 5-over 77 to finish tied for 119th Sunday. Wolfe, the winner of this event in 2020, ended the first round at 8-over 80, tying for 129th place.
This week’s event features a $1 million purse and boasts a strong field, including 11 PGA TOUR winners who have collected 25 total wins. In addition, the field has 44 Korn Ferry Tour winners, who have totaled 86 KFT wins.
The four-day event continues 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 Monday 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 has played in 57 events on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2020, a year after he turned pro. His lone top-10 finish to date came when he tied for seventh at the 2025 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open. He earned exemption into the 2026 KFT season after finishing the 2025 campaign inside the top 100 on the points standings list.
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.