Michigan State University Athletics
Former Spartan Ryan Brehm Earns Spot on PGA TOUR
8/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Former Michigan State All-American and assistant coach Ryan Brehm became the first MSU golfer to earn a PGA TOUR membership card. On Sunday, Brehm won the WinCo Foods Portland Open at the Witch Hollow Course at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
Brehm's final round 3-under 68 helped him to a 15-under 269 for the week, just beating Mark Anderson by one shot. The $144,000 winner's check bumped him up from No. 30 on the money list to No. 4, placing him firmly inside the top-25 that earned their PGA TOUR card. He will now be a rookie on the 2016-17 PGA TOUR.
"It's been a wave of emotions all day. Everything from thinking 20 years in the future to trying to zone in to exactly what you're doing on the course. I'm just thrilled. I'm thrilled to be in this position. What a week," Brehm said.
The native of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, was one of 25 players to earn cards on Sunday at the Web.com's regular-season finale. The final 25 cards will be awarded after the conclusion of the four-event Web.com Tour Finals, which begin the week of September 5-11 with the inaugural DAP Championship, to be held at Canterbury Golf Club outside Cleveland, Ohio.
"We are all super proud for Ryan, one of the greats in our program's history to live out his dream to play in the PGA TOUR in 2017. Ryan has been a leader in this program and in this golf community for a very long time. He has a ton of people behind him and supporting him, and he is a great Spartan so I think we are all celebrating this one with him," MSU head coach Casey Lubahn said.
Brehm was named the 2004 Michigan High School Mr. Golf. He helped guide Michigan State to three Big Ten Championships (2005, 2007 and 2008) and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2005. He won five individual NCAA tournament titles over four year and his currently the career scoring average leader at MSU.
"I think Ryan is a value driven guy who is always going to remember his roots and where he came from. He is always going to be a part of our program, but right now we are just celebrating for him and we look forward to being a part of this process with him as he continues on and hopefully he heads to the top of the PGA TOUR," Lubahn said.
