Preston Summerhays Earns PGA Chance in Napa with Playoff Win in Washington

Preston Summerhays has played in a few PGA Tour events, and he will get another chance real soon.

Summerhays shot 5-under 211 (72-67-72) and then beat Max Herendeen of Illinois in a playoff to win the Sahalee Players Championship in Sammamish, WA, which in turn gets him a spot at the Fortinet Championship played this week in Napa, California.

The Sun Devils finished second at 7-over 871 (286-296-289), eight shots back of Illinois who finished at 1-under 863 (286-281-296).

 

Awesome win at the @SahaleePlayers for Preston Summerhays. The win gets him into the @FortinetChamp this week in Napa on the @PGATOUR ?? pic.twitter.com/9F7pUpiSDU

— Matt Thurmond (@MattThurmond) September 11, 2023

PRESTON THE PAST SEVEN MONTHS
Summerhays went 2-1-1 in helping USA win another Walk Cup earlier this month, and the two-time All-American has now won two of his past five collegiate events, as he also captured the 2023 ASU/Thunderbird Intercollegiate in April. It marked his second career win and his sixth top-five finish as he finished third at the 2023 Las Vegas NCAA Regional, tied for fourth at the 2023 Valspar Invitational and the 2023 National Intercollegiate and tied for fifth at the 2023 Cabo Collegiate.

SOLID SUN DEVIL CAREER SO FAR

Preston Summerhays had a great start to his Sun Devil career in his first two seasons (2021-23). He earned first-team PING GCAA All-America honors in 2022-23 and finished third at the NCAA Las Vegas Regional with a 19-under 197 that included opening round 62. He won the Thunderbird (April 14-15) in dramatic fashion with a 13-under 200. March was good as he notched top-five finishes in three straight tournaments at the Cabo Collegiate (tied for fifth Mar. 5-8), tied for fourth at the NIT in Tucson (Mar. 17-18) and at the Vaslar Invitational (Mar. 27-28). He shot 22-under par in 12 rounds in March that included five rounds in the 60s. In 2021-22, he earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and had a 71.33 stroke average, second-best by a freshman in Sun Devil history He had one of the most impressive NCAA match play wins in history with a 7 & 5 win over Oklahoma’s Chris Gotterup in the quarterfinals, who was the Haskins Award winner. He also defeated Pepperdine’s Joe Highsmith  (2-up) in NCAA semifinals.

PRESTON SUMMERHAYS TOP-10 CAREER FINISHES

Sahalee Players Championship (Sept. 9-10, 2023) 72-67-72=211/-5/T1 (won playoff) (72)

Thunderbird Collegiate (April 14-15, 2023)/66-68-66=200/-13/1 (71)

Eastlake…