Dylan Newman, PGA, Wins PGA Stroke Play Championship in Playoff

Dylan Newman of Jericho, New York, hasn’t won many tournaments with a final round that included a pair of double bogeys and two bogeys.

But he won the PGA Stroke Play Championship at PGA Golf Club on Feb. 13 despite those mistakes, thanks to a brilliant start and finish. Newman eagled the par-5 first hole on the Wanamaker Course and, trailing by one at the closing hole, birdied the 18th to force a playoff with Jin Chung of Norcross, Georgia.

Newman played the 18th flawlessly in the playoff, winning when Chung was unable to save par from a difficult spot behind the green. Newman shot an uneven 72 to finish at 10-under 205 and earn the $6,100 first prize while going wire-to-wire in the lead.

“It feels really good to get it done, especially when there were a lot of ups and downs,” said Newman, a PGA Professional at Meadow Brook Club. “It was a grind. None of us played great. I just tried to stay in my own lane and focus on what I could do.”

It marked the second time in the last three years Newman won the PGA Winter Championship event in a one-hole playoff. In 2022, he defeated Tyler Collet.

Newman was two shots behind after Chung made his four consecutive birdies (Nos. 12-15), but got a break when Chung hit his tee shot into the penalty area at the par-5 16th hole and missed a 2-footer for par. After both players parred the 17th, Newman knew he needed to get his approach from 144 yards at No. 18 close to the back-right pin to have a chance to force a playoff.

“I took a little off an 8-iron and kind of chunked it,” Newman said of the shot that stopped 5 feet from the hole. “It may have been too much club. I guess I chunked it perfectly.”

Newman hit another solid approach to 18 in the playoff, to about 10 feet, and held the upper hand when Chung’s shot landed over the green. Chung’s chip rolled 30 feet away and when he missed the par, Newman lagged to a couple inches to win.

“It was a difficult chip, but that’s not the spot you want to be with the pin back-right,” said Chung, a PGA Assistant Professional at Chateau Elan Golf Club in Braselton, Ga. “I just hit it too hard.”

Newman wasn’t the only one in the final group who had an up-and-down round. Chung (70) had three birdies in his first four holes, then had a stretch of four bogeys in five holes before reeling off the four consecutive birdies.

“I had a chance to win the tournament, but it stinks that I had a two-shot lead with three holes left and let it get away,” said Chung, who won the 2021 National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club. “On the plus side, I shot in the red numbers all three days, so it was a good week.”

Evan Bowser of Naples, Fla., shot 70 and finished third at 8-under 207. Collet (72-208) of Vero Beach was fourth and Stephanie Connelly-Eiswerth (73-209) of Fleming Island was fifth.

Sophie Madden (73-210) of Loxahatchee, Fla., and Patrick Wilkes-Krier (72-212) of Ann Arbor, Mich., earned spots in the 2024 PGA Professional Championship April 28-May 1 at Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas.

The PGA Winter Championships, run by the PGA of America, are presented by GolfPass and On Location. The final event, the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship, starts Feb. 18 on the Wanamaker Course.