Part-time Colorado resident Scott Vincent finishes atop International Series rankings to regain his spot in LIV Golf; Mark Hubbard keeps fully-exempt status on PGA Tour, but ex-Buff Jeremy Paul falls short in rookie season on that circuit; after red-hot run, Jennifer Kupcho struggles mightily in final official LPGA round of 2025
By Gary Baines – 11/23/2025
This weekend marked beginnings and endings in major tour golf — both in general and regarding golfers with strong ties to Colorado.
And a notable weekend it was in many respects for the “locals” on tour:
— Scott Vincent, a native of Zimbabwe who resides in Colorado part time (along with Florida), will return to the roster of active LIV Golf players after being one of two golfers to qualify on Saturday for the lucrative Saudi-funded circuit.
Vincent played on the LIV tour from 2022-24, but was “relegated” due to poor performance last year. On Saturday, however, he finished atop the International Series rankings for 2025, thus earning one of two spots available on LIV Golf for 2026.
This week’s PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank was the last of nine tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour that was part of the LIV qualifying process.
Vincent, who qualified for the 2025 U.S. Open, has actually finished first in the International Series rankings twice, having previously done so in 2022 to initially land a spot on LIV Golf. This time, he accumulated 325.59 points in the rankings, prevailing by 40 points after an earlier victory in Morocco and a runner-up in Jakarta.
“Obviously I’m very thankful,” Vincent said. “It is great that this has worked out for me.”
Vincent’s best individual finishes in LIV events have been two fourth places in 2023.
Joining Vincent in LIV Golf next year — via the International Series — will be Japan’s Yosuke Asaji.
— Elsewhere in major tour golf, the PGA Tour wrapped up its official-event season for 2025 with the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Ga.
With only the top 100 players on the season-long FedExCup Fall points list remain exempt on the PGA Tour for 2026 (barring other exempt status), Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Wyndham Clark and Denver native Mark Hubbard keep their Tour cards, but former University of Colorado golfer Jeremy Paul lost his fully-exempt status after his rookie season on golf’s top circuit, but will have conditional status in 2026.
Clark is in the midst of a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour he earned by virtue of winning the 2023 U.S. Open. In all, the Colorado native has won three times on the PGA Tour — all in 2023 and ’24. But he’s struggled in 2025, with only two top-10 finishes, most notably a fourth place at the British Open. He ended up 65th in the FedExCup Fall standings.
Hubbard, a Colorado Academy graduate, ended 92nd on the 2025 fall points list after finishing 34th in the RSM Classic, where he posted rounds of 70-63-66-69. Hubbard has played full time on the PGA Tour from 2014-17 and since late 2019. His best finish on the PGA Tour has been second place.
In his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Paul finished 135th in FedExCup Fall points. In 26 PGA Tour events in 2025, Paul made 13 cuts. His lone top-10 finish came at the Corales Puntacana Championship in April, where he tied for second place. Unless he improves his status through PGA Tour Q-school next month, he’ll have conditional status by virtue of finishing 126th-150th in 2025 points. Paul’s twin brother Yannik lost his fully-exempt status on the DP World Tour this fall. Yannik has won once on the DP World Tour — in 2022.
Denver-area resident Martin Laird, a former Colorado State University golfer, has limited PGA Tour status, based on being a past champion (he’s won four times on Tour). Laird played in 13 PGA Tour events in 2025, with his best finish being an 11th place in the Barracuda Championship in July. He placed 195th in FedExCup Fall points.
For the RSM Classic scores, CLICK HERE.
— A week after earning more than $1.3 million — by winning the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge and finishing solo second at The Annika drive by Gainbridge LPGA Tour event — Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jennifer Kupcho had the opportunity for another big payday at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which featured an $11 million purse.
And Kupcho found herself in a tie for sixth place going into Sunday’s final round in Naples, Fla. But the four-time LPGA winner had one of the poorest rounds of her pro career on Sunday, playing her first seven holes in 10 over par and finishing with an 11-over 83. It was the only score in the 80s from the 60-player field for the week in Naples.
And the thing is, Kupcho had been on quite a roll going into her final official LPGA Tour round of 2025. Her previous seven LPGA rounds were 67-66-66-65-67-69-68-66.
As it was, Sunday’s 83 dropped Kupcho from sixth to 51st place as she finished at 2 under par overall. She earned $56,875 from the large purse.
For the Tour Championship scores, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com