Going Touring

Former CU golfer Justin Biwer locks up 2027 Korn Ferry Tour status, thanks to strong year on PGA Tour Americas; another top-15 finish on LPGA Tour for Jennifer Kupcho; Shane Bertsch squeaks into PGA Tour Champions playoffs

By Gary Baines 

For a guy who had no status on a PGA Tour-affiliated circuit as of April 1, former University of Colorado golfer Justin Biwer has earned a big-time upgrade regarding his professional career over the last 6 1/2 months.

No foolin’.

On Sunday, the 25-year-old officially secured his Korn Ferry Tour card for 2027 by finishing among the top 10 on the PGA Tour Americas season-long points list.

Specifically, with a tie for 13th place — shooting 71-69-68-70 — at the season-ending Dominican Republic Tour Championship, Biwer ended up seventh on the points list.

The former Buff actually played three KFT events in 2026, posting two top-10 finishes, including a tie for fifth at the Blue Championship at TPC Colorado in July after Monday qualifying for that event.

On PGA Tour Americas, after earning his card in Q-school in early April, Biwer not only recorded four top-10 showings on the Americas circuit, but won the CRMC Championship in late August and placed second at the ATP Classic a month ago.

Besides landing a 2027 KFT card with his top-10 showing on the points list, Biwer secures a spot in the final stage of PGA Tour Q-school, set for Dec. 10-13 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The top five finishers in that event earn 2027 PGA Tour cards.

Biwer, who played at CU from 2021-25, owns the lowest career stroke average in CU men’s golf history, at 70.95.

For all the results from the PGA Tour Americas season finale, CLICK HERE.

In other major tour events for players with strong Colorado ties:

— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jennifer Kupcho recorded her seventh top-15 finish of the year on the LPGA Tour as the Jefferson Academy graduate tied for 13th on Sunday at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. Kupcho, a four-time winner on the LPGA circuit, played her final three holes in 3 under par on Sunday, going birdie, par, eagle for a 71 that left her at 1 under par for the tournament. She earned $49,583. SCORES

— Shane Bertsch of Parker didn’t play very well in the SAS Championship, the regular-season finale on PGA Tour Champions (he tied for 62nd place at 9 over par), but it was good enough to qualify him for the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, which start at the Stifel Charity Classic Oct. 23-25 in St. Louis. With the top 72 on the season-long points list advancing to the playoffs, Bertsch ended up in the 70th position. But Bertsch will have to move into the top 54 with his showing in St. Louis to advance to the second of the three playoff events. Also making the playoffs was fellow Colorado resident David Duval, who is 59th on the points list. Duval (3 over par) placed 39th in the SAS Championship. SCORES

— Davis Bryant of Aurora dropped to 23rd on the DP World Tour’s season-long points list after tying for 49th on Sunday in the DP World Indian Championship in New Delhi. With the top 10 on the points list at season end earning 2027 PGA Tour cards — among those not already with PGA Tour status — Bryant currently sits about 321 points behind the last qualifier at present (1,682 points to 1,361). Three tournaments remain on the 2025-26 DP World Tour schedule, with the last two being playoff events. SCORES

— Two players with significant Colorado ties finished sixth on Saturday at the World Long Drive World Championships in Reno, Nev. Sydney Merchant, who grew up in Morrison, checked in sixth in the women’s competition. Her longest drive of the event — which was won by Abby Marting — was 354 yards. And Sean Johnson, a Durango native who went to high school in Colorado Springs, was sixth in the open division in Reno. His best drive of the event was 427 yards as Nick DiLeo prevailed for the title. Last year, the WLD World Championships were held in Colorado, in La Salle. RESULTS

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