A year after blowing lead in final round at TPC Colorado, Ross Steelman closes the deal and makes Blue Championship his first Korn Ferry Tour win; in KFT debut, ex-Buff Justin Biwer finishes with course-record-tying 63 to place 5th and earn another KFT start
By Gary Baines
BERTHOUD — If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Ross Steelman never mentioned using such a mantra on Sunday at the Blue Championship, but it would have been an apt one, given the circumstances.
The 25-year-old from Atlanta faltered last year at the Korn Ferry Tour event at TPC Colorado, blowing a 54-hole lead by shooting 75 in the final round and finishing fourth.
But, with very similar circumstances this year, there was no repeat — just victory for Steelman, and perhaps some redemption in a competitive sense.
This time, despite a rough start on Sunday (2 over par after four holes), Steelman went bogey-free the rest of the way, shot a 4-under 68 in the final round and prevailed by one, earning his first Korn Ferry Tour victory in the process.
Steelman’s 22-under-par total matched the 72-hole tournament record set by Cristobal Del Solar two years ago.
“A big part of that has been the mental game for me,” Steelman said, noting he’s been working with a sports psychologist in recent months “That’s just made a huge difference for me. Just last year after the two early bogeys, I would have gotten frustrated, kind of lost track of what I was trying to do. Then this year I just kept my head down and just kept pushing away at it, kept grinding at it, kept trying to hit good shots and that’s what I did.
“I wasn’t thinking about last year out there, I was just trying to think about the next shot in front of me every time. I’m really proud of how well I did that today.”
Steelman celebrates his victory with his caddie.
With the win, the former Georgia Tech golfer not only earned $180,000, but more importantly virtually guaranteed he’ll receive a 2027 PGA Tour card that goes to the top 20 in Korn Ferry Tour points at season end. He moved up to fourth in the 2026 standings with 1,039.454 points. That’s more points than the 20th-place player earned all of last year.
“It would be awesome,” he said. “Obviously there’s still a lot of golf to play this year, but I put myself in a really good spot. It’s what I’ve dreamed of since I was 12 years old. Competing and winning golf tournaments has been something that I’ve always wanted to do. It’s really cool to see that coming to fruition.”
Steelman, who very likely will earn a 2027 PGA Tour card, signs autographs for fans at TPC Colorado.
Steelman took a two-stroke lead into the final day — when the temperature reached 98 degrees — but faltered at the start, three-putting from 10 feet for bogey on the drivable par-4 third and also bogeying No. 4. Ironically, Steelman said the 15-foot bogey putt he made on 4 helped turned the tide.
“I feel like that was a good momentum shift for me, just being able to knock that in and kind of realize, ‘Hey, we’re still right in the middle of this thing. Let’s go out and birdie a bunch of holes coming in and that’s what I was able to do.”
Indeed, Steelman bounced back with birdies on 5, 6, 9 and 10 and led most of the way thereafter. Tommy Morrison, a 6-foot-9 former University of Texas golfer, tied Steelman for the lead with a birdie on the par-3 16th. But Steelman two-putted for birdie on 15 and drained an 8-footer for another one on 16 to move back into the solo lead for good.
At 6-foot-9, Tommy Morrison loomed large this week, but he couldn’t coax in a birdie putt at the final hole that would have forced a playoff.
Morrison, competing in just his third Korn Ferry Tour event after graduating from PGA Tour University, added a birdie on the tough par-4 17th. And he had a chance to tie Steelman again with a 20-foot birdie try on 18, but it just missed. And Steelman, playing in the final group, two-putted for par from a similar spot on 18 green after hitting his approach from a divot in the fairway.
“I feel good,” said Morrison, who closed with a 67. “No real complaints. Looking back, it’s crazy over four rounds how much difference a shot makes. I made a couple (double bogeys) this week and a good bit of bogeys. So I definitely have stuff to learn and improve on, but I’m really happy with how everything turned out.”
Morrison has now finished 10th, fifth and second in his three Korn Ferry Tour starts.
“I think it’s hard to ask for a much better start, you know?” he said.
Steelman, meanwhile, was pleased with the way he didn’t think ahead to what a win might mean to him — which was an issue last year.
“I did a great job today of not getting ahead of myself,” he said. “In the past, especially last year like after the third round (here), all night I was thinking about, ‘Hey, if I win this I’ll probably go to the PGA Tour. This morning, I just thought about it and was like, ‘Hey, just go hit the shot that you have to hit.’ Whether that resulted in 76 or 66 today, I was going to be happy with my process and attitude if I went out with that mentality.”
And when his moment did come as he walked up to the final green on Sunday, he took some time to soak it all in.
“I was just trying to think of how cool this is,” Steelman said. “Like trying to look out at the mountains. For the rest of my career, you never know what’s going to happen; you never know if you’re going to win again, you never know if you get in a plane crash and die on the way home. I just wanted to take in this moment, how beautiful the property is, how beautiful everything here is. Really just enjoy the moment and just try to have fun because that’s what it is. Competing and nerves and being anxious and frustration, if you temper them the right way, it all leads to really fun moments like this.”
Steelman got a little choked up when speaking to reporters afterward about his grandfather, Ross Duff, who passed away in March.
“He was the one who introduced me to golf,” Steelman said. “It means a lot. He was my biggest supporter through good or through bad. I would have loved to have won while he was still here, but knowing that he’s up there somewhere looking around and smiling and seeing this means a lot.”
Tying for third place on Sunday, three back of Steelman, were Noah Goodwin and Phichaksn Maichon, who closed with 68 and 69, respectively, to end up at 19 under par for the week.
Justin Biwer reacts to making birdie on 18 and shooting 63 on Sunday.
One Grand First Korn Ferry Tour Start for Ex-Buff Justin Biwer: Justin Biwer has played countless rounds of golf over his lifetime — in juniors, college and in the pros; in tournaments and casually. But when asked where he would rank the round he shot on Sunday in the Blue Championship at TPC Colorado, he put it in rarefied air.
The 9-under-par 63 at the Blue Championship matched the competitive course record and the tournament record. But also factoring prominently in such calculations is that it came in the pressure of the final round of the first Korn Ferry Tour start of his career.
“I think that’s my second best,” said Biwer, who owns the lowest career scoring average in CU history. He noted he probably gives the No. 1 spot to a final-round bogey-free 10-under-par 62 he shot in Maricopa, Ariz., last September to win the Southern Dunes Classic on the Asher mini tour by a stroke.
“But, I mean to shoot bogey-free 9 under out here — that’s why it’s hard to say,” Biwer said, thinking further. “Yeah, I won that tournament, but (TPC Colorado) is a beast of a course. So it’s close to No. 1, but I’d call it second.”
Biwer (left) celebrates with caddie — and former CU teammate — Hunter Swanson.
Biwer, who played at CU from 2021-25, is now one of11 players who have shot 63 at TPC Colorado, tying for the competitive course record. It’s happened four times this week, including also on Sunday by Christiaan Maas.
In Biwer’s case, his final round vaulted him 32 spots up the scoreboard to finish in a tie for fifth place. Not bad for a guy who didn’t have any PGA Tour-affiliated status before April and who now plays primarily on PGA Tour Americas, where he has two top-10 finishes this year.
“This whole week has been super special,” he said. “They just keep adding things onto it. It made it more and more special just because of that. So, yeah, I’m super I’m super pumped for sure.”
But by finishing in the top 25 and ties on Sunday, Biwer earns a start in the next KFT event, the Evans Scholars Invitational in Glenview, Ill., July 23-26.
“It’s huge just to be able to know that I have that (KFT) event coming up in a couple weeks,” said Biwer, who Monday qualified into the Blue Championship.
Among those on hand supporting Biwer on Sunday was CU men’s golf associate head coach Derek Tolan (in white).
All in all, it was quite a week for the San Diegan who called Colorado home during his college days. And that showed down the stretch on Sunday as he was receiving raucous CU-based applause as he made an eagle and birdies down the stretch. Among those on hand was his former CU associate head coach, Derek Tolan, winner of two Colorado Opens. And, of course, Biwer’s former CU teammate, Hunter Swanson, caddied for him all week.
“That was awesome to have those people out there who supported me during my time here in college,” Biwer said.
Biwer ended up going bogey-free on Sunday, making seven birdies and an eagle from 10 feet on No. 15 that made him 5 under for the previous four holes. And he capped things off on the very difficult 18th hole by rolling in a 13-foot birdie.
“I’ve played (at TPC Colorado) a bunch and I’ve shot some good rounds, but I’ve never shot 63 before,” the 24-year-old said. “That felt really good. I felt good from the start, really calm all day. And I played a super solid back nine to shoot 6 under. Everything was clicking all day.
“I just felt super confident in my swing all day,” Biwer said.
Former CU golfers have now posted three top-five finishes at the Korn Ferry Tour stop at TPC Colorado. Jeremy Paul placed third in 2022 and fifth in 2024.
Kyle Westmoreland got off to an awkward start at the first hole Sunday.
Former AFA Golfer Kyle Westmoreland Falters on Sunday: Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland came into the final round of the Blue Championship tied for second place and hoping to record career Korn Ferry Tour victory No. 2 in the state where he called home during his college days.
But it became clear early on Sunday that as well as things had gone for the first three rounds at TPC Colorado, his game was a little off kilter in round 4.
“I didn’t have my best stuff at any point in the day,” he said afterward.
The result was that he followed up rounds of 70-66-64 with a 3-over-par 75 while playing in the final group on Sunday. Though the resulting 16th-place showing was his best in four Korn Ferry Tour events at TPC Colorado, it was far from what he had in mind.
“Of course, it’s pretty sour, because you want to win,” he said. “But you know what? It’s part of the game, and the nice part is, we’ll get to come at it next time.”
One of the few highlights of the day for Westmoreland was an eagle at the par-4 third hole.
Westmoreland bogeyed the par-5 first hole after hitting his second shot into an awkward lie in the dry creek that sits in front and to the right side of the green. And he made a double bogey on No. 2 after pulling his tee shot into the water on the par-3.
He bounced back to eagle the par-4 third after driving his ball 7 feet from the cup. Then he bogeyed No. 4. It was that kind of day.
“I got off that weird start,” he said. “I hit a good tee shot and bogey the first. Then I made some sloppy swings. I didn’t feel super comfortable swing-wise today.”
Things are looking up for Chris Korte following a March wrist injury.
Chris Korte Posts Top-25 Finish: While Biwer recorded a top-5 finish in his first KFT event and Westmoreland managed his best showing at TPC Colorado despite struggling on Sunday, another player with strong local ties, Chris Korte, finished 22nd at the Blue Championship after making a cut in the event for the first time in three attempts.
Korte, a Colorado native and Regis Jesuit and University of Denver grad, overcame a second-hole double bogey by recording a 15-foot eagle (on the par-5 fifth) and adding five birdies Sunday en route to a 69. He finished 12 under par for the tournament and had his best Korn Ferry Tour showing since being runner-up in the Argentina Open on March 1.
Later that month, Korte injured his wrist and missed roughly two months of competition. So this week was a step in the right direction for the former CGA Amateur and Match Play champion.
“It felt like a great week,” the 29-year-old said. “I’m going to sound like a broken record, but I hit the ball fantastic again today. All in all, it was a really good tournament, a good one to build off of.”
And how is the wrist feeling at this point?
“It felt pretty good this week,” he said. “I’ve been doing countless hours of (physical therapy) and strengthening. I’m not feeling like I can practice as much as I usually like to. And so it’s definitely been a battle. But this week gives me a ton of confidence in how I hit it, especially off the tee.”
Christiaan Maas was 7 under par through six holes and matched the course record with a 63 despite a final-hole bogey.
Notable: Christiaan Maas, who tied the course record (63) and shared fifth place with Biwer, played his college golf with Morrison at the University of Texas. Like Morrison, he was making just his third Korn Ferry Tour start. On Sunday, Maas was 7 under par through his first six holes, having made five birdies and an eagle. He was 10 under par going into No. 18 — and would have been the solo owner of the course record with a par or better there — but he closed with a bogey for his 63. … The stroke average for the week at TPC Colorado was 70.56, about a shot and a half under par. The par-5 fifth hole played the easiest (.566 under par) while the par-4 18th was the hardest (.216 over par). … More than 400 people volunteered for the Blue Championship this year.
Scores for players with strong Colorado/area ties at the Blue Championship:
5. Former CU golfer Justin Biwer 69-72-67-63—271
16. Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland 70-66-64-75–275
22. Regis Jesuit High School and University of Denver alum Chris Korte 70-69-68-69–276
45. Former Air Force Academy golfer Tom Whitney 70-70-71-69—280
Missed 36-Hole Cut
78. Amateur Miles Kuhl of Boulder 70-72–142
78. Cheyenne native and former CU golfer Josh Creel 71-71–142
140. Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins 75-73–148
140. Rhett Johnson of Littleton 77-71–148
140. Colorado native and former Colorado School of Mines golfer Jim Knous 74-74–148
For all the results from the Blue Championship, 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