With official major-tour golf set to gear up in 2026, about 25 players with significant Colorado ties will tee it up in elite-level pro events
By Gary Baines – 1/9/2026
There has been little in the way of official, top-tier tour golf played since before Thanksgiving. To be sure, there have been some notable silly-season events, Q-school and TGL indoor matches, but top-level golf that counted in the record books has been few and far between in the last month and a half.
The DP World Tour threw in a few late-fall events that were official — as it still has a wraparound schedule — and guys like Davis Bryant of Aurora took advantage to get a quick start to the season. But with the PGA Tour beginning a week later than normal due to the cancellation of the 2026 Sentry in Maui, the long layoff has been even more noticeable this time around. And, as repetitive as it was, I must admit missing the not-to-subtle rubbing it in by the Sentry broadcasters in Hawaii that “it’s nice and warm here in paradise; how is it in the middle of winter where you are?”
But for fans of high-level tour golf, the wait is almost over. In fact, in an unusual twist that largely happens only at the beginning of the Korn Ferry Tour season, that circuit’s season opener will run Sunday through Wednesday (Jan. 11-14), marking the first major tour event of 2026.
The KFT will open with two events in the Bahamas — The Bahamas Golf Classic (Jan. 11-14), then The Bahamas Great Abaco Club (Jan. 18-21). Former University of Colorado golfer Jeremy Paul won The Bahamas Golf Classic two years ago — before competing on the PGA Tour last season — and is among those scheduled to tee it up at Ocean Club starting this weekend.
Here are the other major tour 2026 openers:
— PGA Tour: Sony Open in Hawaii, Jan. 15-18 in Honolulu.
— DP World Tour: Dubai Invitational Jan. 15-18 in Dubai, UAE.
— PGA Tour Champions: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Jan. 22-24 in Kona, Hawaii.
— LPGA Tour: Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions, Jan. 29-Feb. 1 in Orlando.
— LIV Golf: LIV Golf Riyadh Feb. 4-7 in Saudi Arabia.
— Epson Tour: Atlanta Beach Classic, March 4-7 in Atlantic Beach, Fla.
— Japan Golf Tour: ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship March 5-8 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Across all of those tours, about 25 players with significant ties to Colorado are expected to compete at least occasionally in 2026. Below is a brief rundown. Note: Some players will compete on more than one tour, but they’re listed only once:
Wyndham Clark will eye returning to the winner’s circle in 2026.
PGA TOUR
— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Wyndham Clark (3 PGA Tour wins): The 2023 U.S. Open champion won twice in ’23 and once in early ’24, but has gone winless for the last 23 months. He’ll try to end that “drought” in 2026.
— Denver native and Colorado Academy alum Mark Hubbard (1 KFT win): Hubbard has now made 262 starts on the PGA Tour, and is still looking for his first victory. But he’s knocked on the door a fair number of times, with a second place, four third places and 17 top-10s.
KORN FERRY TOUR (Note: The KFT’s Blue Championship is set for TPC Colorado in Berthoud July 9-12)
— Colorado resident and former CSU golfer Martin Laird (4 PGA Tour wins, 1 KFT win): 43-year-old has lost fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour, so he’ll likely split time between the PGA Tour and KFT in 2026.
— Former Lyons resident Tyler McCumber: Has played in 61 PGA Tour events, but has undergone three major surgeries — two on hips and one on a shoulder — in recent years. He’s playing on a major medical extension, with 13 PGA Tour starts remaining on that extension.
— Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul (1 KFT win): Lost his fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour after his rookie season in 2025 as he finished 135th in the FedExCup Fall standings. So when he doesn’t get into PGA Tour events — on his conditional status — he’ll likely play plenty on the KFT, where he’s made 88 starts, including his win in the Bahamas two years ago.
Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins notched a PGA Tour Americas win in 2025.
— Fort Collins resident Dillon Stewart: Earned his KFT card by finishing 42nd in the final stage of PGA Tour Q-school, giving him exempt status at least during the early part of the Korn Ferry Tour schedule. The 2023 CGA Amateur champion won once on PGA Tour Americas last year.
— Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland (1 KFT win): Westmoreland returns to the KFT a year after finishing 34th in the season-long Korn Ferry standings. The former PGA Tour regular won the Astara Golf Championship on the KFT last February.
— Littleton native Chris Korte: Will have conditional status on the KFT after placing 54th in the final stage of PGA Tour Q-school.
— Former TPC Colorado member Dan Erickson: Has conditional status on the KFT after ending up 124th in the final stage of Q-school. He’s also conditional on the DP World Tour, where he finished 151st on the 2024-25 DPWT season-long rankings.
Once again this year, the top 20 finishers in the final KFT points standings will earn PGA Tour cards for next year.
LPGA TOUR
— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jennifer Kupcho (4 LPGA Tour wins): Kupcho ended a 35-month LPGA victory drought when she prevailed at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June for her fourth career victory. Besides trying to add to that total in 2026, Kupcho will be looking to make her fourth U.S. Solheim Cup team.
— Former CU golfer Robyn Choi: Choi made 13 cuts in 18 LPGA Tour starts in 2025, posting six top-15 finishes.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
— Former Aspen resident Justin Leonard (12 PGA Tour wins, 2 PGA Tour Champions wins): Coming off a Champions seasons in which he picked up his first two victories on the over-50 circuit.
— Colorado resident David Duval (13 PGA Tour wins): The former world No. 1 hasn’t broken through for a victory yet on PGA Tour Champions, but he notched four top-10s in 2025.
— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe (2 PGA Tour Champions wins): With a seventh-place showing at the Boeing Classic in August, Jobe notched his first Champions Tour top-10 since 2022.
— Parker resident Shane Bertsch (1 PGA Tour Champions win, 3 KFT wins): Bertsch recorded one top-10 on the Champions circuit in 2025, along with three other top-20 showings.
— Colorado resident Chris DiMarco (3 PGA Tour wins): DiMarco’s lone top-10 performance in 2025 was a fifth place at a senior major, the Regions Tradition.
— Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Steve Jones (8 PGA Tour wins): The 67-year-old former U.S. Open champion made just two starts on PGA Tour Champions last year.
Davis Bryant is back for a second season on the DP World Tour.
DP WORLD TOUR
— Aurora resident Davis Bryant: For the second straight year, a top-10 finish at the final stage of Q-school earned the 2024 Colorado Open champion an exempt spot on the DP World Tour. In three starts this wraparound season, he’s already notched two top-15 finishes. In 2025, Bryant recorded two top-10 showings in DPWT events.
— Former CU golfer Yannik Paul (1 DPWT win): For the first time in over four years, Paul is not fully exempt on the DP World Tour as he finished 121st in the 2025 season points rankings (with the top 115 remaining exempt). He has conditional status in 2025-2026.
LIV GOLF
— Part-time Colorado resident Scott Vincent: Regained a LIV Golf spot after finishing atop the International Series Rankings for 2025. Vincent played on LIV from 2022-24, but was “relegated” at the end of ’24 due to poor performance.
EPSON TOUR
— Becca Huffer of Monument: The two-time Colorado Women’s Open champion — and former LPGA Tour player — posted two top-6 finishes on the Epson circuit in 2025.
— Former CU golfer Sabrina Iqbal: Iqbal teed it up in 13 Epson Tour events in 2025, making eight cuts and finishing second at the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic.
— Former CU golfer Jenny Coleman (1 Epson Tour Win): The former LPGA Tour player competed in eight Epson Tour events in 2025, with four made cuts, including a season-best eighth-place showing.
— Former CU golfer Kristin Coleman: Epson Tour veteran played nine Epson events in 2025, making five cuts.
JAPAN GOLF TOUR
— Basalt High School alum Tristan Rohrbaugh: The former 3A state high school individual champion has conditional status on Japan’s top men’s tour after finishing 28th in the final stage of Q-school last month.
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