EVENT: The 2023 Mastercard APGA Tour Championship will take place August 14-15 at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Players will be competing for a $155,000 purse and $55,000 first place prize, matching the purse and winner’s share at the 2022 Mastercard APGA Tour Championship as the largest purse and winner’s share in the history of the APGA Tour.
DATE: August 14-15, 2023
SITE: TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga.
PURSE: $155,000, Winner’s share $55,000
FORMAT: 50 players, two-day, 36-hole stroke-play competition, no cut
PAST WINNERS: 2022 – Kamaiu Johnson – won both the Lexus Cup and APGA Mastercard Tour Championship
2021 – Willie Mack III – Won both the Lexus Cup and the APGA Tour Championship
2020 – Kamaiu Johnson won the APGA Tour Championship, Tim O’Neal won the Lexus Cup
2019 – Willie Mack III won both Lexus Cup and the APGA Tour Championship
2018 – Tim O’Neal won the Lexus Cup standings
TEE TIMES (PT): Round 1, August 14: Starting at approximately 8:00 a.m.
Round 2, August 15: Starting at approximately 8:00 a.m.
LEXUS CUP
The season-long Lexus Cup points race will also conclude at this event. The winner of the season-long Lexus Cup Points standings will receive an additional $20,000 from the overall $40,000 Lexus Cup Bonus Pool. The winner of the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship will receive 1,000 Lexus Cup Points.
Current Top 5 in the APGA Tour Lexus Cup Standings –
| Place | Name | Points |
| 1 | Marcus Byrd | 2,496 |
| 2 | Kevin Hall | 1,889 |
| 3 | Quinn Riley | 1,316 |
| 4 | Wyatt Worthington II | 1,110 |
| 5 | Ryan Ellerbock | 676 |
2024 APGA FARMERS INSURANCE INVITATIONAL
The top six players in the final Lexus Cup standings will qualify for the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational in January 2024 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. The tournament is contested in tandem with the PGA TOUR’s annual Farmers Insurance Open.
MASTERCARD APGA PLAYER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
In addition to winning the Lexus Cup Bonus, the top APGA Player Development Program player in the Lexus Cup standings will also be named as the winner of the Mastercard APGA Player Achievement Award. That winner will receive:
- Access to 2024 PGA TOUR Americas early-stage events with an opportunity to retain status based on performance.
- A $50,000 stipend provided by Mastercard to help fund travel expenses for PGA TOUR Americas (or a different tour if the winner advances through Q-school later this year).
Marcus Byrd is part of the Player Development Program and currently tops the Lexus Cup standings thanks to a record four APGA Tour victories this season. Kamaiu Johnson was the 2022 winner of this award and spent this season playing on PGA TOUR LatinoAmérica as well as several APGA Tour events including his victory at TPC Scottsdale.
MASTERCARD SUPPORT OF THE APGA TOUR
Mastercard has been a partner of the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour and has been the title partner of the season’s culminating event, the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship, since 2021. The partnership was founded on the belief that greater diversity will have a long-lasting impact on the game and empower future generations of players. Throughout the partnership, Mastercard has enhanced the APGA Tour player experience by providing the highest purse and first place prize in APGA Tour history in 2022 and 2023, ensuring every player receives a piece of the purse, and providing mentorship and skills-training sessions like resume writing and interviewing tips that translate to careers both on and off the golf course.
Additionally, the Mastercard APGA Player Achievement Award is presented to the season-long high points earner from the APGA Player Development program after the conclusion of the tournament, further helping offset the player’s travel expenses as he advances his career on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica. Mastercard Ambassador and 2022 Mastercard APGA Tour Player Award recipient, Kamaiu Johnson, will provide priceless putting lessons to students from the First Tee Metro Atlanta chapter at this year’s event.
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY APGA PLAYER DEVELOPMENT BONUS PROGRAM
Players from the 2023 APGA Player Development Program sponsored by World Wide Technology are also competing for the World Wide Technology APGA Player Development Program bonus. Players in the 2023 APGA Player Development Program include Marcus Byrd, Aaron Beverly, Christian Heavens, Joe Hooks, Quinn Riley, Joey Stills, Micheal Bradham, Ryan Alford, Kamaiu Johnson, Michael Herrera and Andrew Walker. The top five players based on performance at Lexus Cup events during the 2023 season will compete for a total of $25,000 prize fund. The top five following the APGA Mastercard Tour Championship will also receive an all-expense paid trip to Mexico for the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship Monday qualifying.
These players will compete for $25,000 in prize money with the following breakdown:
- $8,000
- $6,000
- $5,000
- $4,000
- $2,000
FIELD SUMMARY
Marcus Byrd has enjoyed one of the best seasons in APGA Tour history with three victories in five Lexus Cup tournaments and an additional victory at the season-opening APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational (not an official Lexus Cup event). Dating back to 2022, Byrd has six victories and five runner-up finishes in his last 14 starts on the APGA Tour. Byrd currently leads the Lexus Cup standings by 607 points over Kevin Hall who is the only player that has a mathematical chance to pass Byrd in the standings. Quinn Riley, who is currently third in the standings is 1,180 points behind Byrd. Even with a victory and Byrd receiving zero points, Riley would remain 180 points behind Byrd after the 1,000 points were added for a win in Atlanta. Byrd is also an ambassador with Invited Clubs for their Gateway Club program which provides select First Tee participants in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Washington D.C. and Scottsdale with complimentary memberships to help support diversity in golf in the recreational space. Byrd, who lives in Atlanta, recently spent time with First Tee Metro Atlanta Gateway Club participants at a local Invited Club.
Kevin Hall enters the APGA Mastercard APGA Tour Championship in second-place in the Lexus Cup Point Standings with 1,889 points. Hall has won twice this season at The APGA Black History Month Classic in February in Palm Springs and again at TPC Scottsdale. Hall plays each round in silence. He lost his hearing at the age of two due to an illness that threatened his life. He excelled in earning a scholarship to Ohio State University and win the 2004 Big Ten Championship by 11 shots. Hall continues to be an inspiration to others and continues to excel on the golf course.
Quinn Riley won his first APGA Tour victory of his career at the two-man team event at TPC Louisiana with partner Christian Heavens. Riley finished as the No. 1 player in the 2022 APGA Tour Collegiate Rankings as the top black college golfer in the country following his career at Duke University. Riley has nearly won multiple times on the APGA Tour since joining midseason 2022 but was able to break through in Louisiana and move to No. 3 in the Lexus Cup standings. In college, Riley was the individual medalist at the Stitch Intercollegiate in April 2022 at Lonnie Poole GC in Cary and led the Blue Devils with a top-20 finish at the ACC Championship in Panama City Beach. He started playing at a local First Tee program in Raleigh and attended the REX Hospital Open when he was 11 years old for a First Tee Clinic.
Wyatt Worthington II who won the APGA Tour event in Las Vegas this year and also qualified and competed at the PGA Championship for his third career major championship is in the field and ranks No. 4 in the Lexus Cup standings.
Daniel Augustus, who finished 6th in the Lexus Cup standings has 8 top-10 finishes and two runner-up finishes on the APGA Tour this year. Earlier this year, Augustus conducted an interview with Golf Digest and the Fire Pit Collective revealing a childhood of tragedy and abuse.
TOP COLLEGIATE PLAYERS:
The top fiv Top-ranked Troy Taylor II of Michigan State will be joined by Joel Basalaine of Livingstone College (#2), Gary Bullard of Army (#3),e players in the APGA Collegiate Rankings are now eligible for APGA Tour competition following their debut at APGA Valhalla and all five will be in the field. Troy Stribling Jr. of Florida A&M University (#4) and Jason Johnson Jr. of Alabama A&M University (#5).
Mulbe Dillard of Florida A&M (2021), Quinn Riley of Duke University (2022) and Taylor II, the top-ranked players in each of the last three classes are all in the event.
APGA Foundation Youth Clinic
This APGA Foundation Youth Clinic will be held on Saturday, August 12, at John A. White Golf Course, 1503 Cascade Circle SW, Atlanta, GA 30311 from Noon-4:30 p.m. ET with approximately 50 kids registered from First Tee Metro Atlanta and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta attending.Chick-fil-a lunch is provided for all participants. Programming includes golf instruction from APGA Tour professional Montrelle Wells and Michael Bradham, an age-appropriate mental health activity, and a roundtable discussion with local career mentors. We have 11 career mentors from the Metro Atlanta area including professors, financial advisors, cybersecurity managers, TV personalities, and engineers. At the end of the clinic, we’ll award our essay submission winners and have a raffle where each participant has the opportunity to choose a prize (ranging from TVs, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, gaming consoles, film cameras, and golf accessories).
ABOUT THE APGA TOUR
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works to accomplish this by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting an expected 18 tournaments awarding close to $1 million in prize and bonus money in 2023, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers as they work to chase their goals in professional golf.
