BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Former Campbell standout Pontus Nyholm became the third Fighting Camel golf alum to win a Korn Ferry Tour when he claimed the Visit Knoxville Open on Sunday (May 25) at Holston Hills CC in Knoxville, Tenn.
 
With his former collegiate teammate Josh Hetherington on the bag, Nyholm defeated Johnny Keefer with an eagle on the first hole (the par-five 18th) of a sudden-death playoff to capture his first career Korn Ferry Tour victory.
 
A native of Gavle, Sweden, Nyholm shot a final round 5-under 66 with four birdies and an eagle against one bogey to finish at 19-under 265 (65-66-68-66) for the tournament on the 1927 Donald Ross design.
 
Nyholm joined fellow Campbell alumni Brad Fritsch and David Mathis to secure Korn Ferry Tour victories.  A 2000 graduate, Fritsch won the 2016 Servientrega Championship, while Mathis '97 won twice on the tour – the 2008 BMW Charity Pro-Am and the 2010 Winn Dixie Jacksonville Open.
 
Since the 2013 season, the Korn Ferry Tour has been the primary pathway for those seeking to earn their PGA Tour card. Q-School, which had previously been the primary route for qualification to the PGA Tour, has been converted as an entryway to the Korn Ferry Tour.
 
Two weeks ago, Nyholm stood 79th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, but jumped 74 places to fifth after finishing T8 at the AdventHealth Championship at Blue Hills CC in Kansas City, Mo., then claimed his win in Knoxville.  He earned $180,000 for his first-place finish to run his career earnings since joining the Korn Ferry Tour to $753,809.
 
At the end of the 2025 season, the top 20 players on the Korn Ferry Tour points list will earn status on next season's PGA Tour. 
 
With 13 events remaining on the schedule, Nyholm is well within the margin to join former teammate Jesper Svensson on the PGA Tour in 2026.  Svensson, a PGA Tour rookie, has made 12 of 17 cuts so far this season, has earned $629,441 in winnings and finished T10 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
 
Svensson stands No. 130 in the FedEx Cup listing and is 122 in the Official World Golf Rankings.  Following his victory, Nyholm moved up to No. 224 in the OWGR.
 
On Sunday, Nyholm trailed 54-hole leader S.H. Kim by five strokes entering the final round, before becoming the 10th first-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour this season.
 
On the year, Nyholm has made eleven of 12 cuts, but did not own a top-10 showing until he followed an opening round 75 at Blue Hills with scores of 66-68-67 to finish at 12-under.  He ran his string of rounds in the 60s to seven straight at Holston Hills by shooting 65-66-68-66 on the par-71 layout.
 
Nyholm finished No. 40 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour points list behind nine top 25s and three top-10 finishes to earn fully exempt status for the 2025 season.  He ranked No. 69 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour list following a 50th-place showing in his 2022 rookie season.
 
He first earned membership ahead of the 2022 season with a T29 finish at the final stage of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.
 
Nyholm is one of the most decorated golfers in Campbell history.  He still holds school records for lowest career stroke average (71.17) top-10 individual finishes (21) in the program's Division I era, which stretches to 1977-78.  Nyholm played 12 NCAA post-season rounds already after reaching the NCAA Championship as an individual in his freshman season.  He helped lead Campbell to 3-straight NCAA postseason berths in 2018, 2019, 2021 (the 2020 competition was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic) and was chosen for Team International for the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup.
 
He was the 2018 Big South freshman of the year and went on to qualify for the NCAA Championship after tying for fifth individually and winning a playoff in the NCAA Raleigh Regional.  As a senior in 2021, he was named Big South Conference golfer of the year and honorable mention All-American.  He won the 2021 Stitch Intercollegiate to earn a sponsor's exemption into the Korn Ferry Tour's UNC Health Championship at TPC Wakefield in North Raleigh and made the cut as an amateur.
 
At this week's UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH, Nyholm will compete on a second-straight Donald Ross design.  Opened for play in 1949, the Raleigh Country Club was the last golf course designed by the legendary architect, whose previous layouts included Pinehurst No. 2.  After holding the regular Korn Ferry stop at TPC Wakefield for a number of years, the event moved to Raleigh Country Club in 2023.
 
The 2025 UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH runs from Thursday (May 29) through Sunday (June 1) on the par-70 layout which will play to 7394 yards.  Tickets are available at unchealthchampionship.com.
 
Sources: PGATour.com