Spencer Levin has won his first ever PGA Tour-sanctioned event, the Veritex Bank Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
That was also the 38-year-old's first win for 15 years following a trio of victories on the Canadian Tour between 2007 and 2008, which weren't sanctioned by the PGA Tour at that point.
That marks a significant turnaround for a player who lost his PGA Tour card at the end of the 2016-17 season, which he put down to equipment struggles at the time. The outlook hadn't even looked good for the former PGA Tour regular as recently as five months ago, when he bogeyed the last hole of the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School Finals, ensuring he missed out on retaining his full status this year.
That’s all changed with the victory, which leaves him fully exempt for the remainder of the season. Not only that, but he is now 11th on the Tour's points list, with the top 30 at the end of the season earning PGA Tour cards.
Levin overcame a six-shot deficit in the final round to beat Brett Drewitt, and he said: “I didn’t know I was going to win, but I knew I was going to play well.”
After those Canadian Tour wins, Levin earned his PGA Tour card in 2009 and back then, the former World No.60 was as well-known for his prowess on the course as his often controversial antics, including chain smoking during rounds and occasional volatile temperament.
After losing his card, Levin has barely been seen on the PGA Tour, with his most recent outing being a tie for 44th in October's Shriners Children's Open. However, he explained that he never gave up hope of recovering his form.
He said: “I don’t know. It’s been a long time, but it’s something I’ve always done, and I think every pro golfer will tell you that regardless if they haven’t done it, if they have a little bit of belief in them, they always kind of picturing the day happening, and I’ve been picturing a day like this for a long time.”
