Brandon Matthews will make his second career PGA Tour appearance this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he’s playing on a sponsor exemption, but one might consider this week a dress rehearsal.
The 27-year-old Matthews, who won the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship in February in Colombia, stands fourth on the KFT regular-season points list, with the top 25 earning a PGA Tour card for next season. The win marked his first as a professional and came just a week after he finished T-2 at the Panama Championship. Matthews won twice on PGA Tour LatinoAmérica during the 2020-21 season and won the Order of Merit to earn his KFT card for the season. Known as one of the longest drivers in the game, he’s kept the driver out of the bag for two of the last three weeks, but it’s back for this week at TPC Potomac. “It’s just so painful to do because for me, I’ve been hitting my driver so well for the past few years,” said Matthews, who says he averages 330 yards with his “fairway finder cruiser.” “When I do have driver in the bag, obviously there’s a big advantage there, especially if I’m hitting it well and consistent and I feel good with it. So, I do feel good with it this week and it is nice to have that thing back in the bag.”