A.J. Ewart is not dwelling on last week’s lost opportunity, but instead is laser-focused on the one he has at this week’s season-ending Fortinet Cup Championship at Morgan Creek Golf Course in Surrey.
The Coquitlam native enters the tournament 12th on the PGA Tour Americas’ Fortinet Cup points list and if he can move up at least two spots he will receive one of the 10 2026 Korn Ferry Tour cards that will be handed out after Sunday’s final round.
That’s a significant carrot to chase and would be a huge step up the professional golf ladder for Ewart. They play for $1 million each week on the Korn Ferry Tour versus the $225,000 that is up for grabs most weeks on the PGA Tour Americans’ circuit. More importantly, he would only be one step away from the PGA TOUR.
“Of course, you know what is at stake,” Ewart said. “But you can’t guide your way around the course saying, okay, what do I need to do. You just have to go out and play. I play golf tournaments trying to win and that is my goal this week.”
This week wouldn’t be quite so important if last week had ended differently at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria. Ewart lost on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to fellow Canadian Drew Nesbitt. Had he won that playoff, Ewart would have arrived at Morgan Creek sixth on the points list and pretty much guaranteed of his Korn Ferry card.
“Of course, I wanted to win and it sucked losing on the third playoff hole,” he said. “But I know my game is in a good place. I have been playing really well all summer. I just want to build on what happened last week.”
Ewart acknowledged that the playoff loss stung. But he did his best to quickly put it behind him. “I drove to the ferry terminal and I was still kind of upset,” he said. “But once I got there and hung out with my friends for a little bit and got on the ferry and kind of reflected, I was able to put it behind me. I got home and it’s a new week and I haven’t really thought about it since.
“I am just concerned about this week. If at the start of the year you would have told me I’d be 12th on the points list going into the Fortinet Cup, I would have taken it. I am not going to dwell on what happened last week. I am just going to try and take advantage of the situation and improve on where I am at.”
There are lots of variables, but Ewart likely needs at least a top-10 finish to finish inside the top 10 on the points list. Ewart will play the first two rounds with two guys he is trying to catch, Hunter Wolcott, who is 11th, and No. 10 Carson Bacha. They tee off at 1:05 p.m. on Thursday and 8:15 a.m. on Friday.
Ewart played Morgan Creek a few times as a junior and is getting reacquainted with the course during practice rounds. “I played it today (Tuesday) and it kind of refreshed my memory,” he said. “It’s a very good golf course. I think it asks you to drive the ball well. They have grown the rough up and it’s pretty long and thick. And the greens are really firm and fast, so there is a premium on hitting fairways and being able to control your ball into the greens.”
Ewart expects scores to be low. The fact is they are low every week on this tour. The competitive course record at Morgan Creek is 67, set by Scott Dunlap at a 2005 Canadian Open Monday qualifier. “That won’t last more than the first four groups, I promise you that,” Ewart said.
Morgan Creek will be set up as par 70. The second and 17th holes, which play as par 5s for public players, will play as par 4s this week. The top 120 players on the points list qualified to play in the Morgan Creek event, but only 115 have registered to play. The field will be cut to the top 60 and ties following the second round.
Ewart attended Gleneagle high school in Coquitlam before playing his collegiate golf at Barry University, a NCAA Division II school in south Florida where he broke many of the records set by current PGA TOUR member Adam Svensson of Surrey.
Some of his high school buddies — A.J.’s Army — will be at Morgan Creek to root him on. “Yeah, I will have a good amount of friends and family and members from Vancouver Golf Club out,” Ewart said. “It will be nice to have some support. Hopefully, I can channel their energy and use it in my favour.”
CHIP SHOTS: Richmond’s Chris Crisologo, who sits 86th on the points list, is the only other British Columbian in the field. . .The 115-player field features players from 13 countries: 88 from the United States; 11 from Canada; four from Argentina; two from Norway and China; and one each from Australia, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Ireland, Mexico and the Philippines. . .Tickets and more information are available at fortinetcupchampionship.com