EDMOND (June 29) – Former Central Oklahoma national champion golfer Joshua Creel came close to earning his first win on the Korn Ferry Tour this past weekend with a runner-up finish at the Live and Work in Maine Open.
Creel birdied six of the first seven holes in final-round play at the par-71 Falmouth (Maine) Country Club Sunday in closing with a seven-under 64 and finished the 72-hole tournament at 15-under 269. He ended up one shot behind winner Chad Ramey in earning $54,000.
Creel opened the tournament with a 71, followed with a career-low 62 and then shot a third-round 72 before staging the big finish in moving up the leaderboard.
"I had been working hard on my putting the last couple of weeks and it started to click," Creel said. "I didn't hit it great, but the flat stick is a great equalizer and it definitely was for me this week."
Sunday's runner-up finish was the second of Creel's three-year Korn Ferry career and jumped him up to 69th on the tour's points list with five tournaments remaining. The top 25 finishers earn their PGA tour card for 2022, while the next 50 – along with players who finish 126-200 on the PGA tour points list -- qualify for a three-event tournament for 25 more PGA spots.
"This was a huge for me," Creel said of his runner-up showing. "I really needed a good finish for where I was on the points list and to get solo second was a huge boost.
"Even though I haven't been scoring like I wanted I felt like my game was coming along and this gives me a lot of momentum. I'm ready to get it rocking and rolling for the rest of the season."
Creel will be in Denver, Colo. for a tournament next week, followed by consecutive trips to Springfield, Ill. and Springfield, Mo. He flies to some events, but there's a reason he drives whenever possible.
"I like to take my truck when I can so I can have my fishing stuff," Creel said. "There's a lot of good ponds on the courses we play and It's fun to get away from golf and do some fishing. I caught a 6 ½ pound bass in Louisiana and a 7 ½ pounder in Savannah and that was pretty fun."
A native of Cheyenne, Wyo., Creel started his collegiate career at Colorado before transferring to UCO in 2010. He was a second-team All-American in 2011 and then captured the Division II national championship as a junior in 2012 before turning pro.
Creel has played on various tours since leaving UCO and earned three wins on the All Pro Tour in 2018 before moving on to the Korn Ferry Tour. Joshua and his wife, Alex, still live in Edmond and the couple are expecting their first child in December.
