Brandon Michael Matthews (born July 27, 1994) is an American professional golfer from Dupont, Pennsylvania. He has won on the Korn Ferry Tour and played on the PGA Tour, but came to prominence on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica for his gesture after losing a 2019 event.
Amateur career
Matthews attended Pittston Area High School and played on their golf team. He was the 2010 PIAA Boys' Golf State champion. In 2011 Matthews was the Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys champion.[1]
Matthews played college golf at Temple University beginning in 2012.[2] He tied the school record for career tournament titles, matching Geoffrey Sisk's mark of eight set back in 1986.
In 2014 Matthews was the Dixie Amateur champion.
Professional career
Matthews turned professional in October 2016. He finished tied for ninth place in the Mexican, qualifying for the 2017 PGA Tour Latinoamérica, earning his card for the 2017 season.[3] Matthews had a successful start to his professional career, finishing tied for ninth place in his first professional tournament, the Avianca Colombia Open, and winning his second event, the Molino Cañuelas Championship.[3][4]
Matthews enjoyed a successful, but "scary" 2017 season, overcoming an absence for a herniated disc and two bulging discs to earn advancement from the PGA Tour Latinoamérica to the Web.com Tour.[5] Matthews earned that invitation to the Final Stage of Q School for the Web.com Tour after finishing his rookie campaign on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica. He finished within the top 45 earning conditional status on the Web.com Tour. Conditional status guaranteed him a spot in any and all of the first eight tournaments of the season.
Making enough cuts and earning enough cumulative money afforded him status for the entire year (2018) on the Web.com Tour. Matthews' best finish of the year came from the Nashville Golf Open, where he finished T7.[3] He also finished T10 at the North Mississippi Classic. Matthews did not finish high enough in 2019 to retain his Korn Ferry Tour privileges, but retained his PGA Tour Latinoamérica card for 2020.
In November 2019, Matthews lost the Visa Open de Argentina title in a playoff after a fan with Down syndrome made a loud distracting noise. Matthews went on record absolving the fan of responsibility for his loss and gave him a signed glove.[6] While the playoff loss in Argentina cost him entry into The 2020 Open (which was cancelled), the gesture earned Matthews a sponsor exemption into the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.[7]
Matthews returned to the PGA Tour Latinoamérica and won two events during the COVID-affected 2020-21 season. He finished the season leading the Order of Merit, earning a return to the Korn Ferry Tour, fully exempt for 2022. Matthews won his first Korn Ferry Tour event at the Astara Golf Championship and made the cut at the U.S. Open.
Amateur wins
2011 Philadelphia Junior Championship
2012 Silver Cross Award, Hartford Hawk Invitational, Philadelphia Big 5 Invitational
2013 Princeton Invitational, Silver Cross Award, Barnabas Health Intercollegiate
