Photo credit: @TPCStonebrae

By Jeremy Harness

Trevor Cone had not played very much this year and didn’t have much of a chance to make it the next level of professional golf, at least this year.

But all of that changed after Sunday afternoon’s proceedings, and now he’s one solid tournament showing away from setting foot in the major leagues.

He entered Sunday afternoon with a one-shot lead, and he built on it from that point on. Cone executed his game plan to perfection Sunday afternoon, as his bogey-free round of 64 was plenty good enough to take the title at the Ellie Mae Classic, which was held at Hayward’s TPC Stonebrae.

Cone had only played in eight tournaments in his rookie season on the Web.com Tour and started this week way down on the money list, 135th to be exact. He had previously played on the Mackenzie Tour, formerly known as the Canadian Tour. However, this win propelled him all the way to 37th on that list.

He distanced himself on the front nine, running off four birdies, and then adding two more on the back to take the title. He averaged 330 yards off the tee and hit 73 percent of his fairways, which greatly enhances one’s chances to make a good score on a hole. He also 72 percent of his greens in regulation, and when he missed a green, he got up and down for par or better 85 percent of the time, which ranked second in the field.

He also putted extremely well, as he averaged only 1.596 putts per green in regulation, for which he was also second in the field this week.

The top 25 players on the tour’s money list at the end of the season earn the right to play on the PGA Tour next season, and Cone now has a very good chance to do that. There is only one event left in the regular season, and that gets under way on Thursday, and a high finish figures to get him inside that number.

The guys who finished second and third this weekend are now in the top 25. Josh Teater fired a 67 on Sunday to finish four stroked behind the lead and shot up 13 spots to the 13th position on the money list.

Meanwhile, Chris Thompson, a graduate of Kansas University, shot a final-round 64 despite two bogeys to finish in third position at 16-under. With that finish, Thompson also slid into the top 25, jumping 34 spots into the 19th position.

The final tournament of the regular season is the WinCo Foods Portland Open, which will be held at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course in North Plains, Ore.