Visit Knoxville Open: Pre-tournament notes, storylines, more

The 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season continues with the Visit Knoxville Open, the 12th event on the Tour's 26-event schedule. This season marks the 35th playing of the Visit Knoxville Open, with Holston Hills Country Club serving as the host venue since 2021. The Visit Knoxville Open is one of four tournaments on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour schedule to be held every season since the Tour’s establishment in 1990.

Harry Higgs won the 2024 Visit Knoxville Open with a lengthy eagle putt on the second hole (par-5 No. 18) of a sudden-death playoff to defeat Frankie Capan III, capturing a second-consecutive victory on the season (Adventhealth Championship) and third of his Korn Ferry Tour carrer. Higgs secured a return to the PGA TOUR and went on to finish No. 8 on the 2024 Points List. Higgs became the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win back-to-back tournaments in a playoff. Higgs, who previously graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour at the end of the 2019 season, lost a playoff earlier this month at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in a bid for his first PGA TOUR win.

Tournament storylines:

• The field includes 19 PGA TOUR winners who have combined for 38 career victories, highlighted by Ben Crane and Nick Watney with five PGA TOUR titles each.
• The field includes 58 Korn Ferry Tour winners who have combined for 80 career victories, led by Tommy Gainey, Paul Barjon and Zecheng Dou with three wins each.
• Six players in this week's field played collegiate golf in the state of Tennessee, including University of Tennessee alum and Nashville native Rick Lamb, who stands No. 14 on the 2025 Korn Ferr Tour Points List. Others include"
  • M.J. Daffue, played one season at Lee University
  • Tyler Johnson (sponsor exemption), Knoxville, Tennessee, native who played four seasons at University of Tennessee
  • Harrison Ott (open qualifier), Vanderbilt University alum and resides in Nashville
  • Cole Sherwood, Vanderbilt University alum
  • Owen Stamper (open qualifier), played four seasons at Middle Tennessee State University
• Other players with ties to Tennessee in this week's field include: Kyle Cottam (born in Memphis, Tennessee, and plays from Knoxville, Tennessee), Ryan Hall (Knoxville, Tennessee, resident), Grant Hirschman (plays from Memphis, Tennessee), Davis Shore (Knoxville, Tennessee, native), and Braden Thornberry (born in Germantown, Tennessee, and resident of Collierville, Tennessee).

Tournament facts

• Course: Holston Hills Country Club
  • Par 71, 7,267 yards
• Purse: $1 million ($180,000 to winner)
• Defending champion: Harry Higgs
• Scoring records
  • Low 18-hole score: 61 (Six occurrences; last: Quade Cummins, 2024, R4)
  • Low 72-hole score: 258, J.J. Spaun (2016)
• Scoring average (2024): 68.257 / -1.743
• Playoffs: Seven (last: Harry Higgs defeated Frankie Capan III in 2024)