SHERWOOD PARK, Alberta – With his third win of the PGA TOUR Americas season Sunday at the ATB Classic, second-year pro Michael Brennan secured exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership through the 2026 season via the Three-Victory Promotion. Brennan, who carded a 4-under 68 in the final round at Northern Bear Golf Course, tops the Fortinet Cup with two events remaining in the season.

Derek Hitchner recorded his second consecutive runner-up finish and moves to No. 10 in the Fortinet Cup points list after finishing the week at 18-under.

“It's everything. It was my goal to start the year when I knew I was playing out here. Just try to focus in the offseason and kind of grind and make sure I was prepared to get out here. It feels amazing,” Brennan said Sunday after the win, which marked his third victory in his last four starts.

Brennan’s promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour completes a redemption story that started last September at the Fortinet Cup Championship. On the back nine of the final Sunday of the 2024 season, Brennan was leading the tournament and projected to finish in the top 10 of the Fortinet Cup. After extending his lead with a birdie on No. 11 at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, he played the next three holes in 7-over and eventually finished the tournament T3, resulting in an 18th-place finish in the Fortinet Cup.

Coming off a rookie campaign that included five top 10s in 10 starts, Brennan returned to PGA TOUR Americas and opened the 2025 season with back-to-back top-five finishes. In his 21st career start, he finally broke through with his first victory at the BioSteel Championship in August, and two starts later, he followed with a playoff victory at the CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center.

In 14 starts on PGA TOUR Americas this season, Brennan has three victories and 10 top 10s and has risen to No. 159 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is in position to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Keefer, who was No. 219 in OWGR when he won the 2024 Fortinet Cup and has moved all the way up to No. 59, topping the Korn Ferry Tour points list.

Prior to turning pro in June 2024, Brennan was a two-time All-American at Wake Forest and earned PGA TOUR Americas membership by finishing No. 12 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2024. He recorded eight collegiate victories, including a pair of ACC Championships, and finished with the fourth-best career scoring average (71.46) in Wake Forest history.

In addition to being exempt on Korn Ferry Tour next season, Brennan will be exempt into Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry as one of the top 10 players in the final Fortinet Cup standings.

Brennan is expected to be in the field at the Times Colonist Victoria Open presented by Andrew Sheret Limited, which will be contested at Uplands Golf Club from Sept. 18-21 in Victoria, British Columbia.

Charting the champion

About Michael Brennan (first/-19)

 

• Third win comes at the age of 23 years, 7 months and 5 days
• Secures exempt membership on the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2026 season, after winning his third event in his last four starts
• Will play in the final group for the fourth time in his career and third time in the last four events
• Carded an 11-under 61 in the first round, breaking the course record at Northern Bear Golf Course by two strokes
• Won his second career PGA TOUR Americas event at the CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center at the age of 23 years, 6 months and 23 days after overcoming a four-stroke deficit in the final round
• Won his first title at the BioSteel Championship, where he coasted to a five-stroke win, the largest margin on PGA TOUR Americas since 2024; became the first wire-to-wire winner of the season
• Has the most top-10 finishes of the 2025 season with nine; Brennan has finished in the top 10 14 times in 23 career starts on PGA TOUR Americas, 12 of which have come in his last 17 starts dating back to the 2024 season
• Finished as the No. 12 player in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2024 to earn PGA TOUR Americas membership
• Tied for third in Wake Forest program history with Curtis Strange with eight individual titles: Brennan only trails Bill Haas (10) and Gary Hallberg (9)
• Earned co-medalist honors at the 2024 ACC Championships and earned All-ACC honors four times during his time with the Demon Deacons
• Won the Middle Atlantic Amateur Championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019
• Won the 2019 Virginia State Amateur Championship

Competition notes

 

Course setup: Par 72, 7,352 yards; R4 average: 71.000
Weather: Sunny with a high of 23 (75). Wind from the southeast at 6-14 km/h with gusts up to 24 km/h.  

• Fortinet Cup No. 1 Michael Brennan won his third event of the season at the ATB Classic, to earn exempt membership on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026. Brennan’s first two wins came at the BioSteel Championship and CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center.
• Derek Hitchner moved inside the top 10 of the Fortinet Cup for the first time this season to No. 10, after his second consecutive runner-up finish.
• Hole No. 15, the 579-yard par 5 played as the easiest hole at Northern Bear Golf Course on Sunday (-0.639 strokes over par).
• Hole No. 11, the 447-yard par 4, played as the toughest hole at Northern Bear Golf Course on Sunday (+0.491 strokes over par).