Who Is Chandler Phillips? All You Need to Know About the 27-Year-Old PGA Tour Rookie

Among the top six tied on the leaderboard with Stewart Cink and Kevin Streelman at T1, there is a PGA Tour rookie. Interestingly, he jumped  massively to take the lead. After positioning himself on the 12th spot after the first round, Chandler Phillips shot a round of 3 under 68 in round two to be tied at the top.

The 27-year-old is playing his fifth PGA Tour event at the Copperhead Course, and though the final two rounds are yet to be commenced, Phillips may just take home his maiden title at Palm Harbor. From a college golf athlete to a professional, what has been Phillip’s journey like?

How was Chandler Phillips’s college career

Chandler Phillisp hails from Huntsville, Texas, and was born on December 2, 1996, to Kris and Keith Phillips. He has a brother, Dawson Phillips, who also plays in events for the specially-abled. Phillips started his education at Huntsville High School and graduated from Texas A&M University with a major degree in Port Management.

In his four years at the university, Phillip was part of the ATM Men’s Golf Team. There, he won as many as seven events and set a record for most victories for Texas A&M University. He also shot his career’s second-lowest round of 63. In his senior year, Phillip was named the 2018 Jack Nicklaus Award semifinalist and received the 2018 All-Nicklaus Team Selection.

There are many accolades that Phillip has earned in his career as a collegiate golfer. He recieved All-SEC accolades in the four ATM seasons. In his last year in college, Phillip became the only golfer to be selected for the Palmer Cup three times. So, there have been many things that showed Phillips’s potential to become a successful pro.

His journey to becoming a pro golfer started right after his graduation. He was inducted into the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 after playing on smaller Tours. However, he became PGA Tour bound only after four years.

How did he make it to the PGA Tour? 

The initial few years at the Korn Ferry Tour were not as extraordinary for Chandler Phillip as he would have expected. However, things started to change in 2023. Phillip started his season at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay in the middle of January. After shooting the rounds of 69-68-69-68, the 27-year-old carded his maiden (and only) victory on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Read More: Why Is the 2024 Valspar Championship Slowly Turning a Nightmare for the PGA Tour?

The victory catapulted Phillip higher on the KFT 2023 Points List. However, he then missed 12 cuts in the rest of the season; his seven top-25 finishes, coupled with his T6 finish at the season-ending championship, pushed Phillip to 13th on the point list. As he was in the top 30 of the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, Phillip was given his PGA Tour card for the 2024 season.

And till now, on the PGA Tour, Phillips has played five events while withdrawing from the Cognizant Classic. He has had two top-25 finishes so far that came at the American Express and the Mexico Open. He missed the cut at the Puerto Rico Open, and was T57 at the season’s opener, the Sony Open. At the Farmers Insurance Open, he finished at the 76th spot.

Overall, it has been a rollercoaster journey for Phillips so far! With the lead at the Valspar Championship, it remains to be seen if Chandler Phillips will finally card his first PGA Tour victory.

Read More: 5 PGA Tour Stars Who Missed the 2024 Valspar Championship Cut