- April 4, 2025
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Golf fans in the Lakewood Ranch area are likely to be watching the next player to take a pivotal step toward the PGA Tour.
The LECOM Suncoast Classic — a Korn Ferry Tour event — is back at Lakewood National Golf Club from April 16-19.
Since the tournament began in 2019, each champion has earned the right to play on the PGA Tour. Last year’s winner, Tim Widing, used his first-place finish to catapult himself into the best stretch of his career.
If history is to repeat itself, this year's winner will be on the PGA Tour soon.
This year’s field also features Blades Brown, 17, and Miles Russell, 15, who both debuted on the PGA Tour last year despite being teenagers.
Other notable names include Hank Lebioda, the current points leader on the Korn Ferry Tour, and former PGA Tour player Justin Suh.
Here’s what’s become of former LECOM Suncoast Classic champions:
Hubbard, 35, is the most seasoned of the LECOM Suncoast Classic champions. He won the event with a -26, two strokes ahead of the rest of the field. His debut on the PGA Tour came at the Frys.com Open in October of 2013 and he’s played in 240 PGA Tour events — making the cut in 158 of them.
He has seven top-five finishes on tour, with the best of them a T2 at the Houston Open in October of 2019. Hubbard has also played in five major championships, including a T24 finish at the 2024 PGA Championship.
He officially joined the tour in 2015 and his career earnings on tour are $11,013,424.
Novak, 30, debuted on the PGA Tour in November of 2017 at The RSM Classic. He won the LECOM Suncoast Classic with a -23, one stroke ahead of John Chin. He has now competed in 96 tour events and has made the cut in 57 of them.
His best performances have come in the past year, including a runner-up finish at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November of 2024 and a third-place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 25 of this year.
Novak has made $5,778,727 in career earnings since officially joining the tour in 2022.
Buckley, 29, won the LECOM Suncoast Classic in a three-man playoff against Dawson Armstrong and Taylor Montgomery after posting a -13. Buckley followed that win by earning a spot in the U.S. Open later that year and he also earned his PGA Tour card the following season.
He made his PGA Tour debut at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October of 2018, but had played in just two PGA Tour events before winning the LECOM Suncoast Classic.
Since making the tour, he’s made 47 cuts out of 95 tour events. His best tournament performance was a runner-up finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January of 2023. He has earned $4,952,175 on the PGA tour.
Hun An, 33, has played PGA Tour events since he debuted at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March of 2010. He won the LECOM Suncoast Classic with a -17, one stroke better than four runner-ups.
An struggled early in his professional career and bounced around from the PGA Tour to the DP World Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour until he broke through in the 2016-17 season.
An has now competed in 211 PGA Tour events and has made the cut in 148 events.
Though he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour, An has five runner-up finishes and four third-place finishes. An has earned $19,967,667 competing in the PGA Tour.
Gutschewski, 48, is the oldest player to win the LECOM Suncoast Classic. He won the event with a -21 in a one-hole playoff against Logan McAllister. His first PGA Tour event came in February of 2004 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He has persevered through struggles in his game and a foot injury to play in 158 events on the PGA Tour and 260 events on the Korn Ferry Tour.
He has one top-five finish and three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, but has found more success on the Korn Ferry Tour, with three wins, five-runner up finishes and has placed in the top-10 44 times.
His career earnings between both tours is $3,868,743 with $1,973,987 coming on the PGA Tour.
Widing, 27, has the least amount of professional golf experience of any of the LECOM Suncoast Classic winners. He won the event by beating out Steven Fisk and Patrick Cover in a three-man playoff after posting a -20. He used his win last year as a springboard to compete in two majors last summer — the PGA Championship (missed cut) and the U.S. Open (T41). Widing earned his PGA Tour card for the first time this year and has played in just 11 tour events in his career, the best of which was at last year’s U.S. Open.
Despite struggling to make cuts this year, Widing placed T45 with a -11 at the Puerto Rico Open in March. He only has earned $83,847 on the PGA Tour.
