Port St. Lucie, FL – Middle Atlantic PGA Professional Larkin Gross went in to his first PGA Professional Championship with a lot of confidence. He knew his game was where it needed to be. An assistant professional at Springfield Golf & Country Club, he had some recent high finishes in the Section leading up to the event in Florida. Larkin was the youngest golfer in the field (23 years old) but was not fazed once he arrived in Florida. Gross has experience playing under pressure, winning an NCAA DIII Team Championship in 2018 while at Methodist University.
Larkin was within striking distance after two rounds, shooting even par. His third round was one for the record books and vaulted him up the leaderboard. An eight-under 64 (matching the lowest 3rd round in the history of the tournament) got him into a tie for 2nd place and a chance to win heading into the fourth round. He had 11 birdies on the day! Despite five more birdies, too many bogeys led to shooting four over par in the final round. Although his bid for the win was not successful, his fourth place finish out of 312 golfers locked up his spot in the top 20 and qualified him for The PGA Championship at the Ocean Course and his first major championship.
The 2021 PGA Championship will be played May 20-23 at the Ocean Course of Kiawah Island Golf Resort.