Chase Sienkiewicz was in. Or so he thought.
On Monday, the 25-year-old former Arizona Wildcat posted a 62 in the Korn Ferry Tour Monday qualifier at Ross Rogers Wild Horse in Amarillo, Texas. He had just shot 10-under par with four spots available in the qualifier, and it was early in the afternoon. Sure, the rest of the field still had to post scores to make him an official part of the KFT field, but come on, he just shot 62. Sienkiewicz made the drive over to Tascosa Golf Club, the KFT tournament course, to get some early practice in.
In the eight years I've covered Monday Qs, a 62 has never needed a playoff to get through.
Successful Monday qualifiers have to make hotel plans for the week, arrange a caddie, organize transportation, and plan their practice around the tournament's pro-am schedule. Sienkiewicz started working on those logistics. Meanwhile, at Ross Rogers, Sienkiewicz's friend, Aman Gupta, posted an 11-under-par 61. Shortly after, another player posted 10-under to tie Sienkiewicz. Still, two more players could post double digits under par and Sienkiewicz would still qualify. Not to worry.
Sienkiewicz was a standout player at Arizona, finishing his college career with the second-lowest scoring average in program history. He graduated in 2023 and earned Korn Ferry Tour status in 2025, but made just eight of 21 cuts that season. Sienkiewicz has conditional KFT status this year after making it to the final stage of Q-School in December. In May, he finished T21 in his first KFT start of the season in Knoxville. The 10-under at Ross Rogers was another step in the right direction.
But then another 10-under came in at Ross Rogers. There were two players left on the course who could catch him, and Sienkiewicz was still at the tournament course. Live scoring showed the players' front-nine scores: 6-under and 3-under. But both would have to get to 10-under or better for Sienkewicz to be in a playoff. A 29 on the back nine for Parker Gillam seemed very unlikely.
Sienkiewicz's phone rang. A tournament official was on the other end telling him the playoff for the final two spots was starting in 10 minutes.
Sienkiewicz was stunned. And 10 minutes away.
The player who was 6-under through nine holes finished 11-under, but Chase was still fine. That was until Parker Gillam shot 29. The exact number he needed for a playoff.
He drove frantically to Ross Rogers.
Sienkiewicz had used a push cart with his giant Ping staff bag earlier in the day, but there was no time to find it when he arrived. He went straight to the tee carrying his bag, making it just in time.
His opponents were Jayce Hargrove, Michael Sanders and Parker Gillam. When it was his turn to tee off, Sienkiewicz snap-hooked his drive into the trees. It was his first full swing since he had completed his round over six hours prior. His opponents hit their tee shots into good positions.
Sienkiewicz found his ball in a challenging spot: long grass, trees in the way, and a small opening in front of him with the green in the distance. Normally he'd pitch out, but two players hit their approach shots first, and they had makeable birdie putts. Sienkiewicz decided to take a chance and play through the gap.
To his surprise, the ball flew through the opening and kept going. It was a miraculous shot, but bounded over the green.
The other players had putts inside 20 feet, and Sienkiewicz hit a bad chip. The ball came to rest in an old hole indentation some 15 feet away. The old hole had been repaired poorly. It was cut deeply into the green, well below the smooth surface, and any putt struck from it would almost certainly pop into the air.
Two rules officials assessed the situation and decided not to grant relief. Bad luck.
Sienkiewicz did his best greenskeeper impersonation, trying to repair the old cup before setting his ball down.
The ball popped into the air off the putter face. When Sienkiewicz looked up, somehow it was tracking. Then it dropped.
The other players were apparently just as surprised, and when they missed their birdie putts, the playoff continued.
Sienkiewicz calmed down. He was in this thing now. He was warmed up.
On the second playoff hole, a 365-yard par-four, the long hitting Sienkiewicz nearly jarred his tee shot. It ran by the pin and ended 20 feet behind the hole.
His two-putt birdie was enough.
As darkness fell Sienkiewicz was officially in.
