Jordan Weber is guaranteed a DP World Tour and has exemptions into three Challenge Tour events this season after winning the NEXT Golf Tour Season Finale and topping the Order of Merit.
Wow. Just … wow.
— NEXT Golf Tour (@NEXTGolfTour) March 16, 2024
🇺🇸 Jordan Weber closes out his round with five birdies to finish -9 and win both the Season Finale and the Order of Merit.
Congratulations, Jordan. We'll see you in Europe this summer.
#NEXTGolfTour #Trackman #WhereChampionsPlay pic.twitter.com/mpD2zbcYMb
To followers of professional golf, where multimillion-dollar paydays are commonplace, a tournament with a $30,000 winner’s check — much less one played indoors — might seem insignificant.
Try telling that to Jordan Weber.
The 38-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa, was fighting back tears after winning that much and much more on Saturday in the Season Finale of the NEXT Golf Tour Powered by Trackman.
“Wow! I am shaking and crying and all the things,” Weber said moments after the round. “I cannot believe I just did that. Unbelievable. I did not think it was going to happen.”
With a global audience (of dozens, but still) watching on YouTube, Weber shot a nine-under 63 at The Concession, including a back-nine 29 with birdies on the last five holes. He won by two strokes over Sigurdur Gardarsson of Iceland and Jesper Sandborg of Sweden (T-2, $17,500 each).
It was Weber’s second win of the seven-event season, pushing his total earnings to $90,319, including a $15,000 bonus for topping the Order of Merit.
Insignificant? More like life-changing. As the NEXT Golf Tour champion, Weber will also receive three Challenge Tour exemptions and a start on the DP World Tour this summer.
Which explains why the tears and the libations were flowing in Des Moines on Saturday night.
“I get to go to Europe! I’m so pumped about that,” Weber said, clutching his hands, shaking his head. “Oh, gosh, it’s amazing. It’s just hard to believe that this could even happen to me.
“We’re gonna go celebrate. I’m gonna go have a drink and celebrate with my family. It’s so exciting. I can’t believe it.”
Instead of (or at least while) opening an indoor golf center in his hometown this summer, perhaps even borrowing on his renown as arguably the best virtual golfer on the planet, Jordan Weber will be playing outdoors some 4,000 miles due east.
More than a decade after acquiring a nasty case of the yips and giving up on the game, he will tee it up in Europe as a professional golfer.
