Paul Barjon had a brief moment of pause.
He just needed to land safely on the No. 18 green to clinch his first Korn Ferry Tour win in three years.
The 30-year-old French native nailed the flagstick on the approach shot instead. The ball trickled back towards the water but stopped short of the hazard.
It was an easy par from there and Barjon won a stormy Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS by one stroke over runnerup Jackson Suber at Panther Creek Country Club on Sunday after a couple of weather delays.
“I was like, well, maybe it went in and then I saw it kind of rolling back towards the front of the green,” Barjon said. “Thankfully it didn’t hit the pin too hard. But it was a good spot to be.”
More: Tornado warning, violent storm disrupts first round of Memorial Health Championship
His 26-under-par 258 total was one stroke shy of the tournament record shared by the past two winners, Taylor Moore and Paul Haley II.
It was his first win since the Huntsville Championship in 2020.
“My caddy and I kind of looked at previous scores before the week and we knew that you had to make quite a few birdies out here and try to avoid bogeys as much as possible,” Barjon said. “And I think we did that with only three (bogeys) this week. I think that was the key. Everybody’s making a lot of birdies, but it’s how many bogeys.”
Barjon, a Texas Christian University graduate, claimed a $180,000 payout and was projected to vault to No. 28 in the Korn Ferry points list.
How past winners of the Memorial Health Championship have fared since its 2016 debut
Suber, 23, was slated to move up to 22nd with his third top 10 finish of the season. His par attempt nipped the cup for a bogey on the formidable par-3 No. 17 after a second weather delay that lasted more than an hour.
Barjon gained a two-stroke advantage with a birdie on the par-5 No. 16 before a bogey on the imposing par-3.
Barjon described the weather as exceptionally unique over the entire week. A powerful storm suspended play on Thursday and contained an EF-2 tornado not far from the golf course after wildfire smoke from Canada loomed over the area.
The Springfield Park District closed its courses on Friday to clean up debris before reopening the next day.
Tom Whitney was third by two strokes while Frankie Capan III was fourth by three strokes.
University of Illinois alum Adrien Dumont de Chassart, fresh off his third Big Ten Golfer of the Year award, tied for eighth at 21-under to continue his blistering professional start with a third top-10 finish. Fellow Illinois alums Michael Feagles tied for 17th (19-under) while Brian Campbell tied for 32nd (16-under).
Local amateur Jake Erickson, a Sacred Heart-Griffin grad, missed the cut at even-par after two rounds.
“It’s never a great sleep on Saturday night knowing you’ve got a chance to win because you’re thinking about everything. What if I win? What if I don’t win? All of this kind of stuff,” said Barjon, who led by one stroke ahead of the final round. “I told my caddy at the beginning of the day, well, that’s what we practice for. You want to be ahead.”
Contact Bill Welt: 788-1545, [email protected], Twitter.com/BillWelt
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Korn Ferry Tour: Paul Barjon wins Memorial Health Championship