Emilio Gonzalez gets first Korn Ferry Tour win, secures PGA Tour card with victory at Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron

Courtesy of Idaho Press, Bob Lundeberg

BOISE — Emilio Gonzalez put together the round of his life to pick up career victory
No. 1 on the Korn Ferry Tour.
 
Gonzalez carded two eagles en route to a 10-under 61 in Sunday’s final round at Hillcrest Country Club, finishing the Albertsons Boise Open atop the leaderboard at 22-under. The 27-year-old from Mexico eagled the opening hole of his fourth round and carded a back-nine 30 with another eagle on the par-5 16th.
 
It was a monumental final round for Gonzalez, who secured his PGA Tour card for the 2026 season with the victory. “I told my caddy last week that our goal was to be Tour-bound before (the Korn Ferry Tour Championship) just to take a little bit of the stress out of the week,” Gonzalez said. “To do it before all the playoffs and go home knowing that I’ve got three weeks toenjoy with my fiancé and my dog, knowing (that I have my Tour card) is just super special. I’m really excited about it.”
 
Gonzalez entered the week at No. 12 in the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour points list. The top 20 players in the final standings earn PGA Tour cards for the 2026 season.
 
The Albertsons Boise Open was the final tournament of the KFT regular season. The four-event KFT Finals start next month with the Simmons Bank Open in Tennessee (Sept. 11-14).
 
Beginning the day three shots behind co-leaders Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Jeffrey Kang and Russell Knox, Gonzalez laid up on the par-4 opening hole and had about 150 yards to the pin — a perfect number for his pitching wedge. Gonzalez’s approach landed a few yards short of the hole and trickled right in.
 
“Holing out for eagle on the first hole definitely set the tone for the day,” Gonzalez said.
 
Following the opening eagle, Gonzalez poured in birdies on No. 2 and No. 3 before bogeying the par-3 fourth. It was his lone blemish of the day.
 
Gonzalez holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-3 eighth and later birded No. 15 to pull even with Kang atop the leaderboard at 19-under. He seized the lead for good with his eagle on No. 16, hitting a 6 iron to about two feet for an easy three.
 
Gonzalez then poured in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th to extend the lead. A two-putt par on the difficult par-4 18th completed Gonzalez’s sensational 10-under 61, the lowest round of the four-day tournament.
 
“I knew that I needed a special finish (to win),” said Gonzalez, who sat on the clubhouse lead for more than an hour after finishing up. “I birdied 15, eagled 16 and then birdied 17, so that just kind of did it for me. It was great.”
 
Gonzalez said Hillcrest is similar to his home course, Malanquin Golf Club, in San Miguel de Allende, a town of roughly 175,000 residents in Central Mexico.
 
Gonzalez finished in a tie for 19th at last year’s Albertsons Boise Open.
 
“It’s short and tight, narrow fairways,” Gonzalez said. “There’s not as much elevation, but the greens have the same type of grass. It’s up in elevation. So I grew up in something really similar. It wasn’t a big adjustment for me to adapt to the altitude.”
 
Needing a hole-out eagle on the 18th hole to catch Gonzalez, Kang hit his approach to about four feet. He made the birdie putt to finish in solo second at 21-under.
 
Dumont de Chassart and Knox shared third place at 20-under.