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Peter Kuest wasn't sure where he was going to play this week before winning a Monday qualifier on a playoff to clinch a spot in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
He ended the week with a strong showing — and was inches away from an excellent one.
The former BYU golfer shot 68 Sunday to finish a PGA Tour career-best tied for fourth at 21-under-par 267 at Detroit Golf Club.
Kuest, who lives and competes out of American Fork, shot three rounds in the 60s — including a co-leading 64 Thursday. He finished in a three-way tie for fourth with Taylor Moore and Lucas Glover, which guarantees the conditional Korn Ferry Tour member a spot in the John Deere Classic.
No matter the outcome, Sunday marked a significant step forward in the career of Kuest, the third-year pro who claimed All-American status with the Cougars in 2020 and won the Utah Open the same year. The Fresno, California, native a T14 finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson and T57 at the RBC Canadian Open with his best finish in 10 starts on the PGA Tour.
He even had an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-4, 474-yard 18th hole that would've given him a standalone third-place finish or a two-way T4 or less that would have clinched special temporary tour membership. But after blasting his tee shot 333 yards down the middle of the fairway and a short wedge from 133 yards just past the hole, the BYU product spun it back and just missed off the left edge of the cup before tapping in for par.
"I knew where I was at and I knew it, I kind of need it," said Kuest, who added $370,333 to his career earnings. "But we're in a position to get it next week and looking forward to that."
He won't need much to clinch that special status in the Quad Cities community. A solo 76th-place finish or better would finish the job — or making the cut — almost certainly for the 25-year-old college graduate. And unlike last week, he'll know where he's playing before the next round of Monday qualifiers.
"It's great," he said. "It's just another opportunity to go play. We'll rest up and then get after it and tee it up on Thursday and go make a bunch of birdies."
Special temporary membership would grant Kuest a spot in a conditional category on the 2023 PGA Tour priority ranking, according to pgatour.com. The category reshuffles a combination of tour members that include past champions and veteran members with at least 150 career cuts made. Special temporary members are also eligible to accept sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season, while non-members can only accept up to seven sponsor exemptions.
PGA veteran Rickie Fowler won his the Rocket Mortgage Classic for his first victory on tour in 96 starts. After faltering in the final round of the U.S. Open (he finished tied for fifth) as well as last week's Travelers Championship (where he finished tied for 13th), the Oklahoma State product finished this one out with a birdie on the 19th hole to break a three-way tie with Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin.
"It's just nice to have this one out of the way," Fowler said after winning for the first time in four years, per the Associated Press. "I'm obviously going to soak this one in and celebrate a bit.
"Yeah, it's just been a long road."
