Bridgeman steals Sunday at Walnut Cove. Sixty-one. Trophy. Presidents Cup next.

Jacob Bridgeman came from five back, posted a career-best 61, and won the inaugural Biltmore Championship by two.

Jacob Bridgeman came into Sunday five shots back at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove and left with the trophy for the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville. The South Carolina kid posted a career-best 10-under 61, finished at 26-under 258, and beat PGA Tour rookie Ben James by two. That is a second Tour win this season for Bridgeman, who already had The Genesis Invitational on the résumé, and it is a heck of a tune-up the week before he shows up at Medinah as one of Brandt Snedeker’s Presidents Cup picks.

The golf was soft and silly after the rain. Preferred lies all week. Everybody knew low was out there. J.T. Poston, the local favorite and course member, hung a bogey-free 60 and nearly made it a 59 before a 25-footer slipped by. James matched Bridgeman’s 61 and still came up short at 24-under 260 after birdieing three of his last four and scrambling for par on 18. Neal Shipley, who had owned the 54-hole lead after a bogey-free tear through 60 holes, could not keep up. He waited until the par-5 eighth for his first birdie, closed in 69, and tied Ricky Castillo (65) for third at 23-under 261.

Bridgeman’s day was the putter. Eight birdies and an eagle, plus a couple of nervy pars that kept the chase alive — a 13-footer on 11 and a 12-footer after bunker-to-bunker on 12 — then three straight birdies to pull away. Family from Inman was in the gallery. Parents finally got to watch a Tour win in person.

Jackson Koivun, another Snedeker pick and still 21, tied Poston for fifth at 21-under 263 after a 63-65 weekend. Haotong Li, Max Greyserman, and company stacked into a five-way tie for 10th at 19 under. Greyserman’s week nudged him inside the FedEx Cup Fall bubble at 97th; Shipley climbed from 183rd to 135th with the podium check, still hunting that top-100 card for 2027.

Next up for Bridgeman is Presidents Cup week. For the Fall, Bank of Utah waits Oct. 1–4. On a rain-softened mountain course, the kid from an hour down the road wrote the first chapter with a 61 and a two-shot cushion. Hard to argue with that.

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