Veritex Bank Championship: Pre-tournament notes, storylines, more

The 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season continues with the Veritex Bank Championship, the ninth event on the Tour's 26-event schedule. This year marks the fifth playing of the Veritex Bank Championship, with each iteration contested at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas.

Two past champions of the Veritex Bank Championship – Tyson Alexander (2021, 2022) and Spencer Levin (2023) – are in this week's field. Alexander previously became the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history to successfully defend a title, as he won the event in back-to-back seasons. Alexander is bidding to join Kyle Thompson (UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH) as the only player to win the same Korn Ferry Tour event three times.

Last season, Tim Widing carded a four-round total of 31-under 253 to claim victory, setting a new Korn Ferry Tour record for score relative to par. He followed his win in Arlington with a top-five finish on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, securing his first PGA TOUR card.

Key storylines

• The field includes 14 PGA TOUR winners who have combined for 25 career victories, highlighted by Ben Crane with five PGA TOUR titles.
• Field includes 45 Korn Ferry Tour winners with 64 total wins, led by three-time winners Paul Barjon, Zecheng Dou and Tommy Gainey with four career victories. All eight winners from this season are in the field.
• Six players in this week's field are inside the top 200 of the Official World Golf Ranking: No. 118 Kensei Hirata, No. 136 Neal Shipley (winner of last week's LECOM Suncoast Classic, No. 154 Johnny Keefer, No. 167 S.H. Kim, No. 186 Hank Lebioda and No. 199 Justin Suh.
• Seventeen-year-old Blades Brown, one of the youngest players to make a cut in Korn Ferry Tour history, returns via sponsor exemption. Brown finished T41 at the Club Car Championship and made four PGA TOUR starts earlier this year, highlighted by a T34 at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. Brown finished T51 at last week's LECOM Suncoast Classic, where he became the second player in Korn Ferry Tour history (Si Woo Kim/2013) to record multiple made cuts prior to turning 18 years old.
• The 2025 season’s points leader Hank Lebioda enters with five top-10 finishes in eight starts.
• Texas ties run deep in the field, with standouts like Sam Bennett (Madisonville, Texas), Kyle Westmoreland (Trinity, Texas) and Cole Hammer (Houston, Texas) all competing in their home state.

Tournament facts

• Course: Texas Rangers Golf Club (par 71, 7,010 yards)
• Field: 156 players
• 2024 winner: Tim Widing
• Purse: $1 million (winner: $180,000)
• Scoring records:
  • Low 18-hole score: 58, Frankie Capan III (2024/Round 1)
  • Low 36-hole score: 124, Griffin Wood (2024)
  • Low 54-hole score: 190, Tim Widing (2024)
  • Low 72-hole score: 253, Tim Widing (2024)
• Playoffs: None to date