Lakers' Austin Reaves Fails to Qualify at Korn Ferry Tour Golf Event: 'I Was Nervous'

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves came up short in his attempt to qualify for an event on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Reaves shot a respectable six-over par 76 to finish 73rd out of 79 players.

"Like, I was nervous," Reaves told Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times about his foray into professional golf. "This was the first time I got on the tee box like I was locked in to win this … and it didn't go that way."

Reaves maintains a golf-specific channel on TikTok called "Hillbilly Bogey" and uses it to show off his skills, including crushing a shot with a left-handed iron at a TopGolf.

Reaves told Woike that the idea of participating in a qualifying event was a very spur-of-the-moment decision.

"I was laying on the couch the other day and I was bored, and I called [my friend Trent Swaim] and said 'Find me a Monday qualifier around here,'" he said.

Reaves took part in the qualifier at Three Ridges Golf Course in Knoxville, Tennessee. He shot three-over par on both the front nine and back nine. His best success came on the par fives with a score of two-under-par, which was tied for third in the field.

The par-three sixth hole caused the most problems for Reaves. He took a six that moved to four-over par for the day. He did hit back-to-back birdies on holes nine and 10 to give him some hope.

The Korn Ferry Tour is a developmental tour for the PGA. It features players who either participated in PGA Tour events but haven't earned enough FedEx Cup points to maintain their eligibility or are still trying to reach that level.

There are usually open spots for each event that players can qualify for on the Monday leading up to the tournament. The top four finishers advanced to the field for the Visit Knoxville Open that begins on Thursday.

Even though things didn't work out for Reaves this time around, his ability to finish with a sub-80 round at an event he randomly decided to participate in while sitting on the couch does suggest he might able to hit the qualifying score with more careful preparation.