SILVIS, Illinois (July 17, 2025) – If the first half of the 2025 Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour season is any indication, Marcus Byrd is making a case for year-end APGA Player of the Year honors and a higher calling up the ladder of professional golf.
Playing the past three days on a golf course that hosted the PGA TOUR’s John Deere Classic two weeks ago, the Washington D.C. native led wire-to-wire and posted a score of 12-under-par 201, ceding just one bogey, over 54 holes to win the APGA at TPC Deere Run by two strokes on Thursday.
In joining Kamaiu Johnson as the APGA’s only two-time tournament winners this season, Byrd won his eighth career APGA Tour title and earned a $7,500 winner’s prize from a $25,000 overall purse. He also earned 700 Cisco Cup Series points to take the lead in those points standings, and has risen to second place in the APGA Jeff Dailey points standings.
Byrd, who also won the APGA at Port St. Lucie in May, captured the APGA at TPC Deere Run for the second time in the past three years after claiming this championship in 2023. He also finished runner-up at the APGA Juneteenth Classic in Los Angeles four weeks ago and in his 2025 APGA debut at the Cisco APGA Black History Month Classic at TPC Sawgrass in February.
“I definitely have a lot of experience playing here. I definitely was comfortable with the layout and what I needed to do as far as approaching the golf course, itself,” said Byrd, a Temple Hills, Md. resident who is a product of the First Tee-Greater Washington, DC program and was the 2019 Conference USA Golfer of the Year following his senior year at Middle Tennessee State University.
“Just knowing that I’m playing some good golf, I feel like my game is in a good place.”
Through his 3-under 68 in Thursday’s final round, Byrd completed a stretch of playing seven competitive tournament rounds in the past eight days. He arrived to TPC Deere Run fresh from playing in the eighth PGA TOUR event of his career last week at the ISCO Championship in Louisville, Ky. He received a sponsor exemption and made the cut on his 28th birthday (July 12).
Byrd has made the cut in his last two PGA TOUR starts over the past eight months. His most notable PGA TOUR appearance came in his second career start on the world’s leading tour as he was awarded the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption into the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational at famed Riviera Country Club in February 2023.
“I feel like I’m working hard and I’m getting better every week I tee it up out here, on the PGA TOUR, or on (PGA TOUR) Americas,” Byrd said. “I’m always learning about my game. That’s what’s really been, kind of, exciting for me. I’ve done a really good job of just staying in the moment, staying in the present. It’s just been super enjoyable. I just know that every week I’m definitely getting closer to my dream.”
Everett Whiten Jr., a Chesapeake, Va. native who played collegiately at Hampton University (Va.) and Howard University (Washington D.C.), placed second at 10-under 203 following his 3-under 68 in Thursday’s final round. It was Whiten Jr’s best finish this year on the APGA Tour, eclipsing his tie for third place at the APGA at TPC San Antonio in March.
Playing in Thursday’s final group with Byrd and LSU graduate Luis Gagne, Whiten Jr. could not close the two-shot gap he started the day with in trying to chase down Byrd.
Remarkably, Byrd and Whiten Jr. posted identical hole-by-hole scores through the first 12 holes. Byrd doubled his lead to four shots after Whiten Jr. made bogey on the par-4 13th hole and Byrd notched his last birdie on the par-4 14th hole. Whiten Jr. collected birdies on the final two holes of regulation but it was too little, too late.
A trio of Florida residents finished in a third-place tie at 7-under 206 – two-time reigning APGA Player of the Year Chase Johnson (the only APGA golfer to play in last month’s U.S. Open), of Boynton Beach, and Orlando residents Gagne and Juan Jose Guerra, a Dominican Republic native.
Byrd scorched TPC Deere Run with a 7-under 64 to lead after Tuesday’s first round. Byrd’s card was clean of missteps as he opened with four birdies in the first six holes and closed with three birdies in the last four. Johnson, Guerra and Jonathan Yoshihiro sat three shots back after recording rounds of 4-under 67.
Said Byrd: “I was fortunate to get off to a really hot start. It puts you in position to play smarter, play a little bit more relaxed golf going into those next couple of days. Just be patient, try not to force anything.”
Byrd posted a 2-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round and held a two-shot lead over Whiten Jr. and Gagne, each of whom registered a 4-under 67 in the second round to stand at 7-under 135. On Wednesday, Whiten made a pair of eagles on the second and 17th holes while Gagne tallied six birdies.
This week’s APGA at Deere Run was the first of three 54-hole, no-cut tournaments on the 2025 APGA schedule. The APGA Tour’s other 54-hole events are the MasterCard Tour Championship (Aug. 12-14 at Bally’s Ferry Point in New York City) and the Cisco Invitational (Oct. 14-16 at Spyglass Hill GC at Pebble Beach).
The APGA Tour hosts two-player teams for its ninth tournament of the year at the APGA 2 Man Classic at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La. from July 29-31, and the 2025 season runs through November with 16 tournaments from coast to coast.
About the APGA Tour
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring an inclusive future through the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works diligently to accomplish this by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs, and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting 18 tournaments awarding more than $1 million in prize and bonus money, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers as they work to chase their professional golf goals.
Media Contacts
Greg Ball
BZA Public Relations
apga@bzapr.com