Jacob Bridgeman arrived in Asheville looking for a final tune-up before his Presidents Cup debut.
He left with another PGA Tour trophy.
Bridgeman erased a five-shot deficit Sunday with a spectacular bogey-free 10-under 61 to win the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, finishing at 26-under 258 for a two-shot victory over rookie Ben James.
The closing 61 was the lowest round of Bridgeman’s PGA Tour career and delivered his second victory of the 2026 season, continuing a breakout year that began with his win at The Genesis Invitational in February.
Bridgeman entered the final round five strokes behind 54-hole leader Neal Shipley but quickly turned Sunday into a shootout on a vulnerable Walnut Cove layout.
By the end of the afternoon, nobody could keep pace.
His 26-under total was enough to hold off James, who matched Bridgeman with his own final-round 61 to finish at 24 under.
Ricky Castillo and Shipley tied for third at 23 under, while J.T. Poston — a Western Carolina product with local ties — fired an 11-under 60 to climb into a tie for fifth alongside Jackson Koivun (65).
The victory earned Bridgeman $900,000 from the $5 million purse and added another remarkable chapter to what has quickly become one of the Tour’s biggest breakout seasons.
From Rising Player to Two-Time Winner
Bridgeman entered 2026 still searching for his first PGA Tour victory. He left Asheville ranked No. 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking as a two-time Tour winner.
His season was already strong enough to earn one of Brandt Snedeker’s six captain’s picks for the U.S. Presidents Cup team.
Sunday only reinforced that selection.
Bridgeman will now head directly from Asheville to Medinah Country Club outside Chicago for his Presidents Cup debut carrying perhaps the best possible momentum: a victory and a career-low round just days before competition begins.
The timing was particularly notable on a day when fellow American J.J. Spaun — who was left off Snedeker’s team — won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in England.
Snedeker’s selection process has therefore remained part of the golf conversation entering Presidents Cup week, with Bridgeman providing a rather emphatic response of his own Sunday.
Spaun won at Wentworth after publicly acknowledging that his omission had given him additional motivation.
An Historic Week for Asheville
Bridgeman also becomes the first champion of the Biltmore Championship Asheville, a new FedExCup Fall event that brought PGA Tour golf back to the Asheville area for the first time in nearly 84 years.
Scoring was exceptionally low throughout the week. Preferred lies were used during all four rounds, and nine rounds of 62 or better were recorded, including Poston’s Sunday 60 and matching 61s from Bridgeman and James.
But when the tournament needed its first champion, Bridgeman delivered the round that mattered most.
