Zach Bauchou learned his lesson after a heartbreaking finish at the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, where a PGA TOUR card was in his grasp before he faded across the final few holes at the season finale.

Last year, the Oklahoma State alum had positive thoughts upon arrival at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Golf Resort, which reminded him of his college home course, Karsten Creek. It showed for three-quarters of the week, as he held the 36- and 54-hole lead, but he closed with a Sunday 76 to finish tied for ninth, when a top-four finish would have solidified his first PGA TOUR card. It stung, but he told his wife Victoria afterwards that he’d be better for it.

Bauchou stayed true to his word, further elevating his game on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour, winning the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation and adding four more top 10s. Bauchou secured his PGA TOUR card before the final event of the 2025 season, avoiding the pressure cooker of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship bubble, and became #TOURBound for the first time at No. 11 on the season-long standings with 20 TOUR cards available.

“I told (my wife Victoria) after we left (French Lick) last year, ‘You want to have it finished before you come here next year.’ To be able to do that was really cool for me,” Bauchou said last week.

With a card in hand, Bauchou is the final Oklahoma State Cowboy from the 2018 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship-winning starting five to earn a PGA TOUR card, joining his teammates Viktor Hovland, Austin Eckroat, Kris Ventura and Matthew Wolff. Through the years, Bauchou’s teammates have consistently expressed belief that the soft-spoken Virginia native had the game to compete at the biggest stage. Bauchou has enjoyed seeing their success – and now he’ll have his own crack at it.

“We had an amazing team, and we knew it at the time,” Bauchou said last year. “We were all playing very well. But it’s cool that those guys have gone on TOUR and done quite well."

“I’ve been lucky where I have really good friends,” he added after clinching his card, “and all the people at Oklahoma State have been really good to me.”

Bauchou did not experience immediate professional success like his peers. He went to Q-School in 2019 and failed to achieve status. After the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Q-School was canceled, and tournament starts were scarce. Bauchou made seven total starts in 2020 and 2021 across the Korn Ferry Tour and Asian Tour, making just three cuts in 13 Asian Tour starts in 2022.

Now a father of two young boys, he considered a switch to coaching to avoid the hardships of playing around the world and spending more time with family.

“I was going to quit because of that,” Bauchou said. “It's a lot of traveling. I feel like it educated me in a way, which was good. Even though I didn't play well, I still got something from it... I was excited about (coaching). I enjoyed my time in college and would have enjoyed trying to help guys get better. That’s where I was at in my life at that time.”

Bauchou then earned a sponsor exemption into the 2023 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open, shooting 64 and 63 on the weekend to finish T4. He made seven more Korn Ferry starts and finished 82nd on the season-long standings to earn conditional status in 2024.

He admits that was the turning point in pursuing his professional golf career.

“Wichita was probably going to be my last tournament,” he said. “And I played really well.”

After all the mental and physical obstacles, his former college teammates are thrilled he’ll join them on the PGA TOUR in 2026.

“He’s incredible,” Hovland said. “He had some tough times after school, really struggled with the driving yips for a while. Really proud that he’s able to turn that around. He deserves to make it.”

Ventura, who competed with Bauchou on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour, echoed the sentiment.

“I’m just happy to see him play well consistently,” Ventura said. “We want the best for each other, even though we're competitors, but it's not easy when you're Monday qualifying and having to start from the bottom. I’m really happy for him.”

Bauchou always believed he had the game to make it onto the PGA TOUR, and his closest peers felt the same. He knew he had to improve his driving and short game to make it happen. Through all the obstacles, his first thought after achieving the dream was simple.

“It sounds so cliché, but you can just never give up,” Bauchou said. “I think the best players are on the PGA TOUR, so it’ll be really cool to play against the best players in the world now. I’m excited for the year for sure.”