VanDerLaan holds on to win Nationwide Children’s Championship
COVER PHOTO: John VanDerLaan and his wife Hannah celebrate his first-ever professional victory after he won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship on the Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University Golf Club in Upper Arlington, Ohio on Sept. 21, 2025. Picture by Andy Evans/Columbus Wired.
John VanDerLaan walked into the fourth round of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship with a mere one-stroke lead over Trent Phillips at 13-under par. When the final round on the Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University Golf Club in Upper Arlington, Ohio was complete, he bettered that score by four more strokes to take home the trophy by three strokes at 17-under.
Phillips and Zecheng Dou both finished tied-for second at 14-under.
After turning pro seven years ago and spending the last five on the Korn Ferry Tour, it is VanDerLaan’s first-ever professional win and netted him 600 Korn Ferry Tour points along with a healthy $270,000 check.
“I don't know if it will hit me for a little bit,” VanDerLaan said afterwards. “It's been a long time coming but it feels good, for sure.”
After coming out hot on the front nine with no bogeys and five birdies, he had a hiccup on par-4, no. 11 with a double bogey that could have derailed him. Instead, he stayed steadfast and birdied the next two holes while sandwiching another bogey in between four pars for the last five holes.
“I tried to get away with probably a little too much on 11 and it cost me, but it was nice to bounce back the way I did.”
One hole that will probably stick with him is par-3, no. 13, not only because he was facing an uphill putt from at least 25 feet away, but because no. 13 is a hole that is nearly as synonymous on the Korn Ferry Tour as par-3, no. 16 at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona is on the PGA Tour where the fans hoot and holler while the golfers are teeing off.
At hole no. 13 on the Scarlet Course is a tent that sits a couple of hundred yards off the green and houses Pub 13, a cozy spot where a hundred or so rowdy golf fans eagerly wait in anticipation for a special “prize” when a golfer makes a birdie. The prize? $1 beers for the next 13 minutes.
No. 13 was one of the two-in-a-row holes on the back nine that VanDerLaan birdied.
“I was just kind of sitting there thinking to myself, like, man, this would be a good one to make,” he said. “Everything just came together, picked the right line and the right speed. I'm happy to make beer as cheap as it can be.”
The 29-year-old has had some solid finishes throughout his five years on the Korn Ferry Tour but a title had always eluded him. He came close in the Ferry’s first event of the season all the way back in January at the Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island but let a lead going into Sunday slip away. He said it was events like that that have stuck in his craw and inspired him to stay hungry until the end.
“(I) kind of got out of my element a little bit and made some mistakes I wouldn't normally make. I kind of recalled that to kind of get me back to get grounded where I needed to be and get me across the finish line.”
However, he knew he had been playing some good golf the past several weeks and told his wife, Hannah, that he was going to win at least one of the four final events in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
“I've been playing really good golf for the second half of the season really,” he said. “I feel like if I keep doing what I've been doing, putting myself in these positions, I'm going to be looking good coming down to French Lick for a Tour card.”
The stakes are high coming down the stretch with only two events remaining in the Finals because at the end of it all, those finishing in the top 20 on the Ferry points list will earn their PGA Tour card.
The Nationwide Children’s Championship was the second stop in a four-tournament finale that will decide the champion of the Korn Ferry Tour in three weeks at the French Lick Golf Resort in French Lick, Ind.
The top 120 in the Korn Ferry Tour points list after this weekend’s tourney will move on to the third leg of the Finals at the Compliance Solutions Championship at The Patriot Golf Club in Owasso, Okla. in two weeks. The top 75 after that event will play for all the marbles in French Lick.
After Sunday’s finale, VanDerLaan currently sits at no. 15 on the points list.