Lakers' Austin Reaves Attempts To Qualify For Korn Ferry Tour Tournament, Fails

There is plenty of precedent for professional athletes in other sports to try their hands at golf. Add Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves to the list as he attempted to qualify Monday for a Korn Ferry Tour event. 

The Korn Ferry Tour is a step below the PGA Tour. Winning events on the Korn Ferry Tour can eventually help players make it to the big stage. On Monday, Reaves played in a qualifying event for the Visit Knoxville Open, which starts Thursday. 

Unfortunately, Reaves did not earn an invitation. There were two qualifying events on Monday and each event had the top four finishers earn spots in the Knoxville Open. Reaves participated in the event held at Three Ridges Golf Course in Knoxville. 

Reaves shot a 76 at the par-70 course to finish 6-over-par. That's pretty good for someone who doesn't play golf full-time, honestly. But it wasn't nearly good enough to finish at the top of the leaderboard. 

One player, Caleb Hicks, shot a 64. Three other players shot 65. Those are the four who earned their way into the Knoxville Open. Reaves missed the Top 4 by 11 shots. He did not finish in last place, however! 

Reaves finished in 73rd place out of 79 golfers who finished the event. Five other players withdrew and did not record a final score. 

Another California-based NBA player, Steph Curry, is a great golfer in his own right. Plus, former NFL quarterback Tony Romo has previously attempted to play in PGA Tour events. Austin Reaves has joined that group of athletes who have attempted to make the move into golf, but kudos to Reaves for giving it a shot while he's still very much in the NBA. 

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves tried to qualify for a Korn Ferry Tour event, but failed after shooting +6 in the event.

(David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

Reaves is just 25 years old and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers following the 2021 NBA Draft. He had a career season this year, posting 15.9 points per game for Los Angeles. His biggest highlight came when he scored 28 points in the NBA in-season tournament championship game to help the Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers. 

Reaves certainly isn't looking to end his NBA career at this stage, but it's good to know that when he does hang them up, he just might have a chance to go professional in another sport. He's going to have to dedicate a lot more time to his golf game, though.