PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - John Houchin from Merritt Island, FL defeats Luke Gifford 1up to win the 2026 Match Play Championship presented by Britto & Herman Injury Lawyers. Houchin got off to a fast start with a couple early birdies and was 2up through 5. He would remain 2up until Gifford won the 12th with a birdie to cut it to 1 down. The 16th hole proved to be pivotal as Houchin holed out from 20 yards off the green for eagle to go 2up with 2 to play. On the drivable par-4 17th Houchin chipped it to 3 feet for birdie while Gifford knocked it on the green and was 35 feet away for eagle. In what looked like a must make situation with Houchin in close for birdie Luke rolled in the 35 footer to win the hole and keep the match alive. On the difficult par-3 18th both players hit good iron shots and had makable looks at birdie. Gifford's birdie try from 15 feet missed just low leaving Houchin 2 putts from 10 feet for the win. He cozied it up close and went on to win 1up.
Houchin won $2,500 for the win, Gifford $2,012 for runner up.
Congratulations John on your great playing all week long.
A big thank you to PGA National and its memberhsip for hosting and Britto & Herman Injury Lawyers for sponsoring the event and adding $2k to the purse.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - #1 seed John Houchin continues to roll through the bracket winning both of his matches on Wednesday to earn a spot in the finals. In the quarterfinal he defeated Matthew Soucinek 3&2 and faced Cole Castro in the semifinal. He and Castro were all square most of the match and Houchin won on the 19th hole when Castro 3 putted from 35 feet. On the other side of the bracket Luke Gifford defeated his good friend Carson Klawonn 4&3 in the quarters and played the #3 seed Andrew Riley in the semis. Gifford got off to a hot start with 4 birdies and an eagle in the first 5 holes and took an early 4up lead on Riley. Riley would fight back and extend the match all the way to 17 but Gifford won 21 to earn a spot in the finals against Houchin Thursday morning.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - The #1 seed John Houchin is still alive and set to face the 9th seed Matthew Soucinek in the first quarterfinal match. The 12 seed Cole Castro will take on 13 seed John Cammarano is the 2nd quarterfinal match. Cammarano had the biggest upset of the day taking down the 4 seed Paul DiFranco III 5&4 in the round of 16. On the other side of the bracket the #2 seed Carson Klawonn won both of his two matches on Tuesday handily and will face the 7 seed and good friend Luke Gifford on Wednesday morning. And rounding out the last quarterfinal match #3 seed Andrew Riley took down the 2024 champion Raoul Menard 1up in the round of 16 and will take on #6 seed Fletcher Wunderlich.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - John Houchin from Merritt Island, FL did not make a bogey en route to a 9-under par 58 to claim the #1 seed and earn a first round bye in the Match Play Championship.
31 players are set to battle in out in match play starting Tuesday morning.
There were five skins out during the seeding round worth $48 each. Click on any of the $ symbols under the skins/total tab to view the skins results.
Good luck to all 31 players in Match Play!
| Score | Player | Amount | Skins | B-Pool | Total | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final* | John Houchin | 1 | $2,500.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,500.00 | Merritt Island, FL |
| Final* | Luke Gifford | 2 | $1,500.00 | $48.00 | $464.00 | $2,012.00 | Boca Raton, FL |
| Semifinal* | Andrew Riley | T3 | $1,000.00 | $0.00 | $355.00 | $1,355.00 | Palm Coast, FL |
| Semifinal* | Cole Castro | T3 | $1,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $1,000.00 | Homestead, FL |
| Quarterfinal* | Carson Klawonn | T5 | $700.00 | $0.00 | $190.50 | $890.50 | West Palm Beach, FL |
| Quarterfinal* | Fletcher Wunderlich | T5 | $700.00 | $0.00 | $190.50 | $890.50 | Port St. Lucie, FL |
| Quarterfinal* | Matthew Soucinek | T5 | $700.00 | $96.00 | $0.00 | $796.00 | Lake City, FL |
| Quarterfinal* | John Cammarano | T5 | $700.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $700.00 | Wellesley, MA |
| Round of 16* | Remi Chartier | T9 | $220.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $220.00 | Naples, FL |
| Round of 16* | Jayce Hargrove | T9 | $220.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $220.00 | Lubbock, TX |
| Round of 16* | James Earl | T9 | $220.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $220.00 | Ponte Vedra, FL |
| Round of 16* | Peter French | T9 | $220.00 | $48.00 | $0.00 | $268.00 | Franklin, MA |
| Round of 16* | Raoul Menard | T9 | $220.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $220.00 | Ange-Gardien, Quebec |
| Round of 16* | Michael Addie | T9 | $220.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $220.00 | Sussex, WI |
| Round of 16* | Bradley Goldstein | T9 | $220.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $220.00 | Chicago, IL |
| Round of 16* | Paul DiFranco III | T9 | $220.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $220.00 | Park Ridge, IL |
| Round of 32* | Charles Chon | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Aurora, CO |
| Round of 32* | Liam White (a) | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Ho Ho Kus, NJ |
| Round of 32* | Alex Zurat (a) | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Victor, NY |
| Round of 32* | Jackson Ketterson (a) | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Tewksbury Township, NJ |
| Round of 32* | Lukas Clark | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Holland, PA |
| Round of 32* | Ian Masenheimer | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Orefield, PA |
| Round of 32* | Cristian Rabinowitz | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | New York, NY |
| Round of 32* | Chris Calvani (a) | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Palm Beach Gardens, FL |
| Round of 32* | Lucas Sabie | T17 | $0.00 | $48.00 | $0.00 | $48.00 | Hollywood, FL |
| Round of 32* | Jorge Villar | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Mexico |
| Round of 32* | William Frey II | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Overland Park, Kansas |
| Round of 32* | Domenic De Luca (a) | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Woodbridge, Ontario |
| Round of 32* | Osyrus Peace | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | West Palm Beach, FL |
| Round of 32* | Nick Castor | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Flower Mound, TX |
| Round of 32* | Joseph Blando | T17 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Manhasset, NY |
