D.C.-area native topped the season-long points standings to capture the title
LOS ANGELES – Marcus Byrd’s remarkable 2025 season on the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour was one for the ages. The 28-year-old Washington, D.C.-area native secured seven top-10 finishes in nine tournaments – including two victories and four runner-up finishes – to earn the APGA’s Jeff Dailey Player of the Year Award.
Byrd won both the APGA at Port St. Lucie in May and the APGA at TPC Deere Run in July, and finished second at the Cisco Black History Month Classic, APGA Juneteenth Classic, Mastercard Tour Championship and the APGA Cisco Invitational. He was sixth at the APGA at TPC Scottsdale.
The Temple Hills, Maryland resident had already been named champion of the APGA’s Cisco Cup Series in August, and closed the year with 3,026 points in the season-long Jeff Dailey points standings.
“It’s just another sign that I am moving in the right direction,” Byrd said. “It’s something that I can be proud of, take it back home to my family and show them that I’m trying my best to make golf a living.
“It’s awesome to go out here and see a lot of people that look like me who are working hard to get to that next level. There’s so much good going on with the APGA Tour, and there are so many opportunities that come from me playing well.”
Named in honor of the former Farmers Insurance CEO, the Jeff Dailey APGA Tour Player of the Year Award goes to the top player in the season-long points standings. The standings measure players’ consistency and overall performance across all APGA Tour competitions, including the Cisco Cup season, the APGA Farmers Insurance Fall Series and two Cisco Invitational events.
Byrd was awarded a $15,000 bonus. Willie Mack III, Chase Johnson and Luis Gagne placed second, third and fourth in the Player of the Year standings and earned bonuses of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.
“Marcus is a truly deserving winner of this award. His season was incredibly consistent, and it seemed like he had a chance to win every time he teed it up,” said Solomon Hughes, Chief Operating Officer of the APGA. “We are thrilled to see the success that he has enjoyed on the APGA Tour this year and are rooting for him as he pursues his dreams of playing on the PGA TOUR.”
Byrd completed his fifth year on the APGA Tour at last week’s Farmers Fall Series Finale in Tustin, California, and missed only one cut in 14 PGA TOUR Americas events. Additionally, Byrd is one of seven APGA players to advance to the second stage of PGA TOUR Q School, to be held at five sites across the country December 2-5.
“I am pleased with how I played this year, but there’s still always room for improvement, especially to get to the PGA TOUR,” said Byrd, who finished second in the APGA Jeff Dailey Player of the Year standings last season while also playing 20 events on the Korn Ferry Tour. “My goal is to get to the PGA TOUR. Even though I’m not quite there yet … I think the APGA is a great place to help me continue to grow my game.”
In the past year, Byrd has had a taste of what it’s like to play on the PGA TOUR. He made the cut in July at the ISCO Championship, his eighth PGA TOUR start, and on Monday he participated in the 18-hole open qualifying event for this week’s RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia – a tournament at which Byrd also made the cut in November 2024.
Chase Johnson won the APGA’s Jeff Dailey Award in 2023 and 2024.
Founded in 2010, the APGA is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring an inclusive future through the game of golf.
For more information on the APGA, visit apgatour.org.