Alabama’s Thomas Ponder wins the 2026 Explore NB Open

Thomas Ponder of Alabama won the Explore NB Open at the Mactaquac Golf Course over the weekend.

Alabama’s Thomas Ponder has won the Explore NB Open at New Brunswick’s Mactaquac Golf Course, his first victory on the PGA Tour Americas.

With the win late Sunday afternoon, Ponder moved to No. 1 on the season-long points list with seven events remaining before the top 10 players earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2027.

“I think the biggest thing for me was just to keep playing well, just keep playing my type of golf and I was confident enough that sooner or later that I would be lifting a trophy, and here we are,” said Ponder, who was presented the Explore NB Open trophy from New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.

This is the third year of a five-year partnership between Mactaquac and the PGA Tour Americas. The weeklong event this year at Mactaquac was supported by about 300 volunteers.

“These past few days were phenomenal,” said Melanie Deveau, New Brunswick’s assistant minister for parks, tourism, and sport. “A great turnout, an amazing winner, a group of volunteers that we just couldn’t do it all without. They just know what they’re doing and they get to work. So year three has been phenomenal, and we look forward to year four and five.”

With files from TSN

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