SOUTH LYON – Patrick Wilkes-Krier, the proprietor of Kendall Golf Academy in Ypsilanti, birdied the par 5 final hole with a 76-yard pitch shot approach and two-foot tap-in and won the 104th Michigan PGA Professional Championship at Walnut Creek Country Club Wednesday.

It was the 41-year-old teaching professional’s first major state professional title after a series of near misses, and he edged past defending champion Ben Cook of Caledonia by one shot with a final even-par 72 and a 4-under 212 tournament total.

Cook, who has left the golf profession and opened up a financial planning business near Grand Rapids, shot a final 70 for 213.

Adam Schumacher of Point O’Woods Golf & Country Club in Benton Harbor, who shot 70, and Tim Pearce of Birmingham Country Club, who shot 72, tied at 214.

Ryan Lenehan, the director of instruction at Walnut Creek, who shot 68, and Matt Thompson, a Hillsdale teaching professional who shot 69, tied at 215, while eight-time champion Scott Herbert of Traverse City Golf & Country Club shot 71 for 216.

It was the first individual professional win for Wilkes-Krier, an Ann Arbor native and resident, since 2012 during his eight years of mini-tour golf following college golf at Ball State University in Indiana.

He took home the $7,500 first-place check and will have his name added to the historic Gilbert A. Currie Trophy. In addition, he will be awarded an exemption into the PGA Tour’s Rocket Classic next summer at Detroit Golf Club, and he secured a spot in the PGA Professional National Championship at Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon next spring.

“There’s so many levels to this,” he said in reaction to his win. “I’m so excited to play at Bandon Dunes – that’s the main goal when you come here, just to get a shot. I want to play in that PGA Professional Championship so badly and that venue is going to be so awesome.”

He said he didn’t realize the Rocket Classic exemption came with it until Lenehan told him soon after his victory.

“I’ve wanted to play in that tournament so much that it will feel like a major too,” he said. “These opportunities to play against such great players, it’s like decades of work and decades that I’ve wanted to do those things. It’s so great that the Michigan PGA puts on these events and gives us these opportunities.”

Wilkes-Krier started the final round with a three-shot lead and maintained it until a double-bogey at No. 10 followed by a bogey at 11. That opened the door for other players, including Cook and Schumacher, but he birdied four of his final seven holes, including No. 18, a par 5 that the club plays as No. 9 on the West nine.

“There was some scar tissue with situations like this in the past,” he said. “I was feeling pretty comfortable and then it all kind of came undone after I made the turn. My driver was so bad all week, and it didn’t change today, but I’ve been in that position before, too, where I lost the lead and I wasn’t able to realize I was still in the mix. So, I had to remind myself of that, and all of a sudden, I felt better, hit some really clutch shots and I’m glad that putt to win was only about two feet because I was pretty nervous.”

Wilkes-Krier, a GAM Championship winner and Michigan Amateur runner-up before turning professional, became emotional when asked about taking over the Kendall Golf Academy from its founder, Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Dave Kendall, who is battling terminal cancer. Wilkes-Krier went for lessons at the academy he now runs at age 13 and has been teaching there since his tour days.

“I think about Dave every day,” he said. “I used a Kendall Academy ball marker, and I put it down with that K up every time. A huge part of me wanted to come out on the right side of this tournament for Dave, give him something to feel good about. He’s been my mentor and my inspiration, and honestly, I’m among many who would say that. So, to come away with a trophy and kind of honor him with it feels really good.”

And while Wilkes-Krier had his dramatic ending, more drama was at hand as eight more spots in the 2026 PGA Professional National Championship were being determined.

The low nine eligible golfers at the end of the Michigan PGA Professional Championship, not including Hebert, Jeff Roth of BOYNE Golf Academy and Lenahan, who are already exempt, earn spots at Bandon Dunes. The low 20 finishers from that championship move on to play with the best players in the world at the 106th PGA Championship.

Those headed to Bandon Dunes with Wilkes-Krier, Hebert, Roth and Lenahan based on finish are Schumacher, Pearce, Thompson, Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Brian Cairns of Fox Hills in Plymouth, two-time former champion Kyle Martin of Lochmoor Club in Grosse Pointe Woods, Josh Fryer of Franklin Hills Country Club, Kosta Ramirez of The Mines in Grand Rapids, and Scott Brotebeck, the head professional at Walnut Creek. Brotebeck was the survivor of a four-golfer playoff for the ninth spot at 5-over 221. He made par on the third playoff hole to earn the spot.

SPONSORS: This year’s presenting sponsors are Club Car, Corebridge Financial and Rolex. Supporting partners are Gallagher, the Golf Channel and the PGA Tour. Supporting sponsors are Titleist/Footjoy, Callaway Golf, Nike and TaylorMade.

RESULTS, TEE TIMES: For results and pairings click HERE