Georgia Tech #ProJackets Golf Report

Matt Kuchar won the 2013 Memorial and has five top-five finishes at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

THE FLATS – The Yellow Jacket contingent rebounds from a rough weekend in Dallas by going 5-for-5 in made cuts at the Fort Worth Invitational … Kuchar in friendly territory at The Memorial … U.S. Open sectional qualifying coming up next Monday … This and more in this week’s edition of the Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.

Stewart Cink, Chesson Hadley, Matt Kuchar, Ollie Schniederjans and Richy Werenski all made the cut last weekend in the Fort Worth Invitational, the annual stop at venerable Colonial Country Club. Hadley led the way with a strong weekend of 65-67 to tie for 20th place at 274 (-6). He has risen from 25th to 13th in the FedEx Cup standings, his highest position since mid-January, over his last five events (T20 at Valero Texas Open, T4 at Zurich Classic, T16 at Wells Fargo, T11 at The Players, T20 at Fort Worth).

The rest of the Tech contingent slipped a little in the FedEx Cup standings despite taking home paychecks. Kuchar (65th in FedEx Cup points), who became one of only five Tour members to play in all five Texas stops this year, also shot 65 on Saturday and wound up tied for 32nd place at 275 (-5). Cink tied for 58th place at 278 (-2) and dropped to 129th in points, while Schniederjans (No. 72) and Werenski (No. 143) tied for 74th place.

Kuchar moves to more friendly territory this week at The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Though he has not finished in the top 15 in seven straight starts, he ranks third in all-time earnings at Muirfield Village with a win (2013) and another four top fives among seven top 10s. He is joined at Jack Nicklaus’ invitational event by Cink, Hadley and Schniederjans.

It’s the first week of year with high heat AND humidity on the @pgatour @fortworthinv. Great timing for the start of a new partnership with @NoSweatCo. Their liners working hard but doing a great job helping me focus on something besides keeping my hat dry!!

— Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) May 27, 2018

Web.com Tour: Anders Albertson and Seth Reeves are back in action this week at the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., an event won previously by Chesson Hadley. J.T. Griffin, a North Carolina native who has played in a PGA Tour event and a Web.com event this year as a Monday qualifier, is in the field on a sponsor’s exemption. All four of Tech’s Web.com regulars, including Albertson, Reeves, Roberto Castro and Nicholas Thompson, skipped last weekend’s Nashville Golf Open, but Bo Andrews missed the cut after earning a spot via Monday qualifying.

U.S. Open: Only two former Yellow Jackets are currently exempt into the 118th U.S. Open – Matt Kuchar and Chesson Hadley. Kuchar qualifies via his Official World golf Ranking (23rd) and by having advanced to last year’s Tour Championship, while Hadley earned a spot last week by moving into the top 60 of the world ranking.

Several more will attempt to make the field through sectional qualifying next Monday, when 10 sites will hold 36-hole events. Roberto Castro will be among 43 players attempting to qualify at Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek course in Roswell, Ga., while J.T. Griffin is entered at Memphis, Tenn. (Ridgeway and Colonial Country Clubs). Nicholas Thompson is in a 53-player field at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., while Cameron Tringale will attempt to beat out 47 other players at the Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Fla.

Stewart Cink, Ollie Schniederjans and Richy Werenski will no doubt be among tour pros competing either in Columbus, Ohio (Brookside and Lakes Golf and Country Clubs) or Springfield, Ohio (Springfield Country Club), which are close to this week’s PGA Tour stop in Dublin, Ohio, or Memphis, Tenn., where next week’s Tour stop is being held. At press time those fields had not been listed.

The other sites holding sectional qualifiers are: Lake Merced Golf Club & The Olympic Club (Ocean Course), Daly City, Calif.; Canoe Brook Country Club (North and South Courses), Summit, N.J.; Portland (Ore.) Golf Club and Shadow Hawk Golf Club, Richmond, Texas.