Five Yellow Jackets in the field for season-ending Wyndham Championship, last tune-up for FedEx cup playoffs … Stewart Cink ties for fourth at PGA Championship, earns berth in 2019 Masters … Seth Reeves ties for fourth on Web.com Tour … that and more in this week’s #ProJackets Golf Report.
Five former Yellow Jackets are solidly in the FedEx Cup playoffs and look to build some momentum this weekend in the PGA Tour’s final regular-season event, the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.
After this weekend, the top 125 players in FedEx Cup points move into the first playoff event, the Northern Trust in Paramus, N.J. The top 100 after that event advance to the Dell Technologies Championship in Norton, Mass., and the top 70 make the field for the BMW Championship in Newtown Square, Pa. After an open week, the top 30 come to Atlanta for the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
Stewart Cink might be the hottest former Jacket. Since missing the cut at the Memorial Tournament in early June, the three-time All-American has leaped from No. 132 to No. 55 in the FedEx Cup ranking by finishing T4, T2, T23, T24 (Open Championship), T37 and T4 (PGA Championship) in his last six events. Cink fired four rounds in the 60s last weekend at Bellerive Country Club to post his best finish in a major since winning the 2009 Open Championship, and also earned a berth in next year’s Masters Tournament in the process (top four finishers and ties qualify).
Chesson Hadley, who would qualify for the Tour Championship at the moment, has missed the cut in four of his last six events (including all three majors in that span) and slipped from 13th to 26th in the FedEx Cup standings. At the Wyndham, however, Hadley returns to his home state as he tries to turn his momentum upward.
Ollie Schniederjans, who tied for 59th at the PGA Championship and was the runner-up at the Wyndham last year, stands at No. 82, while Richy Werenski, who tied for 10th at last year’s Wyndham and has three top-10 finishes this season, sits at No. 100. Cameron Tringale, at No. 194, also is in the field needing to stay in the top 200 in order to qualify for the Web.com Tour Finals (see below).
Matt Kuchar, who missed the cut at the PGA Championship, enters the week at No. 62, and is taking this week off. Along with his playoff prospects, Kuchar is a possibility to be a captain’s pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Having represented his country in the last four Ryder Cup matches, Kuchar ranks No. 13 in points and did not qualify automatically for the team.
Web.com Tour: Seth Reeves posted the second-best finish of his Web.com Tour career to date, and his best finish of 2018, tying for fourth place at last weekend’s Ellie Mae Classic, firing four rounds in the 60s and finishing at 15-under-par 265. In so doing, he made a substantial and important leap in earnings from 86th to 65th, which allows him full status for 2019 as long as he remains in the top 75.
Neither Anders Albertson nor Roberto Castro, both of whom remain in the top 25 in earnings which would earn them a PGA Tour card for 2018-19, played last weekend. Albertson sits eighth in earnings, but Castro has slipped to 23rd and needs to hold his position through this weekend’s WinCo Foods Portland Open, the final regular-season event, to get back on the PGA Tour. Both are in the field this week along with Reeves and J.T. Griffin, who after two strong finishes has missed the cut the last two weeks.
The top 75 earners on the Web.com Tour after this week move into the four-event Finals along with the PGA Tour players ranked No. 126-200 in FedEx Cup points.
Elsewhere: Chris Petefish, who played his first professional events after May graduation on the G Pro Tour, has earned two starts on the MacKenzie Tour (PGA Tour Canada) the last two weeks, tying for 33rd at the Syncrude Oil Country Championship and missing the cut last weekend at thr ATB Financial Classic … Vincent Whaley is finished second, T7, T14, T7 and T3 in his last five Adams Pro Tour events and ranks 10th in earnings on that tour … Larry Mize has finished T17 and T20 in his last two Champions Tour events on this side of the pond, and has moved up to 67th in Schwab Cup earnings.
UPCOMING EVENTS
PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship • August 16-19, 2018 • Sedgefield Country Club • Greensboro, N.C. • Purse: $6,000,000 • FedExCup Points: 500
Web.com Tour: WinCo Foods Portland Open • August 16-19, 2018 • Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club • North Plains, Ore. • Purse: $800,000
PGA Tour Champions: DICK’S Sporting Goods Open • August 17-19, 2018 • En-Joie Golf Club • Endicott, N.Y. • Purse: $2,050,000
Mackenzie Tour: Players Cup • August 16-19, 2018 • Country Hills Golf Club • Calgary, Alberta • Purse: $200,000
PGA Tour China: Shuzhou Championship • Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2018 • Jinji lake Golf Club • Shuzhou, China • Purse: n/a
Adams Pro Tour: Texarkana Open • August 15-18, 2018 • Texarkana Golf Club/Northridge Golf Club • Texarkana Ark./Texas • Purse: $132,000
G Pro Tour: Bryan Park (Champions) • August 15-16, 2018 • Bryan Park Golf Course • Greensboro, N.C. • Purse: n/a
