Georgia Tech #ProJackets Golf Report

THE FLATS – Four Georgia Tech pros and one current Yellow Jacket tee it up at the 119^th U.S. Open Championship this week … Matt Kuchar logs 106^th top-10 finish after challenging at the RBC Canadian Open … more in this week’s #ProJackets Report.

Five players will represent Georgia Tech at the U.S. Open this week, which begins Thursday at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif., led by Matt Kuchar, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season. Kuchar currently ranks No. 1 on the PGA Tour in FedEx Cup points, has eight top-10 finishes in seven starts and sits No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The 1997 U.S. Amateur champion is making his 17^th U.S. Open start, having played the weekend eight straight years before missing the cut last year at Shinnecock Hills. Kuchar’s best finish in the U.S. Open is a tie for sixth in 2010, the last time the national championship was held at Pebble Beach.

Roberto Castro, Chesson Hadley and Ollie Schniederjans, as well as rising Tech junior Noah Norton, all made the U.S. Open field via the qualifying route. Hadley, in his fifth season as a fully-exempt PGA Tour memberm tied for seventh place to claim one of 14 spots available last week at the sectional qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, and will compete for the second straight year.

Schniederjans and Norton tied for first place in Ball Ground, Ga., while Castro tied for third, giving the Yellow Jackets three of the four spots available there. Castro, in his seventh year on the PGA Tour, is competing in his sixth U.S. Open, while Schniederjans, a third-year PGA Tour member, is competing in his second U.S. Open as a pro, third overall. Norton, who played Pebble Beach in the 2018 U.S. Amateur, is playing his first U.S. Open.

Roberto Castro will play in the U.S. Open for the sixth time.

PGA Tour: In the midst of his best season on the PGA Tour at age 40, Matt Kuchar challenged last weekend for his 10^th PGA Tour victory, sharing the 54-hole lead at the RBC Canadian Open before slipping to a tie for fourth place. Kuchar grabbed the lead with rounds of 65-63 on Thursday and Friday, kept a share of it after a 69 Saturday, but shot even-par 70 on Sunday.

Kuchar posted his eighth top-10 finish in 17 starts this year and the 106^th of his career. He has a 120-point lead in the FedEx Cup standings over Rory McIlroy, who won the Canadian Open going away on Sunday. Brooks Koepka is 369 points behind, and Xander Schauffle is 562 points in arrears. The U.S. Open champion receives 600 FedEx Cup points.

Also at the Canadian Open, Cameron Tringale tied for 11^th place (-9), his best finish this year in a non-team event (he and Roberto Castro tied for fifth at the two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans), and moved inside the top 125 (117^th) in FedEx Cup points. Castro tied for 35^th in Canada.

Web.com Tour:  J.T. Griffin was the only Yellow Jacket to play the weekend at the BMW Charity Open last week in Greer, S.C., tying for 24^th place in the event (-12), which was shortened to 54 holes because of weather. The finish was Griffin’s second best of the year behind his fifth-place performance at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, and he has made the cut in four of nine starts.

Vincent Whaley, who missed the cut, remains well inside the top 25 in Web.com points (17^th).

Very cool setting around 18 at Hamilton. Good show @RBCCanadianOpen See ya at Pebble!!

— Roberto Castro (@cicioCASTRO) June 9, 2019

#ProJackets – @ollie_gt & @cicioCASTRO look ahead after success in U.S. Open qualifier – FORE Georgia https://t.co/6NyriqU1ww via @FOREGeorgia pic.twitter.com/pcaioGzDRC

— Georgia Tech Golf (@GTGolf) June 11, 2019

UPCOMING EVENTS

• PGA Tour:  U.S. Open • June 13-16, 2019 • Pebble Beach Golf Links • Pebble Beach, Calif. • Purse: $12,500,000 • FedExCup Points: 600
• Web.com Tour:  Lincoln Land Championship • June 13-16, 2019 • Panther Creek Country Club • Springfield, Ill. • Purse: $550,000
• PGA Tour Champions:  American Family Insurance Championship • June 21-23, 2019 • University Ridge Golf Club • Madison, Wis. • Purse: $2,000,000
• Mackenzie Tour:  GolfBC Open • June 13-16, 2019 • Gallagher’s Canyon Golf & Country Club • Kelowna, British Columbia • Purse: $200,000
• PGA Tour China:  Suzhou Open • June 13-16, 2019 • Jinji lake Golf Club • Suzhou, Jiangsu
• All Pro Tour:  Cooper Communities NWA Charity Classic • June 12-15, 2019 • Bella Vista Ridge Country Club • Bella Vista, Ark. • Purse: $125,000
• SwingThought Tour:  Belmont Lake Club • June 18-20, 2019 • Rocky Mount, N.C.
• G Pro Tour:  Thomasville Open • June 11-13, 2019 • Colonial Country Club • Thomasville, N.C.