Five Yellow Jackets are set to begin the FedEx Cup playoffs this week at The Northern Trust … Anders Albertson and Roberto Castro hold position and lock up their PGA Tour cards for 2018-19 … Chris Petefish and Vincent Whaley continue solid campaigns … This and more in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
Five former Georgia Tech golfers begin competition in the FedEx Cup playoffs this week with an eye on coming home to play in the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Stewart Cink, Chesson Hadley, Matt Kuchar, Ollie Schniederjans and Richy Werenski are among the 125 players in the field for The Northern Trust at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. It is the first of four events in the playoff structure that ends with the Tour Championship Sept. 20-23 at East Lake Golf Club, where Cink is a member.
The top 100 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to the Dell Technologies Championship next week outside of Boston, Mass., and the top 70 will make it to the BMW Championship, Sept. 6-9, outside of Philadelphia, Pa. After a week break, the top 30 descend upon Atlanta for the Tour Championship. Making it to Atlanta brings with it invitations to the 2019 PGA Championship, Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship, as well as the World Golf Championships events.
Hadley currently is the only one of the five currently inside the top 30, sitting at No. 24 and looking for his first appearance in the Tour Championship. Cink, ranked No. 58 and in position to reach the third week, has not played in the Tour Championship since 2009, when he finished 15th in the FedEx Cup race. Kuchar, ranked No. 64, has qualified for the Tour Championship the last eight years, finishing second in the Fed Ex Cup race in 2013 and fourth in 2014. Schniederjans is No. 87 and Werenski No. 101 in the standings entering the playoffs.
All but Cink and Kuchar, who both took the week off, made the cut at the Wyndham Championship, the last regular-season event. Hadley posted four rounds in the 60s and tied for 45th, while Werenski tied for 53rd after closing with a 64, and Schniederjans opened with a 64 on his way to a tie for 57th place.
Web.com Tour: The above-mentioned Tech fivesome on the PGA Tour will grow to seven for the 2018-19 season, when Anders Albertson and Roberto Castro join them when the fall portion of the schedule begins. Both finished in the top 25 of the regular-season money list and were officially awarded their Tour cards Sunday night following the regular-season finale, the WinCo Foods Portland Open.
In his third year on the Web.com Tour, Albertson broke through with a big second half, posting four top-10 finishes and a victory in the Lincoln Land Championship to wind up eighth on the money list. Albertson averaged 67.75 strokes over a 10-tournament stretch and finished eighth on the tour in season scoring average.
Castro graduated from the Web.com Tour for the second time, having done so in 2011 to launch a six-year run on the PGA Tour, where he earned more than $6.5 million and qualified for the Tour Championship in 2016. He lost his card after the 2017 campaign, but earned it back this season on the Web.com Tour by finishing 24th in earnings.
Seth Reeves, in his second year on the Web.com Tour, secured his status for 2019 and qualified for the Web.com Finals by finishing 66th in earnings (the top 75 earners qualify for the Finals and keep their privileges for the next season).
The Web.com Finals begins this week with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio, and offers another opportunity to earn PGA Tour status. The top 75 earners from the regular season, as well as PGA Tour players ranked No. 126-200 in FedEx Cup points qualify to play in the four-event series.
The top 25 money earners over the four tournaments also are awarded PGA Tour cards. Cameron Tringale, who finished No. 195 in FedEx Cup points this season on the PGA Tour, kept his Tour card last year by finishing in the top 25 of Finals money.
Elsewhere: Chris Petefish, who played his first professional events after May graduation on the G Pro Tour, has earned three starts on the MacKenzie Tour (PGA Tour Canada) the last three weeks, and earned his best finish to date with a T16 at last weekend’s ATB Financial Classic … Vincent Whaley has finished second, T7, T14, T7, T3 and T12 in his last six Adams Pro Tour events and ranks eighth in earnings on that tour … Larry Mize has finished T17, T20 and T46 in his last three Champions Tour events on this side of the pond, and has moved up to 65th in Schwab Cup earnings.
UPCOMING EVENTS
PGA Tour: The Northern Trust • August 23-26, 2018 • Ridgewood Country Club • Paramus, N.J. • Purse: $9,000,000 • FedExCup Points: 2,000
Web.com Tour: Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship • August 23-26, 2018 • Ohio State University – Scarlet Course • Columbus, Ohio • Purse: $1,000,000
PGA Tour Champions: Boeing Classic • August 24-26, 2018 • The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge • Snoqualmie, Wash. • Purse: $2,100,000
Mackenzie Tour: Mackenzie Investments Open • September 6-9, 2018 • Elm Ridge Country Club (North course) • Montreal, Quebec • 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: Southside Bank Open • August 21-24, 2018 • Crown Colony Golf Club • Lufkin, Texas • Purse: $132,000
G Pro Tour: Wilmington Open • August 21-23, 2018 • River Landing (River Course) • Wilmington, N.C. • Purse: n/a
