THE FLATS – Chesson Hadley earns return trip to the U.S. Open with top-10 finish, while Matt Kuchar ties for 16th … Vincent Whaley one stroke shy of possible victory on Web.com Tour … James Clark makes pro debut this week … more in this week’s #ProJackets Report.
Chesson Hadley and Matt Kuchar got themselves within striking distance of U.S. Open victory last weekend at Pebble Beach. The two former Yellow Jackets played the final two rounds together after finishing 36 holes at 4-under-par 138 and each carding a 1-under-par 70 on Saturday, sitting in a tie for seventh place.
Playing in just his second U.S. Open, Hadley played his final round even-par to finish in a tie for ninth (279, -5), earning a spot in the field for 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club. Kuchar shot 73 Sunday to settle into a tie for 16th (281, -3), his fifth top-20 finish in 17 U.S. Open starts.
Kuchar remains No. 1 in FedEx Cup points, but is just 92 points ahead of Rory McIlroy, who tied for ninth with Hadley and Henrik Stenson, and 94 points clear of Brooks Koepka, who finished second. Xander Schauffele, who tied for third at Pebble Beach, sits 470 points behind Kuchar, and U.S. Open Champion Gary Woodland is 498 points behind. Most PGA Tour victories earn the winner 500 points.
Ollie Schniederjans missed the 36-hole cut at the U.S. Open by one stroke after posting rounds of 75-70, and Roberto Castro struggled to rounds of 78-77.
PGA Tour: The PGA Tour heads into a four-tournament stretch before the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, beginning with the Travelers Championship this week in Cromwell, Conn.
Anders Albertson, Ollie Schniederjans, Cameron Tringale and Richy Werenski are back in action after a week off along with Chesson Hadley, who at No. 63 is the highest-ranked Yellow Jacket in the FedEx Cup standings beyond Kuchar.
Web.com Tour: Vincent Whaley held a share of the lead during a portion of the final round Sunday, but ultimately wound up in a tie for third place, one stroke out of a playoff, at the Lincoln Land Championship. Whaley shot rounds of 68-68-68-66 for a 14-under-par 270, and jumped six positions to 11th in the Web.com Tour points standings. A solo second-place finish, according to the Web.com Tour, would have been enough to virtually assure himself of a top-25 finish at the end of the season, thus guaranteeing him a PGA Tour card for 2019-20.
It was Whaley’s third top-10 finish in his rookie season, which has seven events remaining in the regular season, beginning with this week’s Wichita Open.
Chris Petefish led the way at Monday qualifying for the Wichita Open, firing 11-under 61 at Auburn Hills GC to secure a tee time Thursday at Crestview CC along with Whaley, J.T. Griffin, Paul Haley II and Nicholas Thompson. Petefish made 11 birdies and seven pars in Monday’s qualifier, earning the right to make his third Web.com Tour start of the season. The 24-year-old finished T33 at the Nashville Golf Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation and T37 at the Knoxville Open. He also made four Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada starts in 2018, highlighted by a T16 at the Players Cup.
Elsewhere: Shun Yat Hak, a member of the Yellow Jackets’ 2013 NCAA semifinalist team, tied for 28th at last weekend’s Suzhou Open and rose to No. 29 in the PGA Tour China Series Order of Merit … Petefish tied for 12th at the Cooper Communities NWA Charity Classic on the All-Pro Tour (274, -14). Petefish has finished 16th or higher in all three APT starts and is 19th in earnings … James Clark, who graduated in May and tied for fifth at the Southeastern Amateur last weekend, makes his professional debut this week at the GPro Tour’s Mimosa Open in Morganton, N.C.
