THE FLATS – The return of professional golf is upon us, with PGA Tour players in Fort Worth, Texas for the Charles Schwab Challenge, and Korn Ferry Tour players in Florida for the Korn Ferry Challenge, and both events are welcoming large and deep fields. More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
The 156-player field for the Charles Schwab Challenge has 16 of the world’s top 20 players, including the Yellow Jackets’ Matt Kuchar, in what is being billed as the deepest field in the event’s history. Chesson Hadley and Richy Werenski, as well as recent graduate Andy Ogletree, are the only other Jackets who are set to join Kuchar at Colonial Country Club.
Kuchar has played well as Colonial over the years and has been consistent this year with five top-25 finishes in eight events, and one international win, making him a favorite among the fantasy golf set.
Because of the slimmed down 2020 PGA Tour schedule, more of the world’s top players are in the field this week, meaning fewer spots available for those with less status. Many of them are therefore competing in the Korn Ferry Challenge (see below).
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OGLETREE MAKING PGA TOUR DEBUT … AS AN AMATEUR
The Charles Schwab Challenge will be the first of three PGA Tour events to which recently graduated Andy Ogletree has a sponsor exemption during the remaining 2020 schedule. The Little Rock, Miss., who remains an amateur in order to compete in the rescheduled Masters Tournament in November, also will play in the RBC Heritage and the Memorial Tournament.
Ogletree, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, also holds automatic spots in the rescheduled U.S. Open in September and will defend his U.S. Amateur title on its originally scheduled dates in August.
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FOUR JACKETS COMPETING AT KORN FERRY CHALLENGE
The Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass will restart the Tour’s 2020 season, which will now combine with the 2021 season due to the number of tournament cancelations. The newly created 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour schedule will conclude with 25 PGA TOUR cards awarded at the 2021 WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz, with an additional 25 cards awarded at the conclusion of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
With six events completed through the El Bosque Mexico Championship by INNOVA, the remaining 2020 schedule – subject to change – now consists of 23 events. Korn Ferry Tour events to be contested in 2021 as part of the combined 2020-21 schedule will be announced later this year.
Vincent Whaley, who has competed as a rookie on the PGA Tour but does not have a spot in the early events of the restart, leads a Jacket contingent at the Korn Ferry Challenge that also includes Anders Albertson, who is exempt into Korn Ferry Tour events as a 2018 winner (Lincoln Land Championship). J.T. Griffin and Seth Reeves, both of whom have partial status on the Korn Ferry Tour, will play this week after finishing in the top 25 of the most recent event, the El Bosque Mexico Championship at the end of February. Griffin tied for ninth place, while Reeves tied for 24th. Griffin stands No. 21 on the Korn Ferry Points list.
MONDAY QUALIFYING DRAWS A CROWD
Because of the number of players with PGA Tour status in the field for the Korn Ferry Challenge, the Monday qualifier for this week’s event in St. Augustine has maxed out at 264 players, whereas 80 to 100 is the normal number for a Korn Ferry Monday qualifier. The top eight finishers will be offered spots in the 156-player field at Dye’s Valley Club.
Tech’s Vincent Whaley, a PGA Tour rookie who is unable to tee it up this week in Fort Worth, is in the field for the Korn Ferry Tour events each of the next three weeks. Ollie Schniederjans, who has partial Korn Ferry Tour status, is among several notable names who attempted to qualify Monday for one of the eight spots. J.T. Griffin, who is in the field this week at Dye’s Valley, has Monday-qualified for spots on several occasions in the last two years.
PETEFISH PICKS UP VICTORY IN TALLAHASSEE
Chris Petefish started fast in the Tallahassee (Fla.) Pro-Am Classic, an event on the Emerald Coast Tour, last weekend the Capital City Country Club. His opening 63 put him in a great position for the tournament, and he went wire-to-wire with rounds of 63-67-66-196 to get the win and $6,000.
