THE FLATS – Seven Yellow Jackets are back in action this week as the Korn Ferry Tour resumes competition … Only Vincent Whaley is competing on the PGA Tour as it resumes in the Dominican Republic … More below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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PGA TOUR UPDATE
Many of Georgia Tech’s alumni on the PGA Tour had last weekend off having not qualified for the U.S. Open, and most of them are taking this week off as well as the Tour heads to the Dominican Republic for the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Classic.
Only Vincent Whaley, in his second season on Tour, will compete this week after opening the 2020-21 season with a solid tie for 23rd at the Safeway Open two weeks ago. The 2017 Tech graduate finished No. 188 in FedEx Cup in his rookie year, with one top-10 finish, and retains limited status.
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KORN FERRY TOUR UPDATE
Georgia Tech rising senior Noah Norton gets his first taste of a professional golf environment, albeit of the Covid-19 variety, when the Korn Ferry Tour resumes action this week with the Wichita (Kan.) Open. Norton, a two-time all-ACC performer in his Yellow Jacket career, has an exemption into the event as a winner of the Patriot Invitational last winter. The Chico, Calif., senior made it to match play in the U.S. Amateur championship in august, winning his first-round contest before falling in the round of 32.
Ollie Schniederjans, who won this event in 2016 when it was called the Air Capital Classic, has had four top-15 finishes in his last seven tournaments this summer, and now returns to the place of his inaugural Korn Ferry Tour victory. His four-year Tech teammate Anders Albertson, also working for a magic spark to get him back to the PGA Tour, has been playing the best golf of the season over the last month or so, including a T5 at the Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS.
Also back in action after the week off are J.T. Griffin, Paul Haley II, Seth Reeves and Nicholas Thompson. Reeves is in the best position of the group to earn back his PGA Tour card, sitting solidly inside the top 25 in points (No. 16) on the strength of his victory at the Pinnacle Bank Championship and a T3 at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Schniederjans is No. 33, Haley II No. 34.
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LOCALiQ SERIES UPDATE
Chris Petefish has tied for 23rd, seventh, 47th and 19th in the four events played so far, and sits 16th in the points standings. He tied for 19th at the Invitational at Auburn in the series’ last event with an 11-under-par total of 205.
The LocaliQ Series, the U.S.-based tournament series designed for members of the PGA Tours in Canada, Latino America and China, has four remaining events, culminating in the LocaliQ Series Championship at Nassau, Bahamas in late October. After two weeks off, the series resumes this week with the Jacksonville (Fla.) Championship.
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PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS UPDATE
Former Master champion Larry Mize sits at 57th in Schwab Cup points following his tie for 49th place at last weekend’s PUR Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links (219, +3). The senior circuit is off for the next two weeks before resuming at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C.
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U.S. OPEN UPDATE
Winged Foot Golf Club claimed many high-profile victims last weekend at the 120th U.S. Open Championship, including three of the four Yellow Jackets in the field. Only Chesson Hadley, who tie for ninth place at Pebble Beach the year before, made the cut and tie for 51st place with an 18-over-par total of 298.
Video recaps: Hadley | Ogletree | Kuchar
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