THE FLATS – Ollie Schniederjans and Noah Norton earn top-10 finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour … Vincent Whaley carries the Georgia Tech banner in the Dominican Republic … More below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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PGA TOUR UPDATE
Most of the former Yellow Jackets on the PGA Tour did not play last weekend in the Dominican Republic, but will be in Jackson, Miss., for this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Stewart Cink, who captured the wine barrel trophy for winning the Safeway Open two weeks ago in Napa, Calif., highlights a group of five Jackets in the field, including Chesson Hadley, Cameron Tringale, Richy Werenski and Vincent Whaley.
Whaley, in his second season on Tour, was the only Jacket to make the trek to the Dominican for the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship last weekend, finishing in a tie for 28th place at 8-under-par 280. Whaley opened the 2020-21 season with a solid tie for 23rd at the Safeway Open three weeks ago after finishing No. 188 in FedEx Cup in his rookie year, with one top-10 finish.
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KORN FERRY TOUR UPDATE
Georgia Tech senior Noah Norton made the most of his first taste of a professional golf environment, by tying for eighth place last weekend at the Wichita (Kan.) Open. Norton, a two-time all-ACC performer in his Yellow Jacket career, played an exemption into the event as a winner of the Patriot All-American Invitational last winter. The Chico, Calif., senior shot 12-under-par 268 to match All-American Ollie Schniederjans, and they were the only two Jackets to make the cut.
The top-10 finish earned Norton another start this week at the Savannah Golf Championship at The Landings Golf Club in Savannah, Ga.
Schniederjans, who won the Wichita event in 2016 when it was called the Air Capital Classic, has had five top-15 finishes in his last eight tournaments this summer, and sits No. 32 in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings. He shot all four rounds in the 60s.
Anders Albertson, also working for a magic spark to get him back to the PGA Tour, is competing this week along with J.T. Griffin, Paul Haley II and Seth Reeves. 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. 17) on the strength of his victory at the Pinnacle Bank Championship and a T3 at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, while Haley II is No. 34.
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LOCALiQ SERIES UPDATE
Chris Petefish who tied for 23rd, seventh, 47th and 19th in the four events played so far, did not play last week’s event in Jacksonville, Fla., and slipped to 22nd in the points standings. He will return to action this week at The Challenge at Harbor Hills as the series continues in Florida.
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 the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links (219, +3) two weeks ago. The senior circuit is off for the next two weeks before resuming at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C.
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