THE FLATS – Cameron Tringale continues strong run with a top-10 finish at Pebble Beach … Six former Jackets, including Tyler Strafaci, set for Genesis Invitational this weekend … J.T. Griffin and four other Jackets resume competition on Korn Ferry Tour … More below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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TRINGALE TIES FOR SEVENTH AT AT&T
Cameron Tringale continued his recent run of strong play, tying for seventh place at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a 13-under-par total of 275, five shots off the pace of winner Daniel Berger. After closing with a 5-under-par 67, Tringale jumped to No. 32 in the FedEx Cup standings, second highest position among former Jackets on Tour, and surpassed $1 million in earnings for the 2020-21 season. It was the 24th top-10 finish of his career and his second of 2020-21. He has tied for 18th, 17th and seventh in last three starts, collective 30-under-par.
Vincent Whaley was the only other of the seven Yellow Jackets in the field to make the cut, posting a tie for 50th place after a 2-under-par total of 286. He is currently outside the FedEx Cup top 125 at No. 135.
Stewart Cink, a winner in 2020-21 at the Safeway Open and ranked 11th in FedEx Cup points, also missed the cut along with Chesson Hadley. Roberto Castro made just his second start of the 2020-21 season, both of them in California, and missed the cut in both. Andy Ogletree, playing on his second sponsor exemption of 2021, and 13-time PGA Tour winner David Duval, also playing on an exemption, also missed the cut.
Cink and Tringale travel down the coast to play in this weekend’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, joined by Matt Kuchar and Richy Werenski, who return to action after a week off. Hadley is waiting in the wings as an alternate. Recent Tech grad Tyler Strafaci, playing on his second exemption received for winning the 2020 U.S. Amateur championship, also is in the field for his fourth PGA Tour start.
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GRIFFIN A FAVORITE AS KORN FERRY TOUR RESTARTS
The Korn Ferry Tour resumes competition this weekend with the LECOM Suncoast Classic in the Sarasota/Bradenton area in Florida, and J.T. Griffin is one of the favorites based on past performance. The Georgia Tech alum enjoys his time at Lakewood National, having finished fifth and T7 in the first two LECOM Suncoast Classic iterations. He stands No. 74 on The 25.
He’s joined in the field at Lakewood National Golf Club by recent Korn Ferry Tour winners Anders Albertson and Seth Reeves, as well as Paul Haley II and Ollie Schniederjans. Nicholas Thompson joined the field after shooting 64 in Monday qualifying.
Reeves holds the highest position among former Tech players in the Korn Ferry Tour Top 25 as competition resumes, sitting at No. 19. Haley is No. 41.
.@GTGolf alum J.T. Griffin has finished top-7 in the first two LECOM Suncoast Classics.
After driving seven hours from Atlanta to Lakewood National, he shares the secret to his success.
cc: @QueenWillRock pic.twitter.com/sWJ9lEZZMn
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) February 15, 2021
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ALBERTSON RECALLS “NIGHTMARE” OPENING ROUND IN 2017 GREAT EXUMA CLASSIC
The wind was blowing so hard that the beach sand was hitting Anders Albertson like bee stings as he made the short sprint from his beachside condo to his car on the way to the course. His pre-round range session was “an absolute nightmare,” with a 35-40 mph crosswind leaving Albertson with no idea how he was actually hitting it heading into the round.
Both proved just a prelude to the difficulty of what may be the toughest round in Korn Ferry Tour history, the first round of the 2017 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, a round that brought a scoring average of 80.405 – the highest for a round on the Korn Ferry Tour since 1991. At the conclusion of the day, 74 of 132 players failed to break 80, with three players failing to break 90, and 1-under 71 led.
