THE FLATS – Stewart Cink, Matt Kuchar and Tyler Strafaci reppin’ the Yellow Jackets this week at Torrey Pines … Chesson Hadley disappointed in late slide at Congaree but puts himself in position to make FedEx Playoffs … Seth Reeves and Paul Haley II keep rolling on the Korn Ferry Tour, remain in top 25 … More below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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CINK, KUCHAR, STRAFACI COMPETING IN U.S. OPEN
Georgia Tech’s two most veteran PGA Tour pros, Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar, and its most recently-turned-pro alumnus, Tyler Strafaci, are in the 156-player field to compete in the 121st United States Open Championship which begins Thursday at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego, Calif.
Cink earned his first U.S. Open start since 2017 by winning twice this year on the PGA Tour, the Safeway Open last fall and the RBC Heritage this spring. The 47-year-old Cink is making his 21st U.S. Open start overall, and has come the closest to victory at the U.S. Open of any Yellow Jacket since Bobby Jones with his third-place finish in 2001. He tied for 14th at Torrey Pines in 2008.
Kuchar, currently 96th in the FedEx Cup race for 2021, makes his 19th U.S. Open start, getting into the field by coming in among the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Having tied for sixth in 2010 for his best effort, Kuchar tied for 48th the last time the U.S. Open was held at Torrey Pines.
Strafaci is in the field by winning the 2020 U.S. Amateur Championship, the second straight year a Yellow Jacket has accomplished that. It is his second U.S. Open start after having qualified for the 2018 championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf club, where he missed the cut. Strafaci made the cut in his first PGA Tour start as a pro two weeks ago at the Memorial.
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HEART-BREAKING FINISH FOR HADLEY AT CONGAREE
Since his victory at the 2014 Puerto Rico Open as a rookie, Chesson Hadley has had runner-up finishes in the fall of 2017 and 2018 but had failed to notch up a top-10 in 2020 or 2021 when he turned up at Congaree. In fact, he’d missed 12 of his last 14 cuts, including the last five straight.
So to say his four-shot 54-hole lead at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree was a surprise was certainly an understatement. A couple of early fourth round bogeys could’ve been early killers, but Hadley battled on and through 15 holes he found himself with a two-shot lead and on the verge of a drought breaking win. But he bogeyed the final three holes to erase a two-stroke lead in finish with a 75 and a tie for second place at 10-under-par.
- Chesson Hadley on closing 75 at Congaree (Golf Channel)
- Hot putting has Georgia Tech grad Hadley in lead at Congaree Golf Club
Still, Hadley made a 40-spot jump in the FedEx Cup points standings to No. 111 and had a chance to secure a spot in the playoffs come August with some continued good play. His next start will be the Travelers Championship in two weeks.
Hadley was the only one of four Yellow Jackets – Vincent Whaley, Richy Werenski and Roberto Castro also competed – in the field to make the cut at Congaree.
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REEVES, HALEY CONTINUE TO ROLL ON KORN FERRY TOUR
Seth Reeves and Paul Haley II each logged another strong performance on the Korn Ferry Tour at last weekend’s BMW Charity Pro-Am in South Carolina and held their positions inside the top 25 of the tour’s points standings, keeping them in position to earn PGA Tour cards as the regular season heads into its final seven events.
Reeves posted a tie for 13th with a 16-under-par score of 269 to remain 21st in points, while Haley tied for 20th at 15-under-par 270 to hold at 22nd. Ollie Schniederjans also tied for 20th to stay at No. 39.
After missing 14 cuts in 27 events around a win and a third-place finish, Reeves has begun to play more consistently, making four straight cuts with only two rounds over 70 in his last 16. Since February, Haley has made 10 cuts in 12 events with four finishes of 11th or better.
They move on to this week’s Wichita Open along with Anders Albertson and Nicholas Thompson, who missed the cut last weekend. Chris Petefish, who has partial status on the Forme Tour (U.S.-based series for Canadian Tour members), received an exemption into the Wichita Open, while Luke Schniederjans earned one of eight spots available through Monday qualifying (survived a 5-for-1 playoff) and will compete alongside them.
In related news, the Korn Ferry Tour announced that its purses are set to increase over the next two years, reaching $1 million by 2023.
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ELSEWHERE
Larry Mize tied for 48th (218, +2) at last weekend’s American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis., remaining at No. 67 in the Charles Schwab Cup.
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