THE FLATS – Chesson Hadley grabs final spot with Sunday 62 as five Yellow Jackets begin FedEx Cup playoffs Thursday … Seth Reeves earns PGA Tour card with 18th-place finish in Korn Ferry Tour regular season … Four Jackets competing in Korn Ferry Tour finals … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
*****
FIVE JACKETS BEGIN FEDEX PLAYOFFS THIS WEEK AT NORTHERN TRUST
The race to Atlanta and the Tour Championship begins Thursday for five Yellow Jackets at The Northern Trust in Jersey City, N.J.
Stewart Cink, No. 19 in FedEx Cup points after two tournament victories this season at the Safeway Open and the RBC Heritage, and Cameron Tringale, No. 41 with four top-10 finishes and six others in the top 25, eased into the playoffs and stand to advance past this weekend’s opener.
The story was different for Ricky Werenski (No. 117), Matt Kuchar (No. 120) and Chesson Hadley (No. 125), however, as all three hovered near the cut line to qualify and needed good performances at the Wyndham Championship last weekend. The top 125 players in points not only qualified for the playoffs but ensured full membership on the Tour for 2021-22.
Kuchar, who has struggled most of the summer, stood at No. 124 but turned in a tie for 29th place after his closing 66 to secure his spot, while Werenski slipped only one spot from No. 116 with his tie for 37th bolstered by a finishing 65.
But Hadley, who entered the weekend at No. 132, needed a 16th-place finish to move inside the top 125. Playing in his home state and enduring his share of heartache this summer, including a late collapse that cost him a win at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, Hadley made it in dramatic fashion.
The 2010 Tech graduate opened with rounds of 68-69-69, but still was projected outside the top 125 entering the final round. Spurred by a front-nine 29 that included a hole-in-one at the par-3 16th (his first ever), Hadley posted a 62 that landed him in an 8-player tie for 15th place. Still, he needed a three-putt bogey at 18 by Justin Rose to earn just enough points to grab the 125th and final spot by one point.
Watch Hadley’s hole-in-one, called on PGA Tour Live by none other than former Yellow Jacket All-American Charlie Rymer, and his emotional post-round interview with Amanda Balionis below.
“This is my job and I love it and I care very deeply about it. That’s why I’m emotional.”@ChessonHadley gets choked up reflecting on his season and future on TOUR. pic.twitter.com/3j8jdLCfbH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 15, 2021
A birdie on his last to give himself a chance. 👌@ChessonHadley is currently projected 126th in the #FedExCup. pic.twitter.com/ABupeqrBm5
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 15, 2021
*****
FOUR JACKETS BEGIN KORN FERRY TOUR FINALS THIS WEEK IN IDAHO
Paul Haley II narrowly missed earning his PGA Tour card after finishing 27th in Korn Ferry Tour points during the regular season, but gets another chance beginning this week, along with Anders Albertson, Ollie Schniederjans and Vincent Whaley, to earn one through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, which begin Thursday at the Albertsons Boise Open in Boise, Idaho.
Schniederjans and Albertson, four-year teammates at Georgia Tech who both have spent time as PGA Tour members, had solid finishes during the regular season, 41st and 64th. Schniederjans has posted seven top-10 finishes, and Albertson has four during the tour’s extended 2020-21 season.
Whaley, who finished 140th on the FedEx Cup points list as a PGA Tour member in 2020-21 and did not qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, joins the group.
*****
SETH REEVES HAS HAD A SPECIAL TWO WEEKS
Georgia Tech will have a sixth full-time member of the PGA Tour in 2021-22 in the person of Seth Reeves. The 8-year pro has earned his second chance at golf’s top circuit by finishing 18th in points during the Korn Ferry Tour’s extended season.
His performance includes a victory at last summer’s Pinnacle Bank Championship and four other top-10 finishes. He made 22 cuts in 37 events, including 14 total top-25 finishes. Reeves solidified his position by finishing T11, T11 and T5 in his last three events, secure enough to skip last week’s regular season finale, the same event Pinnacle Bank Championship he won in 2020, to be with his wife Patricia as they awaited the birth of their first child.
*****
FORME TOUR
Tyler Strafaci is joining Forme Tour members Luke Schniederjans and Chris Petefish for this week’s Forme Open at TPC River’s Bend, which began Wednesday at Maineville, Ohio. Schniederjans tied for 11th and Petefish 25th in last week’s Fuzzy Zeller Classic in Indiana.
With three events to play, Schniederjans is No. 8 on the Forme Tour Order of Merit, while Petefish is No. 36. The top five points earners earning 2021-22 Korn Ferry Tour membership along with others advancing to the second and final stages of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.
*****
