THE FLATS – Stewart Cink is the only Yellow Jacket to play the weekend at the Phoenix Open … David Duval makes his second PGA Tour Champions start … Three Jackets miss the cut in Colombia at Korn Ferry event … Recent grads competing on Florida Elite Tour … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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CINK ONLY JACKET TO SURVIVE PHOENIX CUT
In his eighth start of the 2021-22 season, Stewart Cink tied for 43rd last weekend at the WM Phoenix Open, the only Yellow Jacket to make the cut at TPC Scottsdale with a 4-under-par score of 280. The 2009 Open Champion opened with a 67, his best round of the weekend.
Matt Kuchar and Chesson Hadley both missed the cut, Kuchar by one stroke after rounds of 68-73.
Cink was among golfers asked what it was like to play the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, where the par-3 hole is converted into a stadium environment, surrounded by three levels of suite and stands. Sam Ryder and Carlos Ortiz each scored a hole-in-one there over the weekend. Cink parred the hole all four rounds.
“There’s no way to control the adrenaline, you have to learn how to deal with the adrenaline,” Cink told AZCentral.com. “So you know that when you walk through those doors on 16 and walk into that whatever they call it, that stadium, you’re going to have adrenaline. So you got to figure out how you’re going to handle that. And you kind of become a different golfer for that one hole. So, but yeah it’s definitely something you learn, you learn what not to do. I definitely took some knocks on that hole over the years. But it’s fun. I don’t think I would want every shot of the year to be like that, but it’s cool that there’s one here and you know what you’re going to get every time.”
Hadley and Kuchar stay in the hunt this weekend at the Genesis Invitational at venerable Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, with Cameron Tringale and Vincent Whaley back in action after a week off. Tringale (19), Whaley (66) and Kuchar (86) are Tech’s highest-ranked players on the FedEx Cup race, with Cink, Hadley. Seth Reeves and Richy Werenski currently outside the top 125.
Waste. Management. Only at the @WMPhoenixOpen. So fun! Way to go Sam Ryder! pic.twitter.com/eCZkxHu1Tc
— Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) February 13, 2022
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KORN FERRY TOUR RESUMES IN COLOMBIA
A long trip to South America resulted in very little for three Yellow Jackets competing at last weekend’s Astara Golf Championship in Bogota, Columbia. Paul Haley II, J.T. Griffin and Chris Petefish all missed the cut. Haley, whose runner-up finish at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic has him No. 9 in the current Korn Ferry Tour points list through four events.
The Tour comes back to the United States beginning this week with the LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood Ranch in Florida. Anders Albertson is back in action after two weeks off, joining Haley in the field.
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DUVAL COMPETING IN CHUBB CLASSIC
David Duval is making the transition from Golf Channel analyst fully on the PGA Tour Champions this year. He makes his second start in his rookie year at the 35th annual Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO this weekend at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
Duval, a former world No. 1, made his Champions debut in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii last month, and tied for 34th. He turned 50 on Nov. 9.
Duval won 13 PGA Tour events, all from 1997 to 2001, including the 1999 Players, the 1997 Tour Championship, and the 2001 British Open. He became the first player to shoot 59 in the final round of a tournament to win in 1999 at the now-American Express.
#swfl golf: David Duval, Jim Furyk lead @ChubbClassic first wave of commitments https://t.co/yyA0QRm1hQ via @ndn
— Greg Hardwig (@NDN_GHardwig) January 31, 2022
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RECENT GRADUATES COMPETE ON FLORIDA ELITE TOUR
Some recent Georgia Tech graduates are competing on the Florida Elite Golf Tour, which offers a $5,000 first prize. For Jackets competes in last week’s Florida Elite Open at Panther Lake, with 2021 graduate Will Dickson the only one to make the cut, tying for 20th place at 4-under-par 212.
U.S. Amateur champions Andy Ogletree and Tyler Strafaci both missed the cut, as did Luke Schniederjans. Schniederjans has status on the PGA Tour Canada, but that schedule has not yet been announced. Those players also will attempt to qualify for Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour events through Monday qualifying.
