THE FLATS – Stewart Cink, Matt Kuchar and Cameron Tringale enjoy competitive weekends at PG Championship … Paul Haley II and Chris Petefish post solid finishes on Korn Ferry Tour … Tyler Strafaci picks up a check at GPro event … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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ALL THREE JACKETS PLAY THE WEEKEND AT PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
All three Yellow Jackets in the field for the PGA Championship advanced to the weekend and had solid performances at the year’s second major championship. All three players stood inside the top 25 after 36 holes.
Stewart Cink, returning to Southern Hills Country Club where he nearly won the 2001 U.S. Open, started the championship with rounds of 69-68, added a 71 on Saturday when weather conditions made life difficult for the entire field, but faded to a 74 on Sunday and tied for 23rd place at 282 (+2).
Matt Kuchar opened with a 3-under-par 67 and shot 71 on Friday, but scored 73-73 over the weekend and tied for 34th at 284 (+4). Cameron Tringale tied for 41st at 285 (+5).
Cink and Tringale are both in the field for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Vincent Whaley returns to action, and Tyler Strafaci also is in the field on a sponsor’s exemption, making his ninth PGA Tour start.
Kuchar on what makes 18th hole so difficult: “Members must dread 18”
Tip of the cap, Matt Kuchar.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/TU25mEPAsi
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 22, 2022
After a +4 start in his first three holes, Cameron Tringale has played his last 33 holes with five birdies and one bogey.
In search of his first TOUR win in 328 starts, he sits 120th in career earnings with nearly $17 million – the highest-ranked player without an official win.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) May 20, 2022
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NO REPEAT FOR OLD GUARD AT PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — There would be no repeat celebration for golf’s old guard Sunday.
Stewart Cink was the elder statesman on the PGA Championship leaderboard when the 49-year-old started the final round at Southern Hills tied for seventh and hoping to follow up Phil Mickelson’s stunning win at 50 last year.
A victory to match Mickelson would have made Cink the second-oldest major champion in history. It was not to be.
Cink shot a 1-over 71 in tough conditions Saturday on his birthday and entered the final round seven shots behind leader Mito Pereira. The 2009 British Open champion said he felt “as physically capable as ever” and able to keep up with the length of the younger generation. He won the RBC Heritage last year at age 47.
Cink needed a fast start to have any chance, but two bogeys on his first three holes, including a second shot that flew the green on the third, all but ended his chase for a second major. He closed with a 4-over 74.
Stewart Cink hoping for Southern Hills redemption from ’01 if things break his way Sunday @PGAChampionship: https://t.co/2AWSVOh1PM pic.twitter.com/FIZxyRG2Ga
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) May 22, 2022
What if 49-year-old Stewart Cink has another major in him?
Could you imagine the poetic justice he would feel if it was HERE? Where he missed a 2-foot putt that evidently would have gotten him to a @usopengolf playoff 21 years ago. Son on the bag this week.#PGAChampionship pic.twitter.com/PiTc9ag3DM
— Garrett Johnston (@JohnstonGarrett) May 21, 2022
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CINK BUILDS GOOD MEMORIES AT SOUTHERN HILLS WITH CADDY/SON
Stewart Cink had an excellent Saturday.
He celebrated his 49th birthday walking the Southern Hills golf course with his son/caddy, Reagan. He shot a 71 and is tied for seventh to remain in contention for the PGA Championship. And then he joined his family for a steak dinner before aiming for a Sunday charge.
“We have a blast,” Reagan Cink explained after the loop. “It’s really great out there. We have the same interests, humor and all of that. We crack up at the same stupid jokes.
More from the Tulsa World (with video)
Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday!! Maybe 49 is the new 29 after all! #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/HoNcNEhTjA
— Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) May 22, 2022
So much fun out there grinding on this track! #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/K3AbPYk3am
— Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) May 21, 2022
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HALEY, PETEFISH PLAY THE WEEKEND ON THE KORN FERRY TOUR
Paul Haley II and Chris Petefish both made it through to the weekend and tied for 31st at least weekend’s AdventHealth Championship in Kansas City, posting identical 4-under-par scores of 284 (-4).
Haley remains inside the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list at No. 22, giving two former Yellow Jackets a shot at earning PGA Tour cards at the end of the regular season. Anders Albertson, who won the Visit Knoxville Open two weeks ago, is No. 11.
Both players are in the field this week in Illinois for the NV5 Invitational along with J.T. Griffin, who missed the cut last week. Albertson is taking the weekend off.
T31 good solid event for Chris Petefish. More points, more starts!!! On way to Chicago @GTGolf pic.twitter.com/9724xTyeqA
— Course of Action Golf (@jrgolfplanners) May 22, 2022
Chicago!!! Rain, wind, heat and Let’s Go!! @GTGolf pic.twitter.com/rAw1flJHxE
— Course of Action Golf (@jrgolfplanners) May 24, 2022
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STRAFACI EARNS CHECK ON GPRO TOUR
Tyler Strafaci picked up a $1,504 check last weekend when he tied for 11th place at the Biggs Classic on the GPro Tour. The 2020 U.S. Amateur champion shot a 10-under-par score of 206 at Albermarle Plantation in Hertford, N.C., located on the other side of Badin Lake from there Strafaci played all four ACC Championship tournaments with the Yellow Jackets.
Strafaci has received a sponsor exemption to play in this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour.
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KUCHAR, HALEY FAIL TO QUALIFY FOR U.S. OPEN
Matt Kuchar and Paul Haley II traveled directly from Tulsa and Kansas City, respectively, to play on Monday’s 36-hole final qualifier for the 2022 U.S. Open in Dallas, Texas. Neither former Yellow Jacket was able to grab one of the 13 available spots in the field of 98 players, who competed at Lakewood Country Club and Royal Oaks Country Club.
It was the second of 13 final qualifying tournaments for the national championship, which will be played June 16-19 at the Country Club of Brookline in Brookline, Mass. The remaining 11 final qualifiers will be held on June 6.
Kuchar shot rounds of 72-67 to finish at 3-under-par, while Haley shot 71-?? to finish at 1-over. The cut fell at 7-par. Unless he finds his way into the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking by June 6 (he is No. 80 currently) or wins a PGA Tour event in the next four weeks, Kuchar will miss the U.S. Open for the first time since 2007.
