THE FLATS – Matt Kuchar and Paul Haley II post strong starts to the PGA Tour season at the Fortinet Championship … J.T. Griffin and Tyler Strafaci, who just finished their 2022 seasons in Canada, tee it up in first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
*****
HALEY II, KUCHAR START 2022-23 PGA TOUR SEASON STRONG
All seven of Georgia Tech’s PGA Tour members were in the field this week as the Tour began its 2022-23 season with the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif. Only two Yellow Jackets, Paul Haley II and Matt Kuchar, survived to the weekend but both finished tied for 12th place to begin the season in strong fashion.
Haley, making is first PGA Tour start since the Wyndham Championship in 2013, earned nearly twice the amount for his career-best finish ($140,667) as he did over 18 starts that season on the Tour. On Saturday, he recorded a 6-under 66, his career-low round (round recap here) in his 20th PGA TOUR start. He went a span of 3,315 days (9 years, 28 days) between the end of his last TOUR start (Sunday, August 18, 2013) and round one of the Fortinet Championship.
By contrast, Kuchar played the 510th event of his 23-year PGA Tour career, making the cut in 370 of those, and finishing in the top 25 in 213 of those, and went over the $55 million mark in career earnings. He ranks ninth all-time in official money on the PGA Tour.
Stewart Cink, the 2020 champion at this event, missed the cut along with Anders Albertson, Chesson Hadley, Richy Werenski and Vincent Whaley. The Tour takes this week off to conduct the Presidents Cup in Charlotte, N.C., and resumes next week with the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss.
*****
FATHER-SON CADDIE DUO OF STEWART AND REAGAN CINK CALL IT A DAY
As Stewart Cink made his way to the practice tee at the Fortinet Championship, he confirmed a change to begin the 2022-23 PGA Tour season – son Reagan is off the bag.
“He threw in his Jani-King towel,” Stewart Cink cracked.
It was here at Silverado Resort’s North Course that son Reagan subbed as his dad’s caddie at the 2020 edition of the tournament formerly known as the Safeway Open and guided his old man to his first victory in more than nine years. A few tournaments later, at the RSM Classic that November, they made it official as a permanent relationship. At the time, Reagan, an industrial engineering graduate of Georgia Tech, put on hold a technology product management job with Delta Airlines.
👀👀 It’s true! But fear not he’ll be back @NBCSports for Prez Cup and beyond. What an experience having son @RCinkk caddy the past two years! I’ll cherish those memories forever! https://t.co/m6b0wPvEyU
— Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) September 14, 2022
*****
SCHNIEDERJANS, GRIFFIN, STRAFACI CLOSE OUT CANADIAN TOUR SEASON
Luke Schniederjans, J.T. Griffin and Tyler Strafaci were among the top 60 players in the Fortinet Cup standings who qualified to play in the Fortinet Cup Championship, which took place last weekend at Deer Ridge Golf Club in Kitchener, Ontario.
Strafaci led the Tech contingent by tying for 13th place at 1-under-par 279 and finished 49th in the Fortinet Cup points standings. Schniederjans tied for 29th place in the event (283, +3) and finished the season 29th in points, while J.T. Griffin tied for 47th place in the tournament, and landed in 45th place in points.
“Did we just become best friends?!”@TyStrafaci & @NRay34 will play together for the 3rd consecutive day on Sunday after posting identical rounds of 69, 67, 69. They’re both T6.@FortinetCupChmp 🏆🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/CgpZjDbHnX
— PGA TOUR Canada – Fortinet Cup (@PGATOURCanada) September 17, 2022
*****
TRINGALE TIES FOR 12TH IN SECOND LIV SERIES START
Cameron Tringale has tied for 21st (Boston) and 12th in his first two starts on the LIV Golf Series, earning more than $500,000 total. After reaching the second stage of the FedEx Cup playoffs this year on the PGA Tour and earning more than $3 million in the 2022-23 season, Tringale made the move to LIV following the conclusion of the Tour Championship.
In last weekend’s event at Rich Harvest Farms outside of Chicago, Tringale shot 5-under-par 211. The 2022 LIV series has three events left to play, in Bangkok (Oct. 7-9), Jeddah (Oct. 14-16) and Miami (Oct. 27-30).
*****
GRIFFIN, STRAFACI ATTEMPT TO ADVANCE IN KORN FERRY Q-SCHOOL
J.T. Griffin and Tyler Strafaci, who spent the 2022 season North of the border playing Canadian tour events, are both attempting this week to climb the arduous ladder of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school by competing in first-stage events.
Strafaci is in the field at Crown Colony Golf Club in Fort Myers, Fla., while Griffin is competing at Magnolia Grove-Crossing in Semmes, Ala.
Q-school consists of three stages. Players advancing past the 72-hole first stage, which is conducted at 12 sites around the country in September, compete in another 72-hole competition at one of five sites in October, with the survivors coming together Nov. 4-7 in Savannah, Ga., for the final stage of qualifying.
Recent Tech graduates Will Dickson and Ben Smith both competed in their first stage qualifier last week in Kannapolis, N.C., neither able to advance. Smith tied for 48th place, while Dickson tied for 52nd, with only the top 26 moving on to the next stage.
Korn Ferry Tour qualifying schedule and leaderboards
*****
OGLETREE OPENS UP ON LIV GOLF EXPERIENCE
Andy Ogletree, the former U.S. Amateur champion who played in the first LIV Golf event in London, says he was at “rock bottom” in his pro career before teeing it up in the curtain raiser of the controversial series.
Ogletree, 24, hopped on the Fire Drill podcast with Alan Shipnuck and Ryan French to discuss life in the professional ranks so far and why he decided to play in the first LIV Golf Tour event despite a barrage of criticism at the time.
The 2019 U.S. Amateur champion said at the point he was approached by LIV he was “super frustrated with golf”. He was not advancing in qualifiers to get into PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour events. His woes were exacerbated by injury, too.
He said he was travelling all over the country playing mini tour events “just to make ends meet” and he understood that it was “on him” as he was simply not playing well enough. But it wasn’t what he envisioned when he turned professional.
