THE FLATS – Vincent Whaley continued his comeback from a wrist injury with a top-10 on the Korn Ferry Tour … Paul Haley II qualifies for the U.S. Open … Stewart Cink turned 50 over the weekend and is in the field for the U.S. Senior Open … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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WHALEY CONTINUES COMEBACK WITH TOP-10 ON KORN FERRY TOUR
Vincent Whaley returned to action on the PGA Tour two weeks ago after six months on the sideline with a wrist injury, and made the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson in his hometown of McKinney, Texas. Not in the field for last weekend’s PGA Championship, Whaley tee it up in a Korn Ferry Tour event and took home a top-10 finish.
The 2016 Tech graduate shot 67-67 on the weekend and posted a 12-under-par score of 276 to tie for ninth place at the AdventHealth Championship in Kansas City.
Chris Petefish tied for 22nd last weekend at the AdventHealth event (278, -10) and sits No. 72 in the Korn Ferry Tour points list. Luke Schniederjans, a Monday qualifier, missed the cut.
AdventHealth Championship leaderboard
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HALEY QUALIFIES FOR THE U.S. OPEN
Playing his second full season as a member of the PGA Tour, Paul Haley II has competed in 19 events, won more than $340,000 and has a pair of top-25 finishes while sitting 158th in FedEx Cup points.
Monday, he gained a spot in the 123rd U.S. Open by grabbing one of the eight spots available in the Dallas, Texas, final qualifying event. In the 36-hole qualifier played at Bent Tree Country Club and Northwood Club, Haley shot 9-under-par 132, including a competitive course-record 63 in the first 18 holes at Northwood, to tie for fourth place with Sergio Garcia and Roger Sloan.
The two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour and the 2011 ACC Champion will compete in the U.S. Open, which takes place June 15-18 at the Los Angeles Country Club, for the first time. He’ll join Matt Kuchar, who will make his 20th U.S. Open start after being listed among the top 60 in the May 22 Official World Golf Ranking.
Meanwhile, Haley returns to action on the PGA Tour this weekend in the Charles Schwab Challenge.
2006 Texas Amateur champion Paul Haley will be making his first major appearance at the 123rd #USOpen.@usopengolf | @PaulHaleyGolf pic.twitter.com/KHaDk9twNQ
— Texas Golf Association (@TexasGolfAssoc) May 23, 2023
Stellar play from the 2006 Texas Amateur Champion 🔥
Paul Haley ties the competitive course record with a 7-under 63 at Northwood Club. He currently leads the field at #USOpen final qualifying.
Haley will now head to Bent Tree CC.
🔗Live Scores: https://t.co/qyboOphups pic.twitter.com/0EYYsbC7Sd
— Texas Golf Association (@TexasGolfAssoc) May 22, 2023
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CINK TO TEE IT UP AT U.S. SENIOR OPEN
The Sweet Spot doesn’t remember anticipating a 50th birthday quite as eagerly as some golfers on the PGA Tour, which is why we were surprised to see Stewart Cink coy about the milestone. The 2009 British Open champion turned the big 5-0 on Sunday and will tee it up at SentryWorld (Stevens Point, Wis.) in late June.
Cink has remained ultra-competitive deep into his 40s. He won the 2020 Safeway Open and 2021 RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour at the age of 47 and last year recorded two top-10 finishes and a T-23 showing at the PGA Championship and qualified for the Fed-Ex Cup playoffs.
“I’m borderline in denial that my 50th birthday is near,” Cink said in a story about the 2023 PGA Tour Champions rookie class posted in January. “Of course, I’ve had a lot of friends and other competitors come up and tell me how much I’m going to enjoy it out there, which I know I will. … (But) every time the PGA Tour announces a (designated) event, it really entices me to try and stay in shape and keep my mind and heart in the right place because those are amazing opportunities to be able to play for that kind of prize money.”
Cink is one of 12 winners of PGA Tour events turning 50 this year, but the eight-time champion is one of only four with multiple victories becoming eligible for the senior circuit. Boo Weekley (three), Jason Bohn and Daniel Chopra (two each) are the others, but only Cink and Bohn will have observed their 50th birthday before the AmFam Championship and the U.S. Senior Open.
Wishing a happy 50th birthday to @StewartCink 🎂 pic.twitter.com/K8i2r73TlE
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 21, 2023
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DUVAL SAYS ZURICH APPEARANCE TAUGHT HIM HE DOESN’T BELONG ANY LONGER
As Phil Mickelson and Justin Thomas were wrapping up their final round at the PGA Championship, ESPN’s on-course reporter, John Maginnes, posed a question to David Duval.
Maginnes, a former Tour player, asked Duval, who has been sitting in the booth this week with host Scott Van Pelt, if he was learning anything from watching the players compete at Oak Hill.
Duval, 51, plays the PGA Tour Champions and last month competed alongside John Daly in the PGA Tour’s team event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
“You know what gave me a better perspective, was playing at the Zurich with JD … a few weeks back,” Duval responded to Maginnes.
More from Golf Channel Digital via Yahoo!Sports
During early @PGAChampionship coverage, ESPN analyst David Duval was asked what he learned about his Zurich Classic appearance.
His response, “I don’t belong out there any longer.” https://t.co/qrVPqDNNoT pic.twitter.com/N9UcL0bkgs
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) May 21, 2023
