THE FLATS – Connor Howe off to strong start on PGA Tour Canada with a runner-up finish last weekend … Chesson Hadley working his way up the FedEx Cup points list … Ross Steelman gets a sponsor exemption to Detroit Classic this week … Matt Kuchar adds John Deere Classic to his schedule … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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HOWE CONTENDS, POSTS RUNNER-UP FINISH IN CANADA
Connor Howe turned in a solid finish in his PGA Tour Canada debut two weeks ago, and in his second start last weekend contended for a win and tied for second place at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open.
The Ogden, Utah native fired rounds of 65-66-66-66 to finish with a 17-under-par total of 263, four strokes off the pace of former Florida State All-American John Pak. The tie for second coupled with a tie for 33rd in his debut the previous weekend has Howe No. 5 in the Fortinet Cup standings as the tour moves to Alberta this week and has eight events remaining.
Howe, who tied for 29th place individually as Georgia Tech finished runner-up at the NCAA Championship in late May, finished No. 18 on the PGA TOUR University ranking in 2023, earning exemption onto PGA TOUR Canada this season with eight top-10 finishes throughout his final season at Georgia Tech.
“I think you’re seeing it here, on the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour, how good the young players have gotten, how competitive college golf has gotten and how well it’s prepared us to come out here,” Howe told the media at the event. “I don’t think we’re really afraid of anyone, we just want to come out and compete with the best.”
Luke Schniederjans and Tyler Strafaci both missed the cut.
Connor Howe sticks it close on 7 and grabs the birdie to get back to 13-under@ElkRidgeSKOpen pic.twitter.com/XsBmWa6OZG
— PGA TOUR Canada – Fortinet Cup (@PGATOURCanada) June 25, 2023
A solid back nine, including birdies on 16 & 17, has Connor Howe within one shot of the lead heading into Championship Sunday at the @ElkRidgeSKOpen pic.twitter.com/5u4UGnpCXi
— PGA TOUR Canada – Fortinet Cup (@PGATOURCanada) June 25, 2023
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HADLEY WORKING HIS WAY UP THE LADDER
Last weekend was a rough one for two-time champion Stewart Cink and three others who missed the cut at the Travelers Championship, but Chesson Hadley posted three rounds in the mid-60s and turned in a solid finish of T-24 in the low-scoring affair.
Hadley posted a 13-under-par total of 267 and worked his way up the FedEx Cup points list, now No. 143, after a pair of solid starts in the month of June. He’ll tee it up again this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Mich., along with Paul Haley II, Richy Werenski and Vince Whaley, along with recent graduate Ross Steelman, who received a sponsor exemption.
Currently, Matt Kuchar (No. 50) is the only former Yellow Jacket in position to participate on the FedEx Cup playoffs, which begin in eight weeks. Kuchar is one of only two Tour players to have participated in all 16 FedEx Cup playoffs. Haley (No. 126), Werenski (No. 133) and Hadley are working to finish inside the top 1256 and retain their Tour cards for 2024.
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CINK WANTS TO KEEP PLAYING TPC RIVER HIGHLANDS
One of the most popular players in the history of the Travelers Championship, Stewart Cink turned 50 a month ago, which makes him eligible for the PGA Champions Tour.
Cink played in his first Champions event the week after his birthday and finished third at the Senior PGA Championship.
“It was fun,” said 28-year Tour pro. “It was a lot of fun.”
While Cink will now be splitting his time between the regular Tour and the senior circuit, that doesn’t mean golf fans at TPC River Highlands have seen the tall Alabaman for the last time.
“There are tournaments I don’t want to stop playing. This is one of them,” said Cink, who missed the cut by one shot Friday. “RBC (Heritage) is another. There are not many I don’t like, but this is one I definitely want to keep playing.”
More from the Republican American
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PETEFISH, STEELMAN SOLID ON KORN FERRY TOUR
Chris Petefish ended a streak of three missed cuts, while Ross Steelman earned another solid finish in his second stop on the Korn Ferry Tour last weekend.
Petefish started strong with a 66 and finished in a tie for 35th place at the Compliance Solutions Championship with an 11-under-par total of 277, holding his position at No. 91 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. Steelman tied for 58th at 7-under-par 281.
Steelman’s weekend included his first professional hole-in-one in round 2 on Friday.
Petefish and Ollie Schniederjans will compete in this week’s event, the Memorial Health Championship in Springfield, Ill., while Steelman gets a start on the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic on a sponsor’s exemption.
🚨HOLE-IN-ONE ALERT 🚨
In his second event as a professional, Ross Steelman records a hole-in-one on the 15th from 262 years with a 4 iron @cschampgolf.
It was his sixth hole-in-one and first in competition. pic.twitter.com/1N30ESsxmm
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) June 24, 2023
Petey leaving Oklahoma – t35 was hoping to go low today but it still was a great week. Wish we could find cooler weather!! On to Springfield, illinois @GTGolf pic.twitter.com/RNjcEq4LM1
— COA Golf (@golfplanners) June 25, 2023
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KUCHAR ADDS JOHN DEERE CLASSIC TO SCHEDULE
The John Deere Classic added a commitment from one of the PGA Tour’s more popular figures on Saturday.
Tournament officials announced via social media posts that Matt Kuchar has committed to play in the $7.4 million event in two weeks at TPC Deere Run in Silvis.
It will be just the seventh time Kuchar has played in the Quad-Cities. He has made four cuts with his best finish being a T13 in 2005. He finished T66 in his most recent tourney here, that in 2009.
The recently turned 45-year-old sits 50th in the FedExCup standing with 666 points and has cashed just shy of $2.8 million this season. Kuchar, who is 53rd in the Official World Golf Rankings, is looking at securing a spot in the playoffs in the stretch run of the 2022-23 season.
More from the Quad Cities Times
KUUUUUUUUUUUUCH!
See Matt Kuchar tee it up at #JDC23 July 5-9!Get tickets here: https://t.co/Vrz6Ae8aBM#JohnDeereClassic #MagicHappensHere #JohnDeere #TPCDeereRun #PGATOUR #golf pic.twitter.com/ZhyJU0Xdzz
— John Deere Classic (@JDCLASSIC) June 24, 2023
