THE FLATS – Matt Kuchar earns spots in two 2024 signature events with 56th-place finish in FedEx Cup standings … Stewart Cink, Chesson Hadley and Vince Whaley retain PGA Tour status for 2024 … Connor Howe advances to final stage of PGA Tour Q-school … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
*****
KUCHAR EARNS SPOTS IN ELEVATED EVENTS FOR 2024
Matt Kuchar tied for 53rd at last weekend’s RSM Classic in Sea Island, Ga., but he remained inside the top 60 (No. 56) in FedEx Cup points, ensuring he for two signature events in 2024, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational during the West Coast swing, as well as a full schedule of events.
Chesson Hadley also kept full status on the PGA Tour for 2024 by finishing No. 106 in FedEx Cup points after tying for 38th place at the RSM Classic. Vince Whaley made the biggest move of the weekend with his tie for 13th place, moving up to No. 149 in the FedEx Cup standings, giving him conditional status for 2024 despite playing only 14 events in 2023 due to injury. He can enhance his status in the final stage of the PGA Tour qualifying school (Dec. 14-17).
Stewart Cink tied for 44th last weekend in Sea Island and finished the year No. 154 in the FedEx Cup standings, but remains exempt through 2024 because he won the Safeway Open and the RBC Heritage in 2021. He also finished 40th in the Schwab Cup standings on PGA Tour champions, and will have opportunities to play on the senior circuit as well.
The season didn’t end so well for Paul Haley II and Richy Werenski, who both missed the cut at the RSM Classic and finished outside the top 150. Both can regain their status for 2024 via the final stage of the PGA Tour qualifying school and can play on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024.
RSM Classic leaderboard | FedEx Cup fall standings
#PROJACKETS@Vincewhaley holes putt for birdie at The RSM Classic, moves into the top 10 with a third-round 64https://t.co/zi5hkSIbLn
— Georgia Tech Golf (@GTGolf) November 18, 2023
*****
CONNOR HOWE ADVANCES TO FINAL STAGE OF PGA TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL
Connor Howe advanced to the final stage of the PGA Tour qualifying school last week, tying for 12th place at the second-stage qualifier at The Landings in Savannah, Ga. Howe played consistently, posting rounds of 71-70-70-69 for an 8-under-par total of 280.
Howe played last summer on PGA Tour Canada, earning status after finishing 18th in the PGA Tour University ranking, and has kept full status on that tour by finishing 20th in the Fortinet Cup points standings.
Howe will be joined in the field at the final stage by 2023 graduate Ross Steelman, who finished fourth last spring in the PGA Tour University ranking and had Korn Ferry Tour status during the summer. Paul Haley II and Richy Werenski,
Performance benefits at the final stage include:
- Top five finishers and ties at Final Stage will earn PGA TOUR cards.
- Next 40 finishers and ties at Final Stage will earn exempt status through multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, with the first 25 finishers and ties being subject to the third reshuffle, and any remaining finishers within the category being subject to the second reshuffle.
- The next 20 finishers and ties at Final Stage will earn exempt status for the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas season, while also earning conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership.
- All remaining finishers at Final Stage will have conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership and conditional PGA TOUR Americas membership for the 2024 season.
Read more about how the PGA Tour Qualifying school works
#PROJACKETS
Congrats to @realconnorhowe – advanced to the final stage of @PGATOUR qualifying school with a T-12 finish (280, -8) in Savannah, Ga. pic.twitter.com/bFKYhG7KhX— Georgia Tech Golf (@GTGolf) November 18, 2023
*****
KUCHAR STILL FINDS JOY LOOKING AHEAD TO 25TH SEASON ON THE PGA TOUR
He’s still here.
The goofy grin when acknowledging fans, the flat backswing, the long easy strides between shots and still, at the age of 45, the birdies when he gets on a roll.
Yeah … Matt Kuchar isn’t going anywhere if there’s golf to be played and fellow competitors to beat.
Kuchar, the former Georgia Tech All-American who burst on the scene with a U.S. Amateur title in 1997, then contended as an amateur in the Masters and U.S. Open the following year, has a way of resurfacing to remind everyone that he can still get the job done.
He shot 65-68 in the first two rounds of the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Club to get into the next-to-last group on Saturday, then weathered an early double-bogey at the par-3 third hole of the Seaside Course and finished with a 69 to drop into a tie for 30th at 10-under-par 202 entering the final round.
Still, Kuchar has logged seven consecutive rounds in the 60s and 11 of his last 12. The smile hardly ever leaves his face but the nine-time PGA Tour winner and the 2012 Players champion said taking joy in playing golf and the thrill of competing are two ageless qualities.
“I love doing it, absolutely,” Kuchar said after the second round. “Golf is one of those kinds of never-ending quests to keep getting better and I’m on that never-ending quest and really enjoying it.”
‘A never-ending quest:’ Matt Kuchar still finds joy in competing entering his 25th pro season https://t.co/dpX7050RbR via @YahooSports
— RG Richardson – author/economist – eBooks. (@rgrichardson52) November 20, 2023
