Aug 19, 2013
THE FLATS – Six former Georgia Tech players have qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs, which begins with The Barclays this weekend in Jersey City, N.Y., based on their standings in the points list through the PGA Tour’s regular season.
The top 125 in FedEx Cup points will tee it up this week at Liberty National Golf Club. Matt Kuchar, with a pair of victories this season and a victory at The Barclays in 2011, is No. 2 on the list and seeking his fourth straight Tour Championship appearance. He is followed by Roberto Castro (41), Cameron Tringale (67), Nicholas Thompson (77), Stewart Cink (83), Bryce Molder (98).
Top 100 after this weekend move on to the Deutsche Bank Championship Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in Boston, and the Top 70 after that event compete in the BMW Championship Sept. 12-17 outside of Chicago. The Top 30 come to Atlanta for the Tour Championship Sept. 19-22.
Tech finished the Tour regular season as the Rivals Cup champion with a cumulative 5,701 points, outdistancing Georgia (5,519), Oklahoma State (4,236), Arizona State (4,165) and UNLV (4,003) in the top five.
Cink will be looking to reach the Tour Championship for the first time since 2009, the same year he won The Open Championship. Castro is in the playoffs for the second straight year, having advanced to the Deutsche Bank Championship a year ago. Tringale is in the playoffs for the third straight year. Thompson is in for the second time, and first since a 41st-place finish in 2008.
Molder (273, -7), with a T16 finish at last weekend’s Wyndham Championship, posted his best finish since early in the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (T12). He has six top-25 finishes this year on 20 events. Paul Haley, who did not qualify for the playoffs, logged his best finish in 17 events on tour this year by tying for 29th place (276, -4). Thompson was the third Tech alumnus to make the cut at the Wyndham, finishing 72nd.
Tech started eight alumni in the Wyndham, including Chesson Hadley, a Web.com Tour success this season who received a sponsor’s exemption. Hadley remains third in Web.com Tour earnings with five events remaining. The top 25 in winnings earn PGA Tour cards for 2014.
James White earned a rare start on the Web.com Tour this yearly took home the champions trophy, firing four rounds in the 60s, including a 66 Sunday, and tied for second place, one shot off the lead, at News Sentinel Open in Knoxville. White birdied the final hole to move into a five-way tie for the lead before Peter Malnati birdied the 18 to win.
TECH FALL SCHEDULE SET
Georgia Tech’s fall golf schedule is set, and, as usual, three of the four events are within a short drive of campus.
Head coach Bruce Heppler’s team opens the fall campaign Sept. 6-8 at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga., outside of Dalton. This event, being held for the 25th time and the fall opener for the Yellow Jackets since 2006, traditionally draws the best of the Atlantic Coast Conference (Clemson, North Carolina, Wake Forest) and Southeastern Conference (Auburn, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee) and also has Texas in the field this fall.
For the first time, Tech will appear in the Tar Heel Intercollegiate Sept. 14-15 in Chapel Hill, N.C., facing several ACC teams on the University of North Carolina’s Finley Golf Course. Three weeks later, Tech plays in the Brickyard Collegiate for the sixth straight year on Oct. 4-6. Held at the Brickyard at Riverside course in Macon, Ga., the Brickyard Collegiate field is anchored by Tech, Georgia, Florida State and Augusta State and includes many of the top programs in the Southeast. The Jackets won this event in 2009.
Tech finishes the fall by hosting one of the nation’s top events, the United States Collegiate Championship Oct. 18-20 at The Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta. The Jackets have won this event two of the past three years, outdistancing UCLA each time. The Bruins are back to defend their 2011 title along with 2013 NCAA Championship teams Auburn, Kent State, Oklahoma State, Southern California, Texas A&M and Washington as well as perennial contenders Clemson, Duke, Iowa, Stanford, Virginia and Wake Forest.
