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2. Zalatoris completes mission one; next missions begin
It was all but a formality that Will Zalatoris would claim Special Temporary Membership on the PGA TOUR after an incredible run of golf lately. The Korn Ferry Tour points leader needed to make it to the weekend to ensure he can accept an unlimited amount of sponsor invites this season and he impressed with a T16 finish in Bermuda.
Now the focus turns to whether or not he will earn enough non-member points this season to secure playing privileges into next season. This is also basically a formality as with 334 of those already on his plate it would take a serious dip in form for him to fall outside whatever mark the 125th player in the FedExCup sets. As it stands right now, Zalatoris would be 16th on the current FedExCup list if he was eligible, slotting in right ahead of Jon Rahm. And even if he were to falter, chances are he’s not going to drop 26 slots on the KFT list either.
So the real focus actually shifts to whether he can find a way to win on the PGA TOUR this season, thus becoming eligible for the Playoffs. And whether he can continue his climb up the world rankings before year end. At 57th, Zalatoris could work his way into the 2021 Masters should he get inside the top 50 on Dec. 31.
3. Off the Schnied
It had been a lean experience for Ollie Schniederjans in PGA TOUR events. The once-celebrated amateur has been an afterthought amongst a plethora of young talent bursting on the TOUR scene in the last few seasons, thanks mainly to a 2018-19 season of woe that ended at 180th in the FedExCup.
Prior to his third place finish this week in Bermuda, Schniederjans’ last 10 TOUR starts had provided eight missed cuts – including in Bermuda a year ago – and a best finish of T47. This week provided his first top-10 since August of 2018 when he was fifth at the Barracuda Championship.
But time back on the Korn Ferry TOUR has allowed him to work things out away from the spotlight. And perhaps the arrival of his brother in the Bermuda field was the little competitive spark the sponsor invite needed.
The result brings with it another start on TOUR this week at the Vivint Houston Open where he hopes to prove, as was once touted almost as an afterthought, he rightfully belongs.
4. Wounded Clark can take heart
Losing a playoff always hurts and Wyndham Clark was certainly far from pleased when he missed three critical putts during the final two holes in regulation and during the playoff.
“I’m pretty bummed. Obviously, I would have liked to have won. I played so good, just had a little mishap on 16 and 17 and then really didn’t make those two putts on 18,” he said in the immediate aftermath. “I played great. It was a great tournament. Obviously I’m disappointed. I had chances, I just didn’t capitalize.”
Hopefully Clark can feel many positives as he continues to debrief, particularly given how he ended last season. The return to golf wasn’t great for Clark, who in his nine starts after the COVID-19 break dropped from 81st to 125th in the FedExCup. He snuck into the Playoffs despite missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship, a sixth MC in those nine starts that also included a walk off WD.
He’s now 14th in the FedExCup this season thanks to his runner-up result, a first top-10 in just over a year and his best TOUR finish ever.
5. The Funk in the Cink brings family fun
Brian Gay wasn’t the only veteran having a great time in Bermuda, a paradise where family fun was the order of the week for the Cinks and the Funks.
Stewart Cink, the recent winner in the season-opening Safeway Open, continued his impressive resurgence by finishing fourth. As was the case at his win, son Reagan was on the bag as his caddie. It’s a partnership hard to ignore.
“It’s been a couple of factors. Reagan caddying for me, my son, we have great chemistry. Half his DNA is mine and we just see things the same way on the golf course and we have really good communication out there on our shots,” Cink explained. “It makes me be really decisive and committed. That certainly helps when you’re searching for ways to separate you from the competition out here where everybody is so good.”
Cink also tinkered with his equipment. The two factors have him second in the FedExCup just four points behind Bryson DeChambeau’s lead.
“I kind of lowered my spin rates through my whole bag, driver all the way down through my irons, and when we came here and we had the crazy winds there for a couple days, I think I was able to keep my ball sort of like mildly, less out of control than maybe I would have before,” he added.
Fred Funk had the pleasure of playing with his son Taylor in the opening two rounds and while the younger Funk didn’t bring his absolute best stuff the 64-year-old produced another highlight to his impressive resume.
Facing what at the time seemed a birdie or bust scenario on his final hole of the second round, the elder Funk chipped in from just off the green to become just the fourth player aged 64 or older to make the cut in a TOUR event since 1970. He joined Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead and Tom Watson.
The family celebration on the green was everything that can make this sport great and more.
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Source: PGA tour
