DUBLIN, Ohio – Dylan Frittelli’s struggles on the PGA Tour continue.
The 32-year-old South African withdrew from the 2023 Memorial Tournament on Thursday after playing 14 holes in 15-over par at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Frittelli cited illness as the reason for his early departure.
Frittelli is in the midst of a slump – he’s missed seven cuts and withdrawn twice in his 11 starts. The former Texas Longhorn has missed the cuts in his last four starts and seemed well on his way to extending that streak to five when he pulled the plug on his round.
Frittelli got off to a modest start and was 1 over early in his round after sticking his approach to 7 feet at No. 6 and making his lone birdie of the day. But his round began to unravel soon thereafter. A bogey at the par-5 seventh hole started the slide and he finished the front nine with a double-bogey six. Then the wheels really came off: back-to-back triple bogeys at Nos. 10 and 11, and double bogeys at Nos. 12 and 14 were sandwiched around a bogey at 13.
Frittelli also withdrew from the RBC Heritage in April after shooting an opening-round 80.
Frittelli won the 2019 John Deere Classic. He entered the week No. 138 in the FedEx Cup point standings.
“When I saw it on the first tee box 13 — I think it was 13.7 or something — I was like, OK, here we go.”
With big names like Louis Oosthuizen and Dylan Frittelli looming in the field, Ockie Strydom wanted to make sure to get off to a fast start during Saturday’s third round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Golf Club in South Africa.
When he looked at the Stimpmeter before starting his round, he knew fast was exactly how the day would play out.
“When I saw it on the first tee box 13 — I think it was 13.7 or something — I was like, OK, here we go,” said Strydom, a South African who entered the week ranked No. 384 in the Official World Golf Ranking. “And luckily on the first, I had a downhill putt to get a hang of it and I ran it about four feet past. So the greens are there, and you’ve just got to make it and just go with the speed.”
And go he did — kickstarted by an eagle on the second hole, Strydom made the turn at 29 en route to a 9-under 63 that pushed him to 15 under for the tournament and in a tie with Scott Jamieson. And while Strydom tied the course record, it’s the second 63 to be fired in 24 hours — Jamieson did the same during Saturday’s second round. The course, known for its stunning visuals, has played easy all week, despite the quick conditions.
Here’s a look at some of the players in the field at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, who failed to make the weekend.
Cameron Champ looked to be toast.
The defending 3M Open champion opened with 75 and was 6 over through 26 holes. The odds weren’t in his favor to play the weekend this time. But the 27-year-old Northern California native refused to quit. He snagged a birdie at No. 18, his 27th hole of the tournament, before catching fire on the final nine holes. He closed with four birdies on his final five holes, including a 21-foot birdie putt at No. 9 to shoot 68, which secured him weekend plans in the Twin Cities.
A gutsy performance, indeed. Same goes for Rickie Fowler, who straddled the cutline most of the day and made it on the number after a bogey at No. 16, posting a 36-hole total of 1-over 143. So did Maverick McNealy, who had missed just four cuts all season. Double bogeys at Nos. 9 and 11 stacked the deck against him, but he canned a 40-foot birdie putt at 17 and an 8-foot birdie at 18 to give himself a one-strike cushion and lock up a tee time for Saturday.
Here’s a look at some of the players in the field at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, who weren’t so lucky.
With his ball in a tree branch above his head, Dylan Frittelli thought he made an amazing par save.
On the par-4, 428-yard sixth hole at Harbour Town Golf Links on Sunday, Dylan Frittelli hit a wayward drive left that sent his ball into a tree.
When he arrived on the scene, it turned out to be more complicated than that. He managed to find his ball still in mid-air, ensnared in a wispy branch hanging down to about eye level.
With a crowd gathered around to see how he’d get out of this jam, Frittelli aligned himself behind the ball, gripped his long putter about halfway down the shaft, raised the club above his head and tapped the ball free with a forward motion and advanced it 30 feet and into the fairway. He knocked an iron from 144 yards to 10 feet and sank the putt for a miraculous par.
Or so he thought.
I thought this would be the greatest Par of my life 😲 I was assessed a 2-stroke penalty for “standing astride” my intended line of play during this shot. The rules of golf remain undefeated ✌🏼 🙄@SportsCenter top 10 play maybe? pic.twitter.com/KvnIIsXuQ9
The PGA Tour confirmed the violation, saying Frittelli was “assessed a two-stroke penalty on No. 6 under Rule 10.1c (making stroke while standing across or on line of play).”
c. Making Stroke While Standing Across or on Line of Play
The player must not make a stroke from a stance with a foot deliberately placed on each side of, or with either foot deliberately touching, the line of play or an extension of that line behind the ball. For this Rule only, the line of play does not include a reasonable distance on either side.
Frittelli signed for a 76 on Sunday, finishing 1 over at T-66, which was good for $16,960. The penalty cost him $1,520 in prize money, as a 1-under finish would’ve earned him $18,480.
On a balmy, blustery day, a pair of Texas veterans showed what it takes to navigate those conditions.
SAN ANTONIO — Organizers of the Valero Texas Open have long been planning a birthday party for Friday night, one with an impressive guest list that includes past champions Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino and former PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman, who won the event in 1969.
The cause for celebration is the tournament’s 100th anniversary, which makes it the longest-running event still played in the same city.
Since a birthday party of this magnitude is sure to come with plenty of candles, it seemed appropriate that Friday’s conditions included a healthy dose of wind to help extinguish those candles.
On a balmy, blustery day, a pair of Texas veterans showed what it takes to navigate such conditions as native son Ryan Palmer and adopted favorite Dylan Frittelli had little trouble shooting up the leaderboard while others struggled at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course.
When the day was done, Palmer — who played at Texas A&M University and lived in San Antonio for three years — was atop the leaderboard, posting a bogey-free 66 that put him at 10 under through the second round.
Frittelli, a former star at the University of Texas who now makes his home in Austin, kept pace with Palmer, also finishing the day with a 66. He sits in a tie for second with Matt Kuchar and Kevin Chappell at 8 under.
When asked about how he felt, Palmer said an invigorated game off the tee had him feeling right at home.
“Awesome,” he said. “Bogey-free on this golf course is good any day, but when you throw in the winds we had, it makes it that much more special. I’m excited with the way I’m driving the ball again. I spent the last month and a half really struggling and my results have kind of shown. I’m able to take the left side of the golf course out of play now and I brought it here this week and it’s showing.
“My driver’s back to where it was a year ago, my game’s where it was I feel like a year ago, my mind and it’s showing.”
Ryan Palmer waits to take a putt on the 18th hole during the second round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Lucas Glover was another player who finished the day with a 66 and he sits three shots behind Palmer. He said the winds were just enough to mess with players on Thursday and even more difficult on Friday, but he felt the gusts were more consistent in the second round and that helped him find his way.
“Light and variable, you’re like all right, it’s not much wind, but yesterday it was enough to where it bugged you and it was just tricky I would say, coming out of different spots,” Glover said. “Today, we knew where it was going to be. I guess we’re all somewhat type A, we like to go ahead and plan ahead and know where it’s going to be, so easier to do that when we know where it is.”
Another player who survived the day was J.J, Spaun, who is 7 under heading into the weekend. But Spaun fell victim to the winds late in his day, dropping three shots on his final four holes.
“It was kind of blowing all day, but then it picked up heavier,” Spaun said. “It just made it tougher to hit fairways and keep you guessing. Most of it was like crosswinds, too, so you know, if you started too far in one direction, you can short-side yourself. It definitely picked up our last seven, eight holes.”
Wind or no wind, Palmer was just happy to be in a comfort zone, with temperatures near 90 — like they would traditionally be — while enjoying a little Texas love.
“I love it,” he said of the event. “I like it because it’s not easy. It’s a ball-striker’s golf course and if I’m driving it well, I feel like I’ve got a good chance. With the old driver back in the bag, I’m able to hit tee shots I’m used to seeing and not worry about missing in certain areas and it’s showing off this week.”
Three more players have withdrawn from this week’s 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.
The R&A announced on Monday morning that three more players have withdrawn from this week’s 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, including 2015 champion Zach Johnson.
Johnson, who won at St. Andrews six years ago, tested positive for COVID-19, according to the R&A, and will be replaced in the field by England’s Sam Horsfield.
The other two players who will not be playing this week are America’s Ryan Moore and South Africa’s Louis de Jager.
Moore, who has had a back injury throughout much of 2021, played the last three PGA Tour events. He said at last week’s John Deere Classic, where he finished T-2 to earn a spot in the field at the British Open, that in addition to having a sore back, he had a family vacation planned for this week. Moore informed the R&A on Monday that he would not take the special exemption. He is being replaced in the field by Adam Long, who is also from the United States.
Louis de Jager tested positive for COVID-19 and is being replaced by Dylan Frittelli from the United States.
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On Sunday, Bubba Watson withdrew from the 2021 British Open after revealing that while he is fully vaccinated, he had been in close contact with someone who tested positive. Hours before, 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama also withdrew because he continues to test positive for COVID-19 even though he has no symptoms. Matsuyama first tested positive two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
The defending champion from two years ago is back and confident he can return to form.
It’s an interesting week for Dylan Frittelli, the former University of Texas star who is still the reigning John Deere Classic champion, even though he won the title — his only PGA Tour victory — two full years ago.
The event in Silvis, Illinois, was one of those canceled during the pandemic, so his defense was pushed back, but the South African said he did have a few emotions resurface on the back nine while playing a practice round this week.
“It’s quite a long time ago. I played the back nine today and had some good memories coming through there, but yeah, two years is quite a long time in a young person’s life,” he said. “If I’m only 31 years old it’s almost — what is that, 5 percent of my life, 10 percent of my life?”
Of course, Frittelli, who bought a home in Austin back in 2018, is 31 in calendar years but has always acted beyond his years. In fact, Texas men’s golf coach John Fields told the Austin American-Statesman’s Kirk Bohls a few years back that “all our guys thought he was a 40-year-old guy playing college golf here. He had a real maturity when he came to Austin.”
So the level-headed Frittelli certainly sees that while he’s maintained his high world ranking through some big showings on major stages, his week-to-week performances have been lackluster. He currently sits at No. 91 on the Official World Golf Ranking, but has dropped to 191 in our Golfweek/Sagarin ranking.
One of the issues? The flatstick. Frittelli’s putting has dropped considerably. For the current PGA Tour season, he’s fallen to 186th in Strokes Gained: Putting.
Dylan Frittelli reacts on the 18th green after winning the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. (Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
He’s tackling the issue head-on.
“I’ve worked with my coach obviously intensely to try and figure it out. We’ve outlined short irons and putting. Putting is a major one. My putting stats have been terrible this year, to be blunt,” he said.
“But I know my technique and everything related to it is pretty sound. It’s more so trying to make putts and be more creative and stop trying to be so analytical and worry about that technique. Trying to be more creative, more productive on making putts and doing drills that challenge me to make putts.”
As for the rest of his game, Frittelli is tweaking, but he thinks a few minor adjustments will put him back on top soon enough. Oh, and then there’s his personal life, where he’s found some additional free time.
“I guess I’m driving it a little bit more in the rough with the gained distance and I’m hitting driver more often, so I find myself in that 160- or 150-and-in yardage a lot more often. I’ve also focused on that, trying to get that better,” he said. “In general I’m playing pretty well. I don’t think, as a lot of guys say, my results don’t reflect how I’m playing. I think mental side I’ve been a little bit distracted the last few months. I haven’t really been too focused. Came out of a relationship recently, so hopefully that’s going to get me on a nice straight trajectory to playing the good golf again.
“Once that kind of clears up and I’ve worked on those two things, I think I’ll be back to top-70, top-60 player that I know I can be.”
Three former Texas stars participated in the Masters in Dylan Frittelli, Scottie Scheffler, and Jordan Spieth. See where all three finished.
The Masters finally felt like The Masters again this week, having it back in the traditional second weekend in April slot. Three former Longhorns were in the field this week in the way of Dylan Frittelli, Scottie Scheffler, and Jordan Spieth.
While Spieth was never fully in contention over the weekend, he finished tied for third with Xander Schauffele at -7. The former Masters champion posted scores of 71, 68, 72, and 70.
Spieth’s highlight of the week came from his short game, chipping in on the 10th hole on Saturday. At the time, it put him only two shots back on the leader Justin Rose but was never able to capitalize.
If it were not for a bogey on the 18th hole, Spieth would have taken sole possession of third place. Spieth has finished inside the top three five times in eight career Masters appearances.
Scheffler on the other hand did not perform his best. Friday ended with him +1, two shots above the cut. Augusta National treated the Dallas native a little more kindly over the weekend, shooting a 71 on both Saturday and Sunday.
I feel like I’ve been stuck in neutral this week,” Scheffler said. “Every time I feel like I was gonna get something done, I’d make a silly mistake.”
This was only his second Masters appearance, finishing tied for 19th in November. Scheffler’s placement this season was his second-best ever in a major championship, after finishing fourth in the 2020 PGA Championship.
Frittelli missed the cut after shooting a 76 on Thursday and a 74 on Friday. 11 bogeys doomed the South African, shooting bogeys on holes one, six, and 17 both days.
Dylan Frittelli also is hoping to rekindle the relaxed, calm, confident mood that carried him through the 2020 Masters after a strange year.
Dylan Frittelli has no idea what happened to the golf ball.
In his Masters debut in 2018, he made an ace on the eighth hole in the Par 3 contest and things got a bit crazy after the ball disappeared.
“There was just delirium that day,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do with it. I may have played it on the next hole. I just don’t remember.”
Receiving a crystal vase from Augusta National a few months later didn’t jog his memory. But he knows exactly where the vase is in his home.
“It’s a beautiful vase. It has the Masters logo, Hole in One, Par 3 Contest inscribed on it,” Frittelli said. “I have put some nice flowers in there from time to time.”
Frittelli, 30, missed the cut in 2018 but the South African earned a return visit when he won the 2019 John Deere Classic. His result was much better the second time around at Augusta National – he tied for fifth in the November Masters.
“I remember the quietness, the serene nature to the course because there were no fans,” said Frittelli, who made the winning putt with teammate and Masters champion Jordan Spieth watching to give the University of Texas the 2012 national title. “I just felt really relaxed, really calm all week at last year’s Masters. My mind was clear, didn’t feel any nerves, really. I felt confident.
“I didn’t have any family there. It was just very simple for me every day – go to the course, practice, play, enjoy the experience and go home and get some rest.”
But his tie for fifth – which earned him an invitation to this year’s Masters – won’t serve as a huge boost to his confidence this year.
“I have about as much confidence as I had last year,” he said. “My game is somewhat similar in the fact that I played inconsistently in the fall last year. Some good ones, some bad ones.
“Probably a product of chasing the distance game.”
Frittelli saw what Bryson DeChambeau was doing and joined the chase for speed. He’s changed drivers, added 5-6 mph of total club speed, is flying the ball farther, hitting the ball harder. But there have been some inconsistencies, which Frittelli and his coach and team knew were coming.
“I’m not really trying to push it right now,” he said. “There have been some ebbs and flows when we ramp it up. But I’m happy where things are now. We’ve been geared to get it dialed in by the Masters.”
Frittelli also is hoping to rekindle the relaxed, calm, confident mood that carried him through the 2020 Masters. It’s been a weird 13 months for Frittelli in many ways – he wasn’t able to defend his title in the John Deere Classic when it got canceled because of COVID-19, dealt with the PGA Tour’s 13-week break because of COVID-19, grappled with the coronavirus when he became the fourth PGA Tour player to test positive.
He quarantined for 10 days and had no symptoms but continued to test positive. This occurred among a couple of other players, which moved the Tour to update its protocols so a player or caddie who had tested positive but continued to test positive after quarantine can go back on Tour as long as 72 hours have passed and they do not have any symptoms.
“It’s been crazy. The craziest realization was at the Players when we looked back to one year ago to the day. It’s been a long time now,” Frittelli said. “It’s amazing what we’ve accomplished in that time. The PGA Tour and society in general.
“I’ve done some smart things the last 365 days. Will play in two Masters. Working hard on my game. But it’s been crazy.”
We look at the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open odds, and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
The Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale will look quite different this year with only 5,000 fans allowed on the grounds per day due to COVID-19 protocols. Still, a star-studded field is in attendance during the week of Super Bowl LV. Below, we look at the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open odds, and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
The field includes seven of the top-10 golfers in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, as Webb Simpson tries to defend his 2020 title. Dustin Johnson (No. 2) and Bryson DeChambeau (No. 5) are competing in the European Tour’s Saudi International.
2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open betting picks – Favorite
Matsuyama, who won here in 2016 and 2017, shares just the sixth-best odds this week. At No. 19, he’s the 12th-best golfer in the field by the measure of the Golfweek rankings. He finished just T-53 last week at the Farmers Insurance Open following a T-19 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Matsuyama struggled in all areas last week, but he’s averaging 1.51 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green through 29 measured rounds on the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. He has been undone by 0.47 strokes lost per round with the putter. A return to a venue where he has had considerable success on the greens presents a get-right spot.
Matsuyama leads those in the field with a minimum of five rounds played at TPC Scottsdale with 2.87 strokes gained on the field per round. He tied for 16th here last year with 1.93 SG: Tee-to-Green and 1.50 SG: Approach per round. He lost 0.21 strokes per round putting.
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2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open betting picks – Contender
Russell Henley (+6600)
Henley took last week off following a missed cut at the American Express in California. He previously tied for 11th at the Sony Open.
The 24th-ranked golfer in the Golfweek rankings played some of his best golf late last summer into the fall. Four of his six top-10 finishes in 2020 came between mid-August and late October. He’s 13th among all golfers with 1.69 SG: Tee-to-Green on the 2020-21 season.
The three-time PGA Tour winner missed the cut in four of the last seven runnings of this event, but he also has finishes of T-15 (2019) and T-16 (2017) mixed in. He has averaged 0.14 strokes gained on the field over 24 career rounds at TPC Scottsdale.
2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open betting picks – Long shot
Dylan Frittelli (+12500)
Frittelli is 96th in the Golfweek rankings following a T-53 finish last week. It was his first event of 2021 after he finished his 2020 schedule with a third-place finish in his home country’s South African Open three weeks after his surprise T-5 finish at the 2020 Masters.
He played this event for the first time last year and finished just T-63 with 1.81 strokes lost per round from tee-to-green and 1.34 strokes lost off-the-tee. He’s gaining strokes in both of those areas through 20 measured rounds (26 total) on the 2020-21 season.
His lone PGA Tour victory to date came at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. The courses grade similarly with an emphasis on driving accuracy.
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