Tag: Jim Herman

Plenty of questions, including final Open Championship berth, to be answered at Barbasol Championship

NICHOLASVILLE, Kentucky – The PGA Tour takes over the Bluegrass State this week, as the Champions course at Keene Trace Golf Club hosts the Barbasol Championship. This marks the eighth edition of the tournament, which began in 2015. The tournament …

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NICHOLASVILLE, Kentucky — The PGA Tour takes over the Bluegrass State this week, as the Champions course at Keene Trace Golf Club hosts the Barbasol Championship. This marks the eighth edition of the tournament, which began in 2015.

The tournament was held at the Grand National Course in Opelika, Alabama, from 2015 through 2017 before it moved to Kentucky for the 2018 event. (The 2020 edition of the Barbasol Championship was canceled in response to the coronavirus pandemic.)

While this week’s field at the Barbasol is vying for a spot in this year’s final major — the Open Championship, next week at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England — the future of the event is unknown. Barbasol’s sponsorship ends after this week’s tournament concludes.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Barbasol Championship this week:

What is the Barbasol Championship?

One of 44 events that make up the 2022-23 PGA Tour schedule, the Barbasol is the first regular-season PGA Tour tournament contested in Kentucky since the Kentucky Derby Open was held in Louisville from 1957-59.

What channel is Barbasol Championship 2023 on this week?

The first, second and third rounds will air live on Golf Channel and stream on Peacock, from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Sunday’s final round will air live on Golf Channel from 3 to 6 p.m., with Peacock carrying the live stream.

You can stream Golf Channel on YouTube TV.

Jim Herman of the United States celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Barbasol Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club on July 21, 2019, in Nicholasville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

What is the yardage for the Champions course this week?

The par-72 course will play at 7,328 yards during the Barbasol Championship. There are 10 par-4 holes and four par-3s and par-5s. The front and back nine, both with an even-par score of 36, feature the same hole groupings: five par-4s with two par-3s and two par-5s.

How many golfers are competing in the 2023 Barbasol Championship this week?

There are 156 players in this week’s field.

How many players make the cut at the Barbasol Championship?

The top-65 players, and ties, after the first two rounds will play the final 36 holes this weekend.

What will the 2023 Barbasol Champion winner receive?

In addition to the Open Championship berth, this week’s victor will take home a first-place check of $684,000 (out of the $3.8 million purse) as well as 300 FedEx Cup points. The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the regular season earn a spot in the playoffs, which begin Aug. 10 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, played at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

Are there any players in the Barbasol Championship field 2023 with Kentucky ties?

There are ⁠six golfers competing this week with ties to the Bluegrass State:

  • Trey Cox, a Lexington native who played collegiately at Indiana Wesleyan.
  • Jesse Massie, the director of instruction at Woodhaven Country Club, played at ⁠Trinity High School before starring at ⁠Eastern Kentucky. He earned a spot in the Barbasol after winning the Kentucky PGA Section Player of the Year. This is the first PGA Tour start of Massie’s career.
  • ⁠Chip McDaniel, a former UK player who now is an ⁠assistant coach with the men’s golf program, emerged out of a three-man playoff in a Monday qualifier at ⁠Boone’s Trace National Golf Club in Richmond to snag a spot in the Barbasol. His best career PGA Tour finish came in 2019, ⁠when he tied for fifth at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
  • Louisville native ⁠Josh Teater, a 44-year-old who graduated from Lexington’s ⁠Henry Clay High School as well ⁠Morehead State, has played in more than 200 PGA Tour events dating back to 2005. Teater has two top-15 finishes in the Barbasol: He tied for sixth in 2019 and tied for 15th in 2021.
  • ⁠Stephen Stallings Jr., a Louisville native, graduated from ⁠St. Xavier High before embarking on a college career at ⁠Kentucky. He has played in 11 PGA Tour events during his career, making seven cuts.
  • ⁠Matti Schmid, a former U of L golfer from Germany, won the European Amateur in back-to-back years (2019 and 2020) and took low-amateur honors at the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St Georges Golf Club. His 65 in the second round of that year’s Open tied for the lowest-ever score by an amateur in golf’s oldest event. He’s trying to find his form this week: Schmid has missed the cut 14 times in 20 PGA Tour events this season, including five in a row.

Are there any former Barbasol Championship winners in the 2023 field?

There are three former Barbasol champions competing this week: Jim Herman (2019), Grayson Murray (2017) and Scott Piercy (2015).

Herman’s winning score of 26-under (262) in 2019 is the tournament record.

Are there any other notable players in the 2023 Barbasol Championship field?

A trio of major champions are on hand at the Barbasol: 2013 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner, 2009 U.S. Open victor Lucas Glover and 2006 U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy.

Glover also is the top-ranked player in this week’s field: He’s No. 112 in the newest Official World Golf Ranking.

Barbasol Championship odds 2023: Who should you bet on?

Per Tipico Sportsbook, Taylor Pendrith, the second-highest ranked player in the field (No. 113, one behind Glover), is the favorite to win the Barbasol Championship at +1500 as of Wednesday evening. Glover, Vincent Norrman and Peter Kuest are next in line at +2000 followed by Kevin Streelman and Akshay Bhatia at +2500.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.

So much for Tyrrell Hatton’s Augusta warmup. He leads our list of 7 big names to miss the cut at the Valero Texas Open

Hatton had six bogeys in a sloppy second-round 75 and was the biggest name sent packing from the tournament.

SAN ANTONIO — Organizers of the Valero Texas Open can’t be thrilled with the fate of the top players who’ve traveled to the Alamo City over the last few years, each hoping to fine-tune their game before the Masters.

In 2022, Rory McIlroy came to TPC San Antonio, hoping to break his Augusta drought. He left early after missing the cut.

This year, Tyrrell Hatton tried the same move, saying on Tuesday that he’s been pleased with the beginning of his season, but still felt adding this tournament might be the springboard to better results at the year’s first major.

Unfortunately, Hatton’s game plan worked about as well as McIlroy’s did the year before.

The Brit had six bogeys in a sloppy second-round 75 and was the biggest name sent packing from the tournament, one that saw some players finish their second round Saturday because of inclement weather early in the week.

The cutline is the top 65 players plus those tied at the end of that group, and the number settled at even par. Here’s a look at the biggest names who fell on the wrong side of the cutlist after two rounds at the Oaks Course:

How we would award the PGA Tour’s $40 million in Player Impact Program money

The Tour won’t release the winners, so we gave it a shot.

Commissioner Jay Monahan made it clear during his State of the PGA Tour press conference back in August that the winners of the $40 million Player Impact Program would not be publicized.

“To us, it’s a program that we created, was created by our players, with our players, for our players, and that’s, that’s what we decided that we were going to do when we created it,” he said at the time.

For the sake of some silly-season fun, your friends at Golfweek thought we’d share how we would dole out the cash. If you’re unfamiliar with the format, at the end of the year the Tour will reward 10 players who “positively move the needle,” with the player deemed most valuable receiving $8 million.

More on how the actual scores will be counted can be found here.

Jim Herman takes not-so-subtle shot at Patrick Reed ahead of Saturday’s Cincinnati vs. Notre Dame college football game

“Bearcats by a million.”

Jim Herman has made it no secret that he’s gunning for a share of the PGA Tour’s lucrative $40 million Player Impact Program bonus to be handed out at the end of the year.

The three-time winner on Tour also knows the key to great social media interaction, especially in the golf world: take a shot a Patrick Reed.

The Cincinnati, Ohio native played golf for the Bearcats before turning professional in 2000 and tweeted a picture of Reed and his wife, Justine, decked out in Notre Game gear ahead of No.7 Cincinnati’s marquee matchup Saturday afternoon on the road at No. 9 Notre Dame. The captain?

“Bearcats by a million.”

Remember, the PGA Tour doesn’t plan on announcing the program winners, but we all know who the real champion is.

Herman’s jab wasn’t the only college football-golf crossover on Saturday, either. Earlier in the morning members of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team helped announce ESPN College GameDay’s guest picker for Arkansas vs. Georgia, former Bulldog Harris English, who went 1-2-0 at Whistling Straits last week.

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PGA Tour says $40 million Player Impact Program ‘winners’ won’t be revealed. Twitter-verse expresses its dismay.

“We don’t have any intention on publicizing it,” said commissioner Jay Monahan.

We may never know if Jim Herman wins the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program, at least that’s the way the PGA Tour would like it.

During his State of the PGA Tour press conference in Atlanta ahead of the Tour Championship on Tuesday, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed that the Player Impact Program, which was approved this year and features a $40 million bonus pool for the most popular players, won’t conclude at the end of the FedEx Cup season on Sunday but rather run through the end of the year. Despite the program being designed to compensate players who are judged to drive fan and sponsor engagement, Monahan said, “we don’t have any intention on publicizing it.”

That seems counterintuitive but when asked for an explanation, Monahan said, “To us, it’s a program that we created, was created by our players, with our players, for our players, and that’s, that’s what we decided that we were going to do when we created it.”

The FedEx Cup, one could argue, also fits that description but the up-to-the-minute standings are recited by TV announcers almost as soon as each week’s winner holes the final putt.

Monahan noted that there are five different criteria, each weighted equally in calculating how the bonus money will be distributed among the top 10 players, with the player deemed most valuable receiving $8 million.

No player has shamelessly campaigned for a share of the $40 million quite like Herman, a 43-year-old journeyman pro who has built a Twitter following ever since he first tweeted about the PIP news a day after Golfweek broke the story on April 20: “My ship has come in!”

Twitter did not react well to the news that the megastars finishing in the money won’t be revealed.

Trevor Immelman

Colt Knost

Max Homa

Jim Herman has an idea for past Barbasol Championship winners: ‘A little head start’

Jim Herman has finished in the top 30 in each of his last three events, including a T-28 at last weekend’s John Deere Classic.

Just in time to play the delayed role of defending champion, Jim Herman seems to have found his golf game.

After a rough patch earlier this year, one in which he missed the cut eight times in 10 tournaments, the Cincinnati native has finished in the top 30 in each of his last three events, including a T-28 at last weekend’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois.

And now Herman heads back to Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, just on the outskirts of Lexington. Two years ago, Herman hoisted the trophy after the Barbasol Championship, using a scintillating 62 in the third round en route to the win.

Since this event was cut from the PGA Tour schedule a year ago, Herman has had an extra 12 months to enjoy his reign over a tournament that’s just about an hour from his boyhood home.

As for defending, he’d love to put a new rule in effect for past champs.

“I wish you could start off with a little head start. If they’d give that to
you, I’d definitely take it,” he said. “It’s hard to get back into that mode where you were on that Sunday. We hit all these golf balls, we do all the practice to put ourselves in this position where we’re in the final groups on the weekend. There’s a lot that goes into it and just to say that you could just walk into a
course where you’ve won that following year and assume you’re going to be in the mix is very naive of myself or anyone else.

“Just trying to have some carryover of my form from the last couple weeks and … draw from the emotion and the positive vibes that I did have from two years ago here and see if we can build on that.”

For Herman, the key in recent weeks has been his putter, which has moved him back into contention for the FedEx Cup playoffs. Herman currently sits at 174th (the top 125 reach the playoffs in August), but he’ll need a big showing in the Barbasol and in upcoming weeks to qualify.

Herman said in advance of this week’s title defense that his driver has been clicking, yet the putter is perhaps the biggest key. Even with recent strong showings, he still sits 169th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting.

But with soft conditions, he’s expecting another low number will capture the big prize.

“I think we’re going to have some low scores again. I don’t know if it will be 26 under like two years ago, but you’re going to just have to go low. The course is in good shape, but wet,” Herman said. “The greens are putting really well, but they’re soft. We’re going to be throwing darts all week. If the fans like birdies, we’re going to be making them this week.”

The opposite-field event is certainly ripe for the taking. With most of the world’s best players off at the British Open, Herman has as good a chance as any against the likes of Charl Schwartzel, Seamus Power, Russell Knox, Richy Werenski and Patrick Rodgers.

And if it doesn’t work out he’ll simply wait for his next chance to defend a crown — at the Wyndham Championship in early August. His only previous Tour victory came in 2016 at the Houston Open.

“With Wyndham coming up in about three or four weeks, there’s a lot of positive energy in my camp. All my friends and family, a lot of people looking forward to this event coming down from Cincinnati here in Lexington,” he said. “Then look forward to Memphis, playing Memphis in a couple weeks, and then getting back out to defending at Wyndham. Great tournament there, had a great weekend at Wyndham last year.

“Winning three times obviously it’s been way exceeding my overall expectations, but it’s been a pleasure being the champion three times in three great events.”

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Peter Malnati ties career low with 62 at Sony Open in Hawaii to grab early lead

Peter Malnati shot his fourth round of 63 or better this season as he continued his hot start to the 2020-21 campaign at the Sony Open.

Peter Malnati turned the page on the calendar, but he picked up where he left off at his 2021 debut at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The 33-year-old Knoxville, Tennessee native recorded two top-5 finishes, including a runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in his first seven starts of the 2020-21 season. At one point, Malnati had a string of three straight tournaments where he shot at least one round of 63 or better. He kept up that torrid pace on Thursday at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. Malnati carded nine birdies en route to tying his career low with an 8-under 62 to grab the early lead.

“I soaked up the time at home,” he said, “that was really nice. I was playing great obviously last fall and kind of just tried to keep the momentum going over the little break and do just enough work to stay sharp and to come out and play well here today.”

Sony Open: Leaderboard | Photos

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When he fired a final-round 63 in Mississippi, Malnati said he’d be hard pressed to find a better round than that one, but he might have to reconsider after his sizzling start in the Aloha State. Malnati got the birdie fest going with a 35-foot birdie at No. 11, his second hole of the day. His short irons did most of the rest as Malnati’s longest of the remaining eight birdies was from 14 feet. It didn’t hurt that he chipped in for birdie at No. 3 from 30 feet off the green, which contributed to Malnati tying a career-low with just 21 putts.

Malnati has worked hard on his long game to improve his consistency, which has held the former Missouri Tiger back since notching his lone Tour victory at the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship.

“My swing is not Adam Scott-esque,” he conceded. “It has a little bit of, I’ll say – idiosyncrasy is a good word. But when I give myself the time to sync everything up, pretty brilliant.”

He used the word “effortless” to describe Thursday’s brilliance. The only time Malnati was out of position in the opening round was when he hit his tee shot too well at the fifth hole.

“It’s straight downwind, so it’s not like I hit it that far, but 360 to go through the fairway into the creek and I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s a driver,’ ” Malnati recounted. “My caddie was like, ‘You want to think about it?’ I was like, ‘No, it’s driver.’ I hit it in the creek. It’s crazy. The course, it’s so much fun when it’s firm because that’s how this course was meant to play.”

Hot on Malnati’s heels after shooting 64s are Vaughn Taylor and Jim Herman, who missed the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week after testing positive with COVID-19.

“Didn’t know what to expect coming out this week. I had plenty of symptoms,” said Herman, who tested positive on December 28. “It was pretty miserable for about four days. My wife had it and luckily enough the rest of the house didn’t get it. But it wasn’t very pleasant.”

Added Herman: “It felt like a severe flu. Had some lung inflammation that was pressing on my back and caused discomfort for any position you would try to sit and relax.”

Herman said he didn’t touch a club for 11 or 12 days, but it didn’t seem to hinder his game as he recorded an eagle at the par-5 ninth hole in a bogey-free first round. Herman, who received last-place money from last week’s no-cut event, was confident he could’ve done better, but he was looking at the bigger picture.

“To miss a golf tournament, it’s not the end of the world,” he said.

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Jim Herman shoots Sunday 63 to win Wyndham Championship

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak highlights Jim Herman’s 63 at Sedgefield Country Club to win the 2020 Wyndham Championship.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak highlights Jim Herman’s 63 at Sedgefield Country Club to win the 2020 Wyndham Championship.

Winner’s Bag: Jim Herman, 2020 Wyndham Championship

Jim Herman won his third PGA Tour event using a mixture of clubs from four different manufacturers. See all the golf equipment he played.

A complete list of the golf equipment that Jim Herman used to win the PGA Tour’s 2020 Wyndham Championship:

DRIVER: TaylorMade SIM (10.5 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-7 X shaft

FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade M6 (15 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-8 X shaft; TaylorMade M4 (21 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-8 X shaft

IRONS: Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro (4), JPX 919 Tour (5-PW), with KBS Tour shafts

WEDGES: Cleveland 588 RTX (52, 56 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design SM6 (60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts

PUTTERS: Bettinardi Inovao 5.0 Tour Fit Face

BALL: Titleist Pro V1

GRIPS: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

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Jim Herman credits President Donald Trump for ‘little bit of good luck’ at Wyndham Championship

Jim Herman always plays well shortly after a round with his former boss and current President of the United States, Donald Trump.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jim Herman has experienced a forgettable season. He’s missed the cut in eight of his last 11 starts, and was the only golfer that Brooks Koepka beat in the final round of the PGA Championship last week when Herman finished T-77. Herman hadn’t shot better than 65 all season.

So, of course, he went out early on Saturday and shot a career-low 9-under-par 61 at Sedgefield Country Club.

Herman reeled off five birdies in a row on the back nine, starting at No. 13, to post the low round of the tournament and get in the mix at the Wyndham Championship.

“When I putt well, I’m going to be in contention,” said Herman a two-time PGA Tour winner.

Could this be yet another time where playing with his former boss, some guy named President Donald Trump, will lead to victory?

It’s been well documented how Herman worked as an assistant professional at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey, and was a regular partner of the now Commander in Chief. It was Trump who told Herman he belonged on the PGA Tour, which led to Herman resuming his chase of trophies and eventually a title at the 2016 Shell Houston Open.

Wyndham Championship: Leaderboard | Tee times | Best photos

Last year, Trump gave Herman a putting tip when they played a casual round together, suggesting a change to a conventional putting grip, and Herman captured the Barbasol Championship shortly thereafter.

“I’m very fortunate, I’ve had him in my corner for a long time, one of my biggest fans,” Herman said.

The 42-year-old Herman also noted that he played with the President at Trump Bedminister three weeks ago.

“So maybe I’ve got another omen,” Herman said. “Whenever I play with him, I usually have some good finishes. Last two wins I had played with him either the week or two weeks before. Maybe three weeks is still within the reach of his, I guess, little bit of good luck for me. Yeah, he’s been very supportive of me. hopefully, you never know, I may get a phone call from him this afternoon.”

Herman opened with rounds of 66-69 to make the weekend, and didn’t give any signs of a career-low round until he made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 5 and 6. He tacked on another at eight to make the turn in 3-under 32. Herman birdied No. 10 and then had his string of five birdies to shoot 29 coming home. Herman hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens. At 14, the lone hole that he didn’t find the putting surface with his approach, he sank a 45-foot birdie putt from the chipping area.

“That was just luck,” he said. “But it’s nice to get that in.”

Herman entered the final week of the regular season ranked No. 192 in the FedEx Cup point standings, which means he either needs to win or go home.

“I’ve got one goal in mind, is to get to the — to be the champion this week and to move on,” he said.

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