The Pepperdine grad is angling to be the 16th left-handed golfer to win on the circuit.
There were eight golfers tied atop the 2024 Puerto Rico Open leaderboard after the first round, which finished Friday because of a weather delay Thursday.
The bunched-up leaderboard continued through the second round, as four golfers – Matti Schmid, Kevin Streelman, Rafael Campos and Ryo Hisatune – shared the 36-hole lead at the Grand Reserve Golf Club until late in the day when Joe Highsmith got to 13 under before play was suspended for darkness for a second night in a row.
He went out in 32 after a birdie on No. 8 and an eagle on No. 9. After a bogey on 10, he birdied Nos. 11, 13 and 14 before his day was over.
This is the first opposite-field event of the season, and in addition to the $720,000 first-place prize, the winner will earn a spot in the 2024 Players Championship, if not already eligible, as well as a two-year PGA Tour exemption.
The PAC advises and consults with the PGA Tour Policy Board.
Voting ended on Jan. 12 and on Sunday, the 2024 Player Advisory Council was announced.
There are 16 members of the PGA Tour who will serve on the PAC, with eight elected and eight more appointed by the player directors.
In alphabetical order, the 16 are:
Sam Burns
Lanto Griffin
Nick Hardy
Brian Harman
Max Homa
Mackenzie Hughes
Keith Mitchell
Grayson Murray
Seamus Power
Scottie Scheffler
Adam Schenk
Kevin Streelman
Nick Taylor
Josh Teater
Justin Thomas
Camilo Villegas
Streelman and Villegas were selected by the Player Directors to run for PAC Chairman via election on Feb. 27. The leading vote-getter there will replace Jordan Spieth on Jan. 1, 2025, as a Player Director on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
Those are three-year terms (2025-27). The other Player Directors and they terms are Patrick Cantlay (2024-26), Peter Malnati (2023-25), Adam Scott (2024-26), Webb Simpson (2023-25) and Tiger Woods.
The PAC advises and consults with the PGA Tour Policy Board (Board of Directors) and Commissioner Jay Monahan on issues affecting the Tour. The PAC also serves as a feeder system for future board members, with the PAC Chairman being elected to fill future openings on the board as player directors complete their term.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Justin Thomas fell to the ground Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club when his pitch shot at 18 hit the flagstick but wouldn’t drop, leaving him on the outside looking in at No. 71 in the final regular season FedEx Cup point standings.
The FedEx Cup Playoffs begin at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, with the top 70 players in the standings through the Wyndham Championship qualifying (down from 125 in 2009-2022). The top 50 players after the first event will advance to the BMW Championship and also qualify for all eight Signature Events (formerly known as the Designated Events) on the PGA Tour schedule in 2024.
The level of disappointment that Thomas experienced on being left out of the playoffs is only expected to be ratcheted up this week. Those moving on to the BMW in Chicago next week will gain admission to a world of $20 million purses, jacked up FedEx Cup points and limited field, no-cut events with guaranteed paydays in many cases. (The Players Championship will still have a full field and cut to 65 and ties while the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial will have fields of no more than 80 players and a cut to 50 and ties.)
Two tours?
“I don’t like the idea of creating two tours, which is what it’s doing,” said veteran pro Brandt Snedeker. “I don’t think it’s good for golf, for our tour, for our sponsors.”
Fellow veteran pro Kevin Streelman, who previously served as a player director on the board and remains involved as a member of the Player Advisory Council, argued that the player who ends up at No. 50 receives too much of a jumpstart on keeping his card and remaining in the top 50 compared to the player who finishes No. 51.
Kevin Streelman hits his tee shot on the 11th hole during the second round of the 3M Open. (Photo: Matt Krohn/USA TODAY Sports)
“It seems like a pretty extreme reward,” he said.
Ryan Armour, a fellow member of the PAC, who dubbed rank-and-file players of his ilk “the mules” of the organization, agreed.
“The fifth ranked player on the PGA Tour and the No. 55 player on the PGA Tour, why should their schedule be so vastly different than what they are going to become next year?” said Armour when he joined the 5 Clubs podcast. “There is a big discrepancy between No. 5 and 55, but there isn’t between No. 49 and 55. That to me is what irked everybody.”
Fewer events, more points at the majors
In 2024, the season returns to a calendar year, running from January through September’s Labor Day Weekend and condensed from 44 to 36 events, plus three playoff tournaments. Meanwhile the number of limited-field events increase from two (Sentry Tournament of Champions and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play) to eight. Add in that 750 FedEx Cup points will be allocated to the winners of the four majors and the Players Championship, an increase from 600, and 700 for the Signature events, up from 550, compared to 500 for winners of regular full-field events and 300 to winners of opposite-field events, and it’s clear how membership in the top 50 has its privileges.
It’s unprecedented change and has many players who won’t be in the top 50 concerned that the deck is stacked against them.
Michael Kim lines up a putt on the 18th green during the third round of the 2023 Wyndham Championship. (Photo: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)
“My initial reaction was, ‘What the hell is this?’” said Michael Kim, who finished No. 79 and missed the playoffs. “I’m trying not be too knee-jerk reaction.”
Players outside the top 50 still will have other avenues to qualify for the Signature events. Thomas, for instance, is No. 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking and players in the top 30 will be automatically eligible. Should his ranking no longer satisfy the criteria, he likely would be a popular candidate for one of four sponsor exemptions.
The Tour also created categories called the “Next 10” and the “Swing 5.” The Next 10 is “composed of the top 10 members, not otherwise exempt,” from the current FedEx Cup standings. The Swing 5 are the “top five FedEx Cup points earners, not otherwise exempt, from the swing of five full-field and additional events that precede each signature event.”
‘Path is stacked against you’
Speaking earlier this season, Rory McIlroy proclaimed, “You play well for two or three weeks, you’re in a (signature) event. You know, then, if you keep playing well, you stay in them.”
But that may be an oversimplification. Will the 30 Korn Ferry Tour grads, 10 DP World Tour grads and five PGA Tour Q-School grads get enough starts on the West Coast Swing? They also may endure a three-week sabbatical in the middle of the season if they don’t qualify for the U.S. Open. For those who do play their way in, how can they sustain energy to make the opportunity a success? If they don’t play well, they’ll be right back in the full field event and likely gassed from playing upwards of five events in a row.
Gary Woodland hits from a greenside bunker on the 13th hole during the second round of the 2023 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota. (Photo: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports)
“They are giving you opportunities to play your way in, but the path is stacked against you,” said 2019 U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, who remains exempt to the four majors and hopes to play his way into the invitationals or else receive sponsor invites. “The top guys had leverage at the time, they had Jay (Monahan) in a tough spot. Jay was losing guys left and right and the guys that wanted to stay made a play and set the Tour up in their favor. I don’t have a problem with that. The sponsors will benefit from having more of the top players playing every week. Is it good for the Tour as a whole? Only time will tell. If you play well, you will be rewarded and that’s probably how it should be.”
The Tour has crunched the numbers, running over a thousand simulations, and predicts the churn of players being replaced in the FedEx Cup top 50 year after year to be between 14 and 22 players.
“I wouldn’t have thought that,” said Peter Malnati, one of the player directors on the board, noting earlier this year, “It seems kind of hard to believe.”
Play well and you’re in
Webb Simpson, another player director on the Tour’s board who voted in favor of the Signature events despite being outside the top 50, said he believes the Tour created enough play-in opportunities – some 20 per event – to reward the hot hands.
“I’ve always had the attitude that you adapt to how the system changes and if you play good enough you’ll be in those fields. I know some guys probably have a problem with that statement, that there needs to be more fair opportunities for everybody, but if you play well enough you’ll get in them,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, the PGA Tour is not here to showcase the best 200 players in the world. I think we’re here to showcase the best 75-100 players in the world. I think that’s what fans want, TV wants, and some people may not like that but that’s the truth. Sure, we want to take care of everybody as much as we can but at the end of the day, can guys qualify for these? Absolutely.”
“If he wants to have a cut in his event, I think that’s more than OK to allow,” said Justin Thomas
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods deserve respect for what they did to make the PGA Tour what it is today.
It is only fitting that Tiger and Jack and the caretakers of the Palmer legacy should have a say in how the tournaments they host are contested. Jack’s Memorial and the Arnold Palmer Invitational have been 120-man events for years while Tiger became involved in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, more recently and it got bumped to higher status in 2020.
Golfweek has learned that those three signature events, the new name for the Tour’s eight designated events, will continue to have a cut in 2024. Here’s what Billy Horschel, Adam Scott, Kevin Streelman and Justin Thomas think about that.
Monahan talked about the framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, golf ball rollback, the Tour’s 2024 schedule and much more. It was his first major move since returning from an undisclosed health scare earlier this month.
Players at TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open had numerous things to say about the memo, including one golfer who was on the Player Advisory Council phone call with Monahan earlier that Wednesday.
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Here’s a look at what golfers think about Monahan’s memo.
There are plenty of golfers in contention heading to the weekend.
BLAINE, Minn. — Lee Hodges is taking care of business.
After 36 holes in the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities, Hodges leads alone at 15-under 127, holding a four-shot lead over Tyler Duncan and earning himself the final tee time come Saturday. Hodges had the second-best round of his career Thursday with a 63, and he followed that up by shooting 7-under 64 on Friday to increase his lead. He doesn’t have a bogey through two rounds.
He had seven birdies in the second round, and he was just able to finish before the second round was suspended due to darkness. Hodges nearly made an eagle putt on the 18th after the horn sounded, but he tapped in for birdie to increase his lead.
All of the leaders were in the clubhouse when play concluded.
Hodges, in his second season on Tour, hasn’t won and hasn’t even had a runner-up finish. He’ll look to change that this weekend.
Meanwhile, Duncan posted a bogey-free 4-under 67 to move into solo second after the second round. He has not made a bogey through 36 holes. Sitting at 113th in the FedEx Cup standings coming into the week, he needed a big performance and is doing just that.
CROMWELL, Conn. — With all due respect to Denny McCarthy, who shot 60 and 65 in the first two rounds of the 2023 Travelers Championship, you would think that if the player ranked No. 33 on the Official World Golf Ranking is tearing up TPC River Highlands, star players and major winners must be going seriously-low too. Some are, like 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley, who co-leads with McCarthy at 15 under, and Adam Scott, who is T-5 after carding 62-68 in the opening rounds.
However, several big-name players struggled to keep up with the birdie-fest in Connecticut and will have the weekend off after missing the cut, which was 4 under (136).
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tommy Fleetwood took his lickings the first two times he played tournaments at Quail Hollow Club. But on a sun-drenched Thursday, Fleetwood finally figured this parkland beauty out, finishing birdie-birdie to shoot a bogey-free 6-under 65 and claim the first-round lead at the Wells Fargo Championship.
“You have days like today,” Fleetwood said. “There are plenty of players that shoot great rounds around here. It’s such a beautiful golf course and it’s a pleasure to play, it really, really is, but you just have to play well and that’s all there is to it. I enjoy the challenge, I loved playing today and having a score going and playing like that. I’m looking forward to whatever the week holds. It’s a great course to come and play, but it can just beat you up at times and today was my turn.”
Fleetwood hinted at the tough times, which included a T-61 at the 2017 PGA Championship and a missed cut at this event in 2018. The Englishman started to figure out Quail Hollow’s intricacies in 2021, finishing T-14.
“You can make it as daunting or as simple as you want to make it,” Fleetwood explained.
As for what makes Quail such a tricky old bird? “The scorable holes can actually still kick you,” he said.
Fleetwood, 32, reeled off six straight pars to start the round before jumping into red figures with an eight-foot eagle at No. 7. He tacked on a short birdie at eight and added three more circles to the card on the back nine, including playing Quail Hollow’s vaunted Green Mile – Nos. 16-18 – in 2 under. After driving into the right fairway at 18, he hit his self-proclaimed shot of the day, sticking his approach from 181 yards to seven feet.
“You never know when you’re one swing away from making a birdie,” he said. “There’s good shots out there and you have to always be looking for them and you always have to feel like you can hit one of those. Whether you do or not is a different story, but believing you can is the first part.”
Fleetwood leads by one over five golfers, including Xander Schauffele, who recorded his lowest score in 13 career rounds at Quail Hollow and K.H. Lee, who carded a 66 in the first round for the third straight year.
Here are four more takeaways from the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship.
Maverick McNealy, Adam Scott and Kevin Streelman have been selected to run for PAC Chairman.
The PGA Tour announced its 16-member Player Advisory Council on Monday morning, as well as a handful of future leaders.
Maverick McNealy, Adam Scott and Kevin Streelman have been selected to run for PAC Chairman, with the election set to end Feb. 13. The winner will replace Charley Hoffman as a Player Director on the PGA Tour Policy Board (board of directors) starting Jan. 1, 2024, and will serve at three-year term (2024-26). The current Player Directors are Peter Malnati (2023-25), Rory McIlroy (2022-24), Webb Simpson (2023-25) and Patrick Cantlay (2023).
The release comes less than 24 hours after Paul Azinger said serving on the PAC – a group of players who advise and consult the PGA Tour Policy Board and Commissioner Jay Monahan on issues affecting the Tour – was “a colossal of waste time” during the Sony Open in Hawaii broadcast.
Meet the players serving on the PAC in 2023 (alphabetical order):
Ryan Armour
Sam Burns
Corey Conners
Rickie Fowler
Brice Garnett
Brian Harman
Max Homa
Mackenzie Hughes
Shane Lowry
Maverick McNealy
Keith Mitchell
Henrik Norlander
Scottie Scheffler
Adam Scott
Kevin Streelman
Will Zalatoris
Streelman was up for chairman role in 2021 but McIlroy prevailed in that vote.
There are 10 President Cup golfers in the field and every one of them made the cut.
LAS VEGAS — There’s a heavy Presidents Cup contingent at the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open.
Members of the International squad are making the most noise so far, taking four of the top eight spots after 36 holes.
With that kind of early success, there may be a push to move the 2024 Presidents Cup from Montreal to TPC Summerlin.
Ok, not really, but there are 10 Cuppers (eight Internationals, two Americans) in the field, six of them are in the top 10 and every one of them advanced to the weekend.
Mito Pereira leads the way in Vegas. An 8-under 63 will do that, as he charged up the leaderboard in the afternoon wave Friday. He’s at 12 under and leads by two.
Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim are among four golfers tied for second at 10 under. Cam Davis is at 9 under, tied for sixth.
Sungjae Im, the defending champ in Vegas, shot 65-70 and is tied for 16th.
Taylor Pendrith and Christiaan Bezuidenhout as well as the two American President Cuppers, Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay, also made the weekend.
