Tag: Robby Shelton

PGA Tour pros hit the ugliest – and prettiest – shots you’ll see Sunday at 2024 Valspar Championship

Sunday’s final round at the Valspar saw a pair of pros do the unthinkable, both good and bad.

Within 30 minutes during the final round at the 2024 Valspar Championship a pair of PGA Tour players hit the best and worst shots you’ll see from professionals.

First up was Robby Shelton.

Coming off his best season as a professional in 2023, the 28-year-old has been slow to start in 2024 and entered the week off a pair of missed cuts. He played his way to the weekend at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida, and on Sunday hit a shot he won’t soon forget. Shelton made an albatross on the par-5 14th hole after he sunk his approach from 258 yards out in the fairway.

This thing was a laser-guided missile destined to find the hole.

And then there was Peter Malnati, who has made headlines in recent weeks for his thoughts on the future of the PGA Tour and his touching reason for why he uses a yellow golf ball. In contention for his second win on Tour and first since 2015, Malnati found the fairway and pulled a hybrid from the bag for his second shot on the par-5 5th hole. With 291 yards to the cup, Malnati hit one of the uglier non-shanks you’ll see from a pro. You can’t quite call it a top because the ball somehow still went 172 yards, but he sure didn’t catch it clean.

Even the broadcasters were confused about what they had just seen.

Professional golfers: sometimes they do the unthinkable and other times they’re just like us amateurs.

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2023 Zozo Championship: Collin Morikawa’s early success among 5 things you missed from round 1

Here are five things you need to know from the opening round of the Zozo Championship.

Collin Morikawa isn’t the type to allow himself to think too far ahead but even he acknowledged that winning the Zozo Championship in Japan, the country where his father’s side of the family grew up, would hold a special place in his heart.

“There’s obviously a little bit more meaning to this tournament for me, but look, a win’s a win, I’ll take a win anywhere, right?” he said. “I’m doing everything I can the next three days and kind of tonight to make sure I give myself the best opportunity to do that.”

He’s off to a flying start, posting a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Thursday at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan, the third time he’s shot that figure in 13 career rounds at the course. Morikawa, who started on the back nine, raced to three birdies in his first four holes and barely slowed down. He tacked on birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 and one more on his inward nine at the sixth. He drained an uphill 8-foot par putt at his last hole of the day to grab a one-stroke lead over five golfers.

Morikawa has won five times on the PGA Tour, including a pair of majors, at the precocious age of 26. But he’s also winless since the 2021 British Open and is anxious to get back into the winner’s circle. He blew a six-stroke 54-hole lead at the Sentry Championship in January and nearly won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July, losing in a playoff to Rickie Fowler. In the last two seasons, he’s recorded 14 top-10 finishes, tied with Tommy Fleetwood for the most during that span without a win. Morikawa is making his first start during the FedEx Cup Fall and competing for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

“Taking a few weeks off, you never know what you’re going to get, but I’ve been kind of working on a few things trying to get control of the golf ball, spent a lot of time putting yesterday,” Morikawa said. “It’s nice to kind of see the work I’ve put in, just kind of recreate that on the golf course.”

Here are four more things to know from the first round of the Zozo Championship.

Robby Shelton wins Korn Ferry Tour regular-season finale; these 25 players have earned PGA Tour cards for next season

Twenty-five golfers earned their PGA Tour cards on Sunday.

The Korn Ferry Tour regular-season finale in Omaha wrapped up Sunday, and with that came a life-changing opportunity for 25 golfers who earned their PGA Tour cards for the 2021-22 season.

Robby Shelton won the Pinnacle Bank Championship, moving to second in the KFT standings. Shelton finished with a 6-under 65 for a 17-under 267 total, one shot better than Ben Taylor, who also secured his card. Kevin Dougherty finished in a tie for third, but a win would’ve clinched a PGA Tour card for him. It’s the second win of the year for Shelton, the only player on the KFT to win twice this season, earning $153,000.

Carl Yuan, the 2021-22 points leader, finished tied for fifth at The Club at Indian Creek. He won only once on the season but finished runner-up an astounding six times. He shot 9 under during his third round.

The list of 25 who earned their Tour cards

1. Carl Yuan, 1,819
2. Robby Shelton, 1,603
3. Paul Haley II, 1,341
4. Zecheng Dou, 1,321
5. Taylor Montgomery, 1,216
6. Augusto Núñez, 1,157
7. Justin Suh, 1,145
8. Ben Griffin, 1,102
9. Ben Taylor, 1,095
10. Brandon Matthews, 1,094
11. MJ Daffue, 1,090
12. Seonghyeon Kim, 981
13. Byeong Hun An, 941
14. Davis Thompson, 926
15. Erik Barnes, 908
16. Trevor Werbylo, 878
17. Harry Hall, 877
18. Tyson Alexander, 857
19. Michael Kim, 857
20. Kevin Yu, 846
21. Harrison Endycott, 830
22. Trevor Cone, 825
23. Vincent Norrman, 785
24. Kevin Roy, 784
25. Anders Albertson, 783

Tyson Alexander got his card for the first time since going pro 12 years ago. Paul Haley is back on the PGA Tour after losing his card nine years ago. 16 of the 25 will be PGA Tour rookies, and there are nine countries represented in the group.

Next up for those whom missed the top 25? An additional 25 Tour cards will be awarded following the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs. Those finishing Nos. 26-75 in the KFT standings as well as non-member qualifiers and medical extensions can still earn their cards through the Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs. The three-event playoffs will also feature PGA Tour golfers who finished Nos. 126 to 200 in the FedEx Cup points race.

The three KFT playoff events are:

  • Albertsons Boise Open, Boise, Idaho, Aug. 18-21
  • Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 25-28
  • Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Newburgh, Indiana, Sept. 1-4

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Puerto Rico Open odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the golf betting odds to win the 2020 Puerto Rico Open, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.

With many of the world’s top golfers in Mexico for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, an alternate field of up-and-comers led by Viktor Hovland are participating in the 2020 Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. Below, we’ll analyze the golf betting odds, while making our picks to win the 2020 Puerto Rico Open.

This week’s winner will not receive an invitation to the 2020 Masters Tournament.

The key stats for the 7,506-yard, par-72 Coco Beach Golf and Country Club are:

  • Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
  • Strokes Gained: Approach
  • Birdies or Better Gained
  • Good Drives Gained

Puerto Rico Open – Tier 1

Aug 4, 2019; Greensboro, NC, USA; Viktor Hovland studies a putt on the first green during the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club. (Photo Credit: Rob Kinnan – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. ET.

Viktor Hovland (+1100)

At No. 25 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, Hovland is the top golfer in attendance. While the win won’t get him to Augusta National, it could propel him to better play, as was the case with Collin Morikawa‘s victory at the 2019 Barracuda Championship. That ran as the alternate event to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Hovland is No. 1 in my stat model this week at Fantasy National. He missed the cut in three of his last five events against stiffer competition on the PGA and European Tours, but he tied for 38th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and is definitely the class of this field. He’ll look to follow suit of Tony Finau and his breakout win in 2016.

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Patrick Rodgers (+2200)

Rodgers tied for ninth at the star-studded Farmers Insurance Open for his best result since 2018. He followed it up with a T-16 at the Waste Management Open before missing the cut at Pebble Beach, but he rebounded for a quality T-30 showing at last week’s Genesis Invitational. He’s playing his best golf right now, and could finally break through against weaker competition.

Puerto Rico Open – Tier 2

Jul 18, 2019; Portrush, IRL; Kiradech Aphibarnrat after hitting his tee shot on the 5th hole during the first round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Portrush Golf Club – Dunluce Course. Mandatory Credit: Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (+5000)

Aphibarnrat will make his debut at this event following a stretch of three straight missed cuts against stronger fields. He has been struggling around the greens, but he has the length to be able to handle Coco Beach.

Roger Sloan (+8000)

Sloan tied for second in 2019 in his first appearance since a missed cut in 2015. The Canadian has missed the cut in six straight events dating back to November’s Bermuda Championship, but his co-runner-up finish last year came on the heels of two missed cuts at Pebble Beach and the Farmers. He’s typically great around the greens and strong off the tee.

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Puerto Rico Open – Longshots

Jan 18, 2020; La Quinta, California, USA; Robbie Shelton plays his shot from the eighth tee during the third round of The American Express golf tournament on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West. (Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez – USA TODAY Sports)

Robby Shelton (+10000)

Shelton skipped last year’s tournament following a missed cut in 2017 – the 2018 tournament was held as a team fundraiser event. He has struggled of late against strong fields, but he has two top 10s in the 2019-20 season: at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Those are much are more comparable to his competition this week.

Martin Trainer (+12500)

Trainer snapped a skid of five straight missed cuts with a T-47th-place finish at the Genesis Invitational last week. These odds represent far too great of value for the defending champion, despite his current form. He missed the cut of five of seven PGA Tour events in the build-up to his win last year.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

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