• This is a 72-hole no-cut event. If necessary, playoffs for the medalist place as well as 12th and last place will be available.
• The players in this week’s field come from 18 countries or territories: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Norway, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, USA, Uruguay and Venezuela .
• This is not Davis Shore’s first qualifying tournament of the year. He played in the first stage of the Korn Ferry Tour qualifier at Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta, Georgia, and ended up out of number for players who advanced to stage two. “Q-School brings a little more pressure because you’re a professional and it’s your career. I learned how to handle that a little better (this week). I think I didn’t do very well in the first phase that I missed, ”he said.
• Bryson Nimmer certainly helped himself in round three, improving 37 places on the leaderboard after shooting a 4 under 68, a seven-shot improvement over his previous result. Never, LOCALiQ Series 2020 Player of the Year, has PGA TOUR Canada status for 2022 and wants to improve his gaming opportunities. Never is 31st with 18 holes remaining. The Frenchman Alex Fuchs also supported his cause immensely with an improvement of seven bars from the second round to the third round, which coincided with Nimmers. Fuchs, who played college golf at Liberty University, opened 73-75-68 and went straight to 36th place in the finals. With his 4-Under-Show, Fuchs climbed 40 places in the ranking list.
• The biggest improvement of the day was the Chinese Andy Zhang, who played college golf not far from here at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Zhang designed a 3-under 69 to get into 36th place. He was eight strokes better on Thursday than a lap earlier.
• Austin Hitt managed to still position himself to win on Friday despite a day of crazy jumps and bad luck. The epitome of his day was his wedge approach on the 16th hole, a shot that popped into the hole and ricocheted off to the edge, 10 meters from the cup. “I hit the hole four times from the green and none of them went in,” he said. His adventures began at # 5, from the bunker. He flopped his stroke out of the sand, the ball landed in the hole and came out. He also edged out a chip and hit another flop that hit the flag in an instant and spun to six feet. “But I did that (for par),” he said.
• It was a solid 36 holes for Jacob Eklund. He left himself in a difficult position after 18 holes and opened with a 6-over 78. Since then? No problem, because Eklund is 10 under on its last 36 holes. He fired a ’68 Thursday that included nine out of three birdies at the end. Eklund hopes to stand alongside former Kansas State teammates Roland Massimino and Jeremy Gandon as a member of the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica this season. He’s tied for 14th.
• Even with a bogey on the 18th hole, Fred Meyer was able to hold his own well into the last lap. With a 4-under 68, Meyer went from a tie to 15th place at the start of the day to a tie to fifth place. Meyer made five consecutive birdies, starting with number 9. He had two additional birdies to go with another bogey.
• Another Meyer, Velten (not a relative) is the lower national player on the scoreboard. The University of Louisiana-Monroe alum over Oldenburg, Germany shot his second 69 of the week and will move into the finals with a 5 under 10th place.
Quotable
“I took what I learned there and brought it here. I have to let go of the result and just play your game. ”–Davis Shore
“I learned a lot about myself and my game as a professional this summer. I just try to get better and better. ”–Davis Shore
“From the fall of my sophomore year to the end of my senior year, I really didn’t play college golf. When I got to play I felt like I was doing everything I could to get through a three day tournament and that’s not good. ”- Davis Shore on the injuries he sustained in college
“I didn’t have my best things; didn’t roll into the putts. I’m just looking for a low one [Friday]. “–Austin Hitt
“That was disappointing because I didn’t get anything to work today. I finally got the shot I wanted and that happened. ”- Austin Hitt on his approach shot on 16, which bounced into the hole and came out again
“Eight-below must be the bottom round.” – Austin Hitt when he found out about Davis Shores 64
“I like where I am. I tried to play smart. It was’nt easy. I just didn’t want to shoot myself in the foot today. ”- Austin Hitt
Weather in the third lap: Overcast and pleasant. Maximum value of 79. Wind NNE with 5-8 mph.