Andrew

Svoboda

The young Aussie has his status on the European Tour but his last six starts have all come on the PGA TOUR. Herbert has racked up 91 FedExCup Points, which does make him eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, but he’ll need 197 more just to earn Special Temporary Membership. During today’s qualifier, Herbert traded seven birdies with one bogey to finish third, safely avoiding the 4-for-1 playoff below him. Herbert impressed with a T18 at The Memorial Tournament and he’ll look to keep that momentum rolling this week. Currently sitting at 100th in the OWGR, he is looking to lockdown full status in the States. Others to qualify today included Stephen Stallings (-9), Seamus Power (-7), and Andrew Svododa (-5). Svoboda survived a four-way playoff with John Augenstein, Ryan Davis, and Mark Anderson.

Svoboda is just 2-for-9 this year, but he’s headed to his fourth U.S. Open. He played 36 holes today in 4-under 139 with Scott Stallings and Alistair Presnell. Stallings was eliminated in the playoff. Kevin Sutherland was the medalist at 10-under 133. Jerry Kelly and Shawn Stefani shared runner-up honors at 9-under 134. Joe Ogilvie and Morgan Hoffmann (bogey-free) tied for fourth at 6-under 137. Scott Langley parlayed a hole-in-one in a bogey-free, second-round 67 to share sixth place with Brandon Crick at 5-under 138. Notables among the loaded field of 112 that failed to qualify include: 141--Ben Crane ... 143--Jeff Maggert; Troy Matteson; David Mathis; Robert Streb; Bill Lunde; Cameron Percy ... 144--John Merrick; Steven Bowditch; Jeff Gove ... 145--Chad Campbell; Jason Bohn; Harris English ... 146--Andres Gonzales; Billy Mayfair; David Duval ... 147--Bob Estes ... 148--Greg Owen; Vaughn Taylor ... 149--Darron Stiles; Jin Park.

Joining Keegan Bradley as the other St. John’s product on TOUR in 2013, Svoboda showed some fortitude in circling birdies on his last two holes of Thursday’s first round to square him even to par. The same couldn’t be said in the second round, finishing with a 3-over-par 73 to miss the cut by five strokes. It would be wise to give this rookie a little time to prove his merit before investing in any games.

The rookie has failed to cash a check in four starts, proving the jump from the Web.com Tour to the big time has been a little tougher than expected. At 166th in the all-around ranking, his problems are widespread. The good news is, it only takes one week to change everything. If you are looking for an example of that, look no further than Derek Lamely’s win here in 2010.

It’s been a rough year for the rookie, missing each of his five cuts before dropping back down to the Web.com Tour and sharing 31st in Colombia. He’s missed his other two cuts on that circuit as well, so he enters TPC San Antonio struggling to find confidence and put together a good finish. With the next reshuffle looming, he needs something good to happen fast.

He completed only three holes last week in San Antonio before withdrawing on his fourth hole due to a hand injury. If he was feeling better today, his scorecard doesn’t reflect it. Svoboda sustained three bogeys and a double before circling his only birdie of the day on his third-to-last hole, the par-4 seventh at Midland (Tex.) Country Club. The 33-year-old is 0-for-6 in his rookie year on the PGA TOUR.

Svoboda was laying 4 off the green at the par-3 13th hole when he called it quits. He was 2-over through three holes, going 0-for-3 in fairways hit and 0-for-4 in greens in regulation. It’s the sixth time in as many starts this season that the rookie has failed to cash.

Svoboda was the third alternate when the field was released on Friday afternoon. He gained entry on a sponsor exemption. The 33-year-old is still after his first payday as a PGA TOUR member. After missing his first five cuts, he withdrew early in his opening round of the Valero Texas Open with an injury to his left hand. He returned to action the following week on the Web.com Tour but missed the cut.

The rookie entered the week 0-for-6 on the season, so he picked a great stop at which to celebrate his first payday as a PGA TOUR member. He’s hit 25 greens in regulation but limited the damage to just three bogeys while finding seven birdies.

Svoboda started the week as the ninth alternate. He gained entry when Vijay Singh withdrew today. The PGA TOUR rookie cashed for the first time in seven starts this season with a T47 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.