Andy

Ogletree

After a fast start saw Ogletree go 2-under through his first four holes, the former Georgia Tech standout stalled a bit in the middle of his round on Monday. Adding three more birdies, including one on the par-4 16th, the 23-year-old skirted past a potential playoff by one-stroke and came in with a round of 5-under 67 to make his way into the Sony Open. This will be Ogletree’s second start of the 2021-22 PGA Tour season as he played in the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall where he finished in a tie for 51st.

The 23-year-old opened his round on the 10th tee and stuffed his 191-yard approach to kick-in range for an opening birdie. He followed that up with a 234-yard approach shot at the par-5 11th that landed nine feet from the pin and he poured it home for an eagle. As the day progressed, his iron play cooled but his short game made up the difference. He walked off the course gaining 2.3 strokes around-the-green and another 2.8 strokes putting. The youngster had the misfortune of injuring his hip at the same time he turned pro in early 2021. Gamers should watch closely to see how his game stacks up when healthy. He reached as high as 4th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking during his time at Georgia Tech.

Ogletree is trying to get his pro career ramped up so it’s tough to let an opportunity like this one slip by. “I have made a very difficult decision to withdraw from this week’s @thegenesisinv. I have been battling a hip injury for weeks, and unfortunately the pain has continued to worsen.” The youngster has missed back-to-back cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and this injury makes that performance make some more sense. Gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups and wait for a clean bill of health before reinvesting.

Ogletree is playing his first event as a professional this week but there has been no sign of nerves, despite paying for a paycheck for the first time in his career. The Georgia Tech product has found just seven (of 14) fairways during both rounds this week but he still managed 15 greens in regulation during his second round. The result was a six-pack of birdies to offset a pair of bogeys. The youngster reached as high as 4th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and he recently earned Low Amateur honors at the Masters. We knew the talent was there but it’s still impressive to see him surge into contention so soon. He’ll need to keep his foot on the gas for two more days but as of now he sits just three shots outside of second place.

The 22-year-old from Mississippi recently flashed his potential by earning Low Amateur honors at the 2020 Masters Tournament. He finished T34 that week which was his first cut made on the PGA TOUR in five tries. The Georgia Tech product was receiving those starts thanks to a win at the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship. With the Masters in the book, the time had come to make the leap from amateur to pro golf. He reached as high as No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking before climbing the ladder. Ogletree has hit roughly 11 fewer greens (cumulatively) than the field average in 12 career rounds on the PGA TOUR so he’ll need to tidy that up moving forward or lean heavily on the short game. Playing on a sponsor’s invite, he may be worth a look in DFS lineups but he’s not someone you need to trust yet in season-long formats. He will need to play his way into some full-time status.

Six amateurs were in the 92-man field this week at Augusta National of which two made the 36-hole cut. Ogletree, 22, takes low amateur honors with rounds of 73-70-71-72, five better than John Augenstein, who is currently T55 on 3-over 291 (69-72-75-75). This was Ogletree’s second major after a missed cut at the 120th U.S. Open (71-77) in September, and overall, his first time completing 72 holes in his fifth overall PGA TOUR event. Ogletree, a Georgia Tech product, cracked the field as the 2019 U.S. Amateur champ, while Augenstein, 23, is a Vanderbilt product and ironically finished runner-up to Ogletree at the same championship.