Bill

Haas

The Greenville, South Carolina, resident, playing this season on a Top 50 Career Money Exemption, has made eight cuts at the Heritage in his adopted home state but has also missed seven with two WD’s. He’s conjured just one prior top 10 among three top 25s, a T7 in 2018 (69-66-71-69), which was the last time he didn’t require a sponsor exemption to get into the field (before this week). Today’s 67, which matches his best start in the event with 2012 (finished T41), was primarily realized on-the-greens, circling four birdies (one hole-out) on 10 greens in regulation and posting a lowly -0.503 SG: Approach but a tidy 2.501 SG: Putting, including two par-savers from between 11 and 13 feet. The Deamon Deacon is a six-time winner on TOUR in 440 events as well as a former FedExCup champion (2011) but hasn’t won since the 2015 Humana Challenge 172 starts ago.

The 39-year-old is in top 10 after R1 for a second straight week, joining last week’s 2-course Farmers, where he was T9 and remained in the top 15 thru 54 holes before fading to a season-best T39 (67-69-70-76). He’s playing this season on a Top 50 career earnings exemption after finishing 197th in the FedExCup standings last season, this after a career-worst 209th in 2020. The Wake Forest alum’s most recent of 57 career top 10s is a T10 at the 2019 John Deere, while his most recent of six TOUR titles in 433 events is the 2015, 3-course Humana Challenge in So Cal 165 starts ago, where he was T16 after R1 (67-63-69-67). Today, he outpaced one bogey-5 at 18 with six birdies at 10, 11, 13, 16, 6 and 9, on six (of 13) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, en route to his best score in the event in 13 rounds, previously 68/R2 in 2016 (finished T8). The Charlotte native will move over to Pebble Beach GL for R2 as he chases a fourth TOUR win in the Golden State.

The 39-year-old, playing this season on a Top 50 career earnings exemption, is bogey-free thru 36 holes in Mexico. If he remains in the top 10 at day’s end, it would be his first time there since solo 2nd at the 2019 Barbasol, where he eventually finished T11 (65-66-65-73), and remarked afterwards that it’s been awhile since he gave a post-round interview (link below). The Wake Forest alum, and 2011 FedExCup champion, is a six-time winner in 427 events, most recently the 2015 Humana Challenge 159 starts ago as a 54-hole co-leader, while his most recent top 10 is a T10 at the 2019 John Deere, the start prior to the above-mentioned Barbasol. He’s circled nine birdies at the halfway mark, three today, and has landed 19/28 fairways (67.86%) and 29/36 greens in regulation (80.56%). UPDATE: With R2 complete, Haas is T5, four back of leader Matthew Wolff, and will play out of the penultimate threesome in R3 with defender Viktor Hovland and Anirban Lahiri.

Playing on a career earnings exemption this season, Haas is trying to string together some big finishes to get his name back in good standing via the FedExCup standings. If he plays like today, that will be an easy task. The Wake Forest product split 12-of-14 fairways and was able to clean his ball before pelting 16 greens in regulation. Today’s round was 4.3 shots better than the field average. As promising as that sounds, it’s just the first time he’s gained more than two strokes in a single round, over this last 19 rounds played. Gamers will want to watch for further verification that his game is trending upward.

The 39-year-old is playing on conditional status and has connected on just five cuts made in 19 starts this season. The highlight of his season was a T25 at the Palmetto Championship in June, another event in the Carolinas. The Wake Forest product will look to use his comfort in the region to find another big finish this week at Sedgefield Country Club. Haas will be making his 14th appearance at the Donald Ross design and he sports four top 10s including a runner-up finish during the 2014 edition. Haas currently ranks 184th in strokes gained off-the-tee and 175th on approach, so he is relying solely on his short game to plod his way around courses.

The Wake Forest product is playing on conditional status so starts are tough to secure for the six-time PGA TOUR winner. The Greenville resident is just 3-for-10 this season with nothing better than a T30 (Puerto Rico Open) on his game log. Perhaps an event closer to home will do the trick as he readies for his 17th trip to the RBC Heritage. He arrives with an 8-for-16 record at the event with a T7 in 2018 being the highlight. The 38-year-old is too young to be fully counted out so gamers should keep monitoring the form because a career resurgence could always be just around the corner.

Kang has been active this season, already racking up 10 starts, earning a paycheck in four of those. That includes a T29 at the Masters Tournament, his only result to really write home about. As for his track record at Torrey Pines, Kang struggled at first but was arriving with top 20s in each of his last two trips to La Jolla, California. Gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups.

Bramlett was set to make his third appearance at the Sony Open. He posted a T68 in his 2011 tournament debut and returned last year with a T45 finish. There is no word on what caused this change of heart early in the week but the likely causes are a nagging injury or a travel issue. We will update if any news pops up about an injury but for now, gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups.

Haas provided a statement to the TOUR, “It’s obviously disappointing news to receive, but my focus is now on recovery and ensuring the health and well-being of my family.” The Wake Forest product was playing this week on a sponsor’s invite as he only holds conditional status for the season after finishing 140th in the FedExCup race during the 2018-19 campaign. Haas will now shut it down for the fall and his next opportunity to return to action would be the Sony Open in Hawaii, January 14th through 17th.

Haas does not find as many starts as he would probably like while playing out of the conditional status bucket but got extended a sponsor invite this week. He’ll be making his sixth start at this event and third since the move to CC of Jackson. He had previously won the 2010 edition when it was played at Annandale. His record at this week’s course includes a T14 and T54 over the last two years. More recently, he’s opened the new season with a pair of missed cuts. This week present a good chance for the 38-year-old to rebound but gamers shouldn’t expect much more than a cut made. He has just eight top 25s over his last 65 starts and none since July 2019 at the Barbasol Championship.