Boo

Weekley

The 48-year-old Couch has one Tour win on his resume, the 2006 Zurich Classic, where he opened with back-to-back rounds of 70 to make the cut on the number. He grabbed the 54-hole lead with an 8-under 64 in blustery conditions and posted a final-round 65 that included a 12-foot bogey putt on No. 17. But he earned the win thanks to a 54-foot, chip-in par on 18 after a difficult bunker shot from behind the green left him lying three in the greenside rough. Couch finished at 19-under 269 to beat Charles Howell III and Fred Funk by a stroke. From 2013-17, he didn’t make a PGA Tour start due to a back injury and made five starts in 2018 on a Major Medical Extension (T-68 at 2018 Valspar, two WDs, two missed cuts) before losing his card. He’s made six starts over the next three season, making three cuts in 2019. The Puerto Rico Open has been his only Tour start the last two seasons. Couch was T-35 in 2020 and missed the cut last year.

The 47-year-old owns a total of nine top-3 finishes in 316 career TOUR events, coincidentally three apiece on each level of the podium. His most recent is a solo 3rd at the 2015 Zurich Classic as an 18-hole co-leader 78 starts ago, while his most recent victory was a come-from-behind version at the 2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational 127 starts ago. The Brewton Community College product’s last foray into the FedExCup Playoffs was a 114th-place finish in 2016, and has a yet to make a start in the 2020-21 season, where his exempt status is Past Champion beyond 150 from last season’s COVID-shortened FEC standings. The Floridian has battled health issues in the past: elbow surgery in ’17 and cancer in ’18, causing him to miss the entirety of the 2018 campaign, including a 78-week stretch between a missed cut at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open and a T35 at the 2019 Puerto Rico Open. His most recent top-25 finishes came last season in consecutive fashion at Bermuda and in Houston, encouraging signs of a return to good health and form, but followed that with a MC at The RSM Classic 56 weeks ago, and has not made a start on any tour since with no information as to a setback health-wise.

The 46-year-old finished T21 in his most recent start three weeks ago at the Houston Open, where he ranked No. 1 in SG: Approach (10.165) and No. 3 in SG: Tee-to-Green (11.262). Unfortunately, he was derailed with a 75th in SG: Putting (-4.783). Of course, there’s no ShotLink in Bermuda, but the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College product is currently T44 in Putts per GIR at the midpoint (1.760), including a 1.750 today. On seven (of 14) fairways and 12 greens in regulation, he camouflaged a lone bogey-5 at hole 4 with six circles at 12, 13, 17, 3, 6 and 7. The Floridian has 12 birdies against two bogeys thru 36 holes at Port Royal GC.

Weekley has been showing small hints of a return to form but he still hadn’t been positioned better than T15 after any round since the 2017 Travelers Championship. That will change after today unless the afternoon wave takes it low. Weekley got the job done by trading six treats with one trick. That lone blemish came on the par-4 11th when it took him three swipes to find the green. The noted ball-striker surprisingly found just 13 greens today but his short game carried him to a nearly-clean card. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Boo would pop on Halloween but now he’ll need to keep his foot on the gas for three more days because the field is currently averaging just 69.85 strokes at Port Royal Golf Club.

The noted ball-striker had to take some time off in 2017 and 2018 for health reasons. Since his return, he is 5-for-9 across the PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour with a pair of top 25s (T10 at Louisiana Open and T25 at the RBC Heritage). Weekley held true to his ball-striking reputation at his most recent PGA TOUR stop, Harbour Town. He gained 3.7 strokes off-the-tee that week and another 3.7 strokes approaching-the-green. While Weekley does have a win (and a solo 9th) at Colonial, his other seven finishes have landed outside the top 30. Gamers should probably let him play his way into more consistent form before thinking about rostering him in weekly lineups.

Weekley won this event during his 2007 debut and returned in 2008 and successfully defended his jacket. The steady striker has picked up three more top 15s in nine tries since and hasn’t missed a cut in any of those appearances. More recently, he’s returned with his battle with cancer to post a 3-for-6 record this year. Only one of those came on the PGA TOUR, a T35 at the Puerto Rico Open. He followed that up with a T10 at the Louisiana Open which may be a sign that his game is trending back up.

This is the 45-year-old’s eighth PR Open with four top 25s and three top 10s, three straight between 2012 and 2015, including a best of T3 in 2012. He’s making his first TOUR start since a missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open in July of 2017 (82 weeks ago). The Floridian finished a career-worst 169th in the FedExCup standings in 2017 (27 events), and then had surgery on his right elbow later that summer, which sidelined him for nearly a year. When he finally was cleared to return, his right shoulder started hurting and was diagnosed with cancer, and had a carcinoma and a cyst removed in July, 2018. Weekley has made four Web starts this year, opening with a T41, but has missed his last three cuts, including last week.

The 45-year-old has been out of action since the 2017 RBC Canadian Open. He had a mid-tourney WD just a month before that last start and cited tendinitis as the reason for his early exit. Making his first rehab start on the Web.com Tour, Weekley posted rounds of 74-67-70-73 this week. The three-time PGA TOUR winner finished 169th in the FedExCup standings during his last full season on TOUR (2016-17) so he’ll need to rely on Past Champions status or sponsor’s invites to get into fields on the big stage.

Weekley loves himself some Harbour Town. Since his back-to-back wins in 2007 and 2008, he’s posted a pair of top 15s and finished T46, but he’s apparently healthy again. He’s also capitalizing on his playing time out of the Past Champions category. At the time he signed his card today, he was inside the top 25 in fairways, greens and putting. He buried six birdies today, including conversions of 22'8" and 16'1" at the eighth and 13th holes, respectively. Weekley also rolled in a par save of 13'4" at the 11th.

Weekley went to the same high school as newly minted Masters champion Bubba Watson, and he will look to follow him to the winners circle this week. Known as a premier ball-striker, he’s still right at the top of the TOUR in that category ranking fifth. If he can get a little help with the putter, it could be another big week for Milton, Florida.