Brett

Drewitt

Bhatia dismantled the par-70 layout today with eight par-4 birdies to erase a lone blemish while he also birdied one of the par 5s. The 20-year-old got his maiden win on the Korn Ferry circuit last season but failed to find The Top 25 by season’s end. His potential remains through the roof but he’s yet to find his consistency. Others to punch their ticket into the RSM today included Bryson Nimmer (63), Brett Drewitt (65), and Conner Godsey (65).

Playing just his second full season on the PGA TOUR, the Aussie entered with a 6-for-22 record to find himself at 205th in the FedExCup race. He’s finished T50 or worse in 19 straight starts but appears to be saving his best for last. Drewitt currently ranks 2nd in strokes gained approach (+4.5) and has parlayed that into a 10-pack of birdies to erase four bogeys. It would require a top-2 finish to have any chance of cracking the Playoffs but there are also other key checkpoints that have value for Drewitt (Top 150 for conditional status of top 200 to earn a seat in the KFT Final).

The 30-year-old Aussie missed the cut in his season debut (Fortinet Championship). For his career, Drewitt is now just 10-for-22 on the PGA TOUR with one top 25. However, he is arriving fresh off a prolonged Korn Ferry Tour campaign that saw him post seven top 10s (13 top 25s) in 45 events played. Gamers should be ready to hop along for the ride if he builds on that momentum this fall.

The 30-year-old from Australia posted a 9-for-19 record during his 2017 rookie season on the PGA TOUR. That landed him at 196th in the FedExCup race and he’s played just two events on the big stage since then. Spending his time on the Korn Ferry circuit, Drewitt went 23-for-45 during the prolonged double season that included a win and six other top 10s. That was good enough for 24th on the money list, locking up his PGA TOUR card for the upcoming season. More recently, he arrives with finishes outside of the top 60 in three of his last four starts. Gamers should keep an eye on Drewitt this season to see if he acclimates a bit better now that he’s giving it a second go-around on the PGA TOUR.

The 25-year-old split 10 (of 14) fairways and pelted 17 greens on the day. That spectacular ball-striking display set up seven birdies while he swallowed just one bogey, missing the green at the closing par-4 18th. The Aussie finished the regular season ranked 55th on the money list with a 14-for-22 record. Drewitt opened the Web.com Tour Finals with a T28 at the DAP Championship, so any finish near the top would go a long way toward securing PGA TOUR status for the first time in his young career.

The Australian, who lives in Dallas, Texas, made 24 starts on the Web.com Tour in 2016 -- his second season -- and made 15 cuts with three top 25s, two for top 10s, including a career-best T2 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in May. That was good for 55th in regular-season money but secured the promotion with a 16th-place finish in WCT Finals money (excluding The 25), highlighted by a T5 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. The 26-year-old began 2016-17 slotted 33rd in the priority rankings and has bumped four places following the first reshuffle with two cashes in three starts, including a season-best T35 at the Safeway Open in his TOUR debut.

The PGA TOUR rookie began 2016-17 33rd in the WCT Priority Ranking and is 30th following the second reshuffle of the season (post-Genesis Open) with 38 FEC points. He’s 3-for-7 so far in his TOUR career with a best of T33 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, checking in off a missed cut (by five) in his last start at The Honda Classic as an open-qualifier (72-73). The Aussie, who lives in Dallas, played each of the prior two seasons on the junior circuit and has three top 10s in 44 career events with a best of T2 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am last May.

This was the 26-year-old’s 16th career TOUR start -- all this season -- and eclipses a previous-best T31 six starts ago at the Wells Fargo. It was his 47th career round, brushing aside a 65/R2 at the FedEx St. Jude four starts ago, where he finished T60. After opening in 72-68-70, the Aussie began T68 (tied last) on 3-under, and circled 10 birdies against one bogey on 10 (of 14) fairways and 18 greens in regulation, gaining 3.005 strokes approaching-the-green and 2.997 on-the-green.

The rookie makes just his fifth Web.com Tour start of both his career and this season at Club de Golf Mapocho, having made three of his first four cuts without any notable finishes. He bagged eight birdies to just one bogey for his day’s work, and his 14 birdies for the week are tied for the most. It goes without saying that this could be a life-changing week for the Aussie.