Chesson

Hadley

Hadley had his game clicking today but he cited his short game for being the star of the show. “I putted great. I did a lot of things well. My iron play was pretty sharp. But the putter was the MVP. That’s the strength of my game. I just need to give myself enough opportunities and we’ll be in good shape. I was able to do that today.” Hadley piped 10-of-15 fairways and landed 13 GIR, both inside of the top 20 from the morning wave. From there, he gained one stroke around-the-green and two strokes putting. Hadley arrived on the heels of four straight missed cuts but has flipped that script through 18 holes at Oakdale. If this co-lead hold it would be his third time holding a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR and first since the 2021 John Deere Classic.

This was the North Carolinian’s fourth 3M and second cash, brushing aside a prior-best T58 last year, and his third top 10 of the season in 26 events, third in his last five starts. For the week, he signed for rounds of 68-69-66-72, totaled one eagle and 17 birdies against 10 bogeys, and ranked 32nd SG: Tee-to-Green (3.629) and 6th SG: Putting (5.849), lowlighted by a -0.521 SGP in R4, his first negative number of the week with the flat stick. The 35-year-old, who is in the published field at this coming week’s Rocket Mortgage, checked in 143rd in the FedExCup standings, is projected to bump to 130th, and had a similar late-season charge in 2021 to finish 125th in the final FEC points race and maintain his fully exempt status.

The North Carolinian made a late-season push in 2021, culminating with a T15 at the Wyndham, which moved him from 132nd in the FedExCup standings to 125th, securing the final spot in the FEC Playoffs. Joining him with a T15 that week at the regular-season-ending Wyndham was Piercy, who also moved in (from 126 to 116) with that finish, and both players entered this week outside the required number, Piercy at 138th, and Hadley at 143rd. The Georgia Tech alum owns two top 10s this season in 25 events, a solo 5th at the Travelers, followed a week later by a T10 at the John Deere, both thru the backdoor, and after opening this week with 68-69, is on a run of six consecutive made cuts after missing 14 out of his first 20 cuts on the season. At the halfway pole, he’s tallied 10 birdies against five bogeys, five versus three today, and ranks 73rd SG: Off-the-Tee (-2.907), 13th SG: Approach (3.625), 18th SG: Around (1.200), and 3rd SG: Putting (5.146).

The 34-year-old backdoored a solo 5th at last week’s Travelers, firing a bogey-free 64 out of the 11th-to-last twosome (T19), and walks through the backdoor again this week Sunday from T21. On nine (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, he outpaced two squares at 16 (missed par-saver from 43 inches) and 18 (3-putt from 79'3"), with six birdies at 1, 5, 7 (hole-out from 18'0" away), 9, 13 and 17, three conventionally from between 11 and 27 feet. This was the Georgia Tech alum’s sixth Deere and second top 25 (T25, 2017), his second top 10 of the season in 23 events, and records back-to-back top 10s for the first time since the fall of the 2017-18 season: 2nd, Sanderson Farms; T4, Shriners. For the week, he handed in laps of 67-69-67-67, tallied 22 birdies versus eight bogeys, and ranked 10th SG: Tee-to-Green (7.960) and 41st SG: Putting (0.707), highlighted by a 0.822 SGP in R4. The North Carolinian is in the published field at this coming week’s Barbasol in Kentucky.

The 34-year-old finished 125th on the number in last season’s FedExCup standings, mustering one top 10 in 27 events, a T2 at the fill-in Palmetto Championship 1 year and two weeks ago, where he was the 36- and 54-hole leader (65-66-68-75). This week, he arrived 206th in the FEC standings, a dismal 7-for-21 on the season with no top 25s, and after posting laps of 68-67-67-64, heads to this coming week’s John Deere Classic at 160th in FEC points. The Georgia Tech alum, who cashes his first paycheck at the Travelers in his sixth try, totaled one eagle, a 2 today at 15 from just off-the-green (28'1") with the flat stick, and 18 birdies against six bogeys, and ranked 18th SG: Tee-to-Green (5.037), lifted by a 4th-place ranking around-the-green (4.466), and 8th SG: Putting (6.351), 0.829 of that on Sunday.

The 34-year-old, who finished 125th in the FedExCup standings last season, arrived off a missed cut at the Fortinet (71-76) and a T45 at last week’s Sanderson Farms (69-69-67-73). This is his eighth Shriners with three prior top 10s, two of those doubling as top 5s, most recently a best of T4 at the 2018 edition (74-65-69-68). Today’s 64 is the Georgia Tech alum’s best at TPC Summerlin in 25 laps, previously 65(x3), and included five birdies, two from between 11 and 20 feet, and a hole-out eagle-2 at 7 from 121 yards away. He landed 10 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, and at last glance, posted 0.690 SG: Off-the-Tee, 3.102 SG: Approach, -1.199 SG: Around, and 2.127 SG: Putting.

The 34-year-old Hadley got a big boost from his round Saturday at Sedgefield CC, where he made an ace from 160 yards out on the 16th and carded an 8-under 62 to move help move from 132nd into the 125th position. He told media on Wednesday at Liberty National GC that he knows he needs a similar rally to move into the top 70 and continue his playoffs run. “I’m playing with house money,” said Hadley, whose only PGA Tour win came at the 2014 Puerto Rico Open. “I’m on credit at the casino, and I can just kind of let it go. I think I need to set a new goal to -- I probably need to figure out exactly what I need to finish to get inside the top 70, so I need to set a new goal, figure out kind of where I need to finish, and just kind of look at the leaderboards and kind of get motivated and figure out a way to get to that number and obviously try and win the golf tournament. But you can’t win the golf tournament until Sunday. Let’s just put ourselves in position and see what happens.” On the season, Hadley has made 14 cuts in 26 events with his best result being a T-2 at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. In four previous starts at the Northern Trust, he’s made three cuts with a best finish of T-43 in 2019.

The 34-year-old, who aced the 175-yard par-3 16th and walked off with birdie at 9 from 5'6", advances by 1.22 FedExCup points over 126th in the points race Justin Rose, who walked off with bogey and fell into a five-way T10. He ends the regular season with seven top 25s in 26 events and one top 10, a T2 at the one-time Palmetto seven starts ago, where he was the 36- and 54-hole leader, the latter by four shots. For the week, the Georgia Tech alum carded rounds of 68-69-69-62, tallied one eagle and 23 birdies against 13 bogeys, and makes the Playoffs for the fifth time in eight seasons, first since finishing 80th in the standings in 2019. See link below to post-round comments.

Hadley traded four birdies with one bogey on his opening 10 holes today and then headed home with eight straight pars. He did that without his best stuff today, “I felt like I was getting a little loose there on the way in. Just go to the range, tighten a few things up and get ready for the weekend.” Through 36 holes, Hadley ranks just 109th off-the-tee but 6th on approach and 8th around-the-green (50th in putting). The Georgia Tech product popped recently with a runner-up finish at the Palmetto Championship but he still has work to do this season, arriving at 116th in the FedExCup race.

This is the North Carolinian’s second 18-hole lead/co-lead in 193 events, first since the 2018 PLAYERS, where he was T1 with five others before ultimately finishing T11 (66-69-75-67). His lone top-10 finish this season in 21 events came three starts ago at the one-time Palmetto, where was T2 after R1 and then the 36- and 54-hole leader (by four), before 4-over 75 for a six-way T2. On eight (of 14) fairways and 16 greens in regulation, the Georgia Tech alum lost 0.342 strokes off the tee but gained 4.140 on approach, No. 1 in the latter. He rang up eight circles at 10, 14, 17, 18, 3, 4 (fringe-shot from 25'3"), 7 and 8, three conventionally from between 13 and 25 feet, recording 1.845 with the flat stick.