Davis

Riley

Playing in the late wave one day one, Riley saw his wave average sit around 3-over but Riley went eight shots better. Strong iron play was the recipe for success as he gained 4.4 strokes on approach, second best in the field today. The Alabama product broke his maiden recently with a team win alongside Nick Hardy at the Zurich Classic. He missed four straight cuts after that but is back on track in Ohio. This won’t be his first taste of success here as he was the first-round co-leader in his debut last year, finishing T13 at week’s end. “I want to say I played in the morning first round last year, so I think the afternoon 5-under was a little bit better.”

Riley joined forces with Nick Hardy last week to claim their breakout wins in NOLA. The win locked up status and gave them a big chunk of FedExCup Points. As you might expect, they’ve both now withdrawn from the field ahead of this week’s event in Mexico. Gamers should be willing to reinvest as soon as they return to action since this is not an injury-related WD.

Hardy was originally slated to play with Thomas Detry this week but had to reshuffle in the last few weeks when Detry got a request from the Ryder Cup captain to play with Victor Perez instead. Hardy (and Riley) are very glad they joined forces as they are now both first-time PGA TOUR winners. Commenting on the breakthrough Riley said the following, “It was nerve-racking honestly. Any time you’re trying to win a golf tournament, more or less to get your first win is always tough. You’re going to have to kind of step up there and hit some shots. Fortunately, we were able to kind of execute some really good shots coming down the stretch, and it was really fun.” They both climb from outside of the top 80 to inside of the top 40 with this win. Both youngsters have shown a lot of promise in recent years so gamers should watch closely to see if this opens the floodgates for them in terms of piling up more wins.

Riley caught fire with the short game today, gaining 1.7 strokes around-the-green and 2.1 strokes putting. His round matched Webb Simpson as the low round of the day on Sunday. The putter was Riley’s main tool for the week, ranked 4th in SGP over the course of the week. This was a much-needed big finish for the youngster who had gone 20 straight events without a top-10 finish. That came immediately after a stretch of golf that saw him post four top 10s in a five-event period. Gamers should watch closely to see if this sparks a similar rally.

Riley roared out of the gate last week in a home game at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He co-led after day one and ultimately finished T19 at week’s end. He called it his “fifth major” playing back at home in Mississippi so it’s understandable if he needs some time to recharge. Gamers should remove him from all weekly-lineup consideration at the Shriners. For Endycott, he was bumped on Sunday when Thomas Detry bagged a top 10 at the SFC to earn his seat in the Shriners field. This puts him back in line for a start at TPC Summerlin.

Riley opened with a 6-under 66 to grab a share of the opening-round lead alongside Will Gordon, and he followed with a 1-under 71 to head into the weekend at 7 under. Riley’s three blemishes on the second-round scorecard all came from close range: he failed to get up and down from 25 feet off the fringe on No. 13, then added three-putt bogeys on Nos. 17 (from 70 feet) and No. 8 (from 20 feet). Riley did manage four birdies on the day, but they all came from close range as his longest made putt was 7 feet 7 inches. One day after picking up 3.335 strokes with his putter, Riley dropped -1.856 strokes on the greens Friday. Despite the putting woes, he’s still very much in the mix as he looks to earn his first PGA Tour victory in his home state: At 7 under, Riley sits one shot behind Mark Hubbard and three shots behind leader Thomas Detry with several players still yet to complete their second rounds in Jackson.

Riley is a local product so he is very comfortable at the Country Club of Jackson. It hasn’t translated to success in previous editions (39th, MC, MC) but he’s flipping that script this week. “I have so many friends and family here. I want to perform. It just would be a really, really special tournament to win. Yeah, that’s the thing. I just have to take it day-by-day and treat it like every other tournament. It’s easy to put that added pressure on yourself, but I just think that hinders you from playing your best golf. Why I haven’t played my best here in the past. I’m going to take it day-by-day and continue the stress-free golf that I played today.” Riley took an unconventional route to his blemish-free round as he split just five (of 14) fairways and landed 12 GIR. From there, he gained strokes on 14-of-18 holes to really squeeze the most juice out of today’s lemon. This will be his second career first-round lead or co-lead (T13/2022 Memorial Tournament).

The Mississippi native will be making his 42nd career start this week and his fourth start at the Country Club of Jackson (39th, MC, MC). “Sanderson Farms was one of the first tournaments that I got one of my first PGA starts at, so it’s always had a special place in my heart, and this is my fifth major, so it’s definitely one I’ve had chalked up on the calendar and would have liked to have a chance to win at one day.” While he’s always flashed potential, he didn’t really explode on the PGA TOUR scene until this summer when he rattled six straight top-15 finishes. He opens the week at 35/1 in the outright betting market.

The 25-year-old, making his tourney debut, arrived a lofty 23rd in the FedExCup standings but off a mini slump of T64 at the Travelers and a pair of missed cuts at the 3M Open (73-71) and again at last week’s Rocket Mortgage (71-73). With opening salvos of 67-66 this week, he’s back in the top 10 at halfway for a seventh time this season in 27 starts and is chasing a seventh top-10 finish. On nine (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, the Alabama alum’s lone blemish was a 3-putt double at 11 (from 53'11"), camouflaged by an eagle-3 at 5 (12'2") and four birdies at 1 (hole-out from 33'5"), 8, 15 and 16 (34'0"). At press time, he ranks 2nd SG: Tee-to-Green with a cumulative 6.288, and 77th SG: Putting (0.045). See link below to post-round comments.

Riley was locked in for weeks during the Spring portion of the schedule. He racked up five straight top 15s before settling for a T31 at the U.S. Open and a T64 at the Travelers Championship. He wasn’t qualified for The Open so he also didn’t bother to play the Scottish Open. That gave him three weeks of rest but it’s time to shake off the rust and get back into gear ahead of the FedExCup Playoffs. Riley is currently 23rd in the FedExCup standings. Most years that would have him easily pacing the Rookie of the Year race but right now he’s chasing Cameron Young (13th in the FedExCup).