Jared

Wolfe

The 34-year-old, who’s making his tourney debut and arrived off three straight missed cuts, has tossed up laps of 68-69-66, Rounds 2 and 3 error-free, and is bogey-free 12-under for his last 50 holes. On eight (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation, he penciled five birdies at holes 1, 2, 6, 16 and 17, two from between 16 and 20 feet, recording 2.149 SG: Tee-to-Green and 0.516 SG: Putting. This is the Murray State alum’s 21st career event, all this season, arrived 205th in the FedExCup standings, and is in prime position for a first top-25 finish, looking to better a T28 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open 10 starts ago, where he was T32 thru 54 holes.

This was a gritty performance for Wolfe as he gave himself just two scoring chances from inside of 18 feet today. He also needed two par-savers from 12 feet to keep his card clean. He gained 1.334 strokes putting today to go along with +2.957 SGP in round one. Wolfe entered the week at just 205th in the FedExCup race and it’s crunch time with only three events, counting this week, to rack up those FEC Points. Wolfe did a great job to squeeze the most juice out of today’s round but he’ll need to give himself more chances to score if he wants to stay in the hunt all weekend.

The 34-year-old is one of 47 first-timers this week at TPC Twin Cities and the only one to reside in the top 10 after Day 1. On seven (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, he posted 0.409 SG: Off-the-Tee, 0.202 SG: Approach, 1.213 SG: Around and 2.957 SG: Putting with 28 total putts. The Kentucky native circled six at holes 3, 5, 6, 10, 13 (hole-out from 13'9" away) and 16, four conventionally from between nine and 26 feet, taking some luster off with double bogey-6 at 2 (watered second) and bogey-4 at 4 (3-putt from 58'2"). He checked in 205th in the FedExCup standings and off six missed cuts in his last seven (T51, Byron Nelson), is in the top 10 for the first time after any round (50 rounds played), and is still searching for a top-25 finish, his best a T28 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open back in March (70-71-69-70).

Wolfe has been out of action since a T51 at the AT&T Byron Nelson three weeks ago and will remain dormant. The PGA TOUR rookie is 5-for-12 this season and currently sits outside of the top 200 in the FedExCup standings. Gamers can keep him off their radar for the foreseeable future as he’s yet to land a top 25 on the big stage.

The 33-year-old from Kentucky is 1-for-6 to start his rookie campaign. The lone payday was a T63 at The RSM Classic. What’s holding him back so far? He’s losing strokes to the field in all four sub-categories of strokes gained but the worst of the bunch is approach play (-0.807 SG:Approach per Round). Wolfe won twice last season on the Korn Ferry circuit so it’s too early to write him off after a slow start. However, gamers may want to wait until they see some hints of form before investing in weekly fantasy formats.

The 39-year-old Scotsman made four starts in the fall season, finishing T-11 at the Shriners Children’s Open and T-22 at the Mayakoba, but missing cuts at the Sanderson Farms and in his last start at the Houston Open. Last season, Laird made 14 cuts in 27 starts and was 75th on the FedExCup standings with a win at the Shriners for his only top-10 finish of the year. Playing on a sponsor exemption at TPC Summerlin in 2020, Laird a 23-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to beat Matthew Wolff and Austin Cook after they tied at 23-under 261. It marked Laird’s fourth PGA Tour win and his first in 7 1/2 years. Wolfe will look for a rebound performance after missing the cut last week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He’s made just one cut in six starts in the new season, finishing T-63 at the RSM Classic.

Courtesy of a 12-under 60, Jared Wolfe will be making his way to Las Vegas this week for the Shriners Children’s Open. Beginning his day 3-under through his first six-holes, the 33-year-old was in need of a spark given the low scores of Monday’s qualifiers. He found just that, summoning nine consecutive birdies, Wolfe stood at 12-under with three holes to play. Hitting the pin on his final hole of the day, Wolfe’s ball careened off the flagstick, settling 30-feet away. Securing his par, Wolfe also secured his spot in this week’s PGA Tour event. Making his third start on the PGA Tour this season, he will need to carry the momentum from Boulder Creek Golf Club to TPC Summerlin. Missing the cut at both the Fortinet Championship and the Sanderson Farms Championship, perhaps a memorable round such as this can lift Wolfe into the weekend in Las Vegas.