Hudson

Swafford

The St. Simons Island, Georgia, resident owns three TOUR victories in 213 events, all come-from-behind versions. Most recently, he came from three back (T5) nine starts ago at this season’s American Express (as a past champ), firing a day-tying-low 8-under 64 to win by two. After opening with a pair of 69s, he began T14, and outpaced two bogeys with seven birdies, three from between 10 and 22 feet, and also saved par at 7 from 19'6". Thru 54 holes, the 34-year-old ranks 42nd SG: Tee-to-Green (2.024), including a lowly 66th in Around (-1.762), but 2nd in SG: Putting, including a 2.229 SGP today. He’ll play out of the third-to-last pairing on Sunday with past champ Matt Kuchar. See link below to post-round comments.

The 34-year-old (LQ-NT-SC), a pre-tourney 150/1 outright and 20/1 entering the finale, bags his third PGA TOUR title in 205 events, all three in come-from-behind fashion, and posts a winning total of 23-under 265. His maiden win came here in 2017, on the same rotation (LQ-NT-SC), where he came from two back (T3) with 5-under 67 to win by one, and his most recent before Sunday was last season’s stand-alone Corales (Sep. 2020) 36 starts ago, also as a pre-tourney 150/1 outright, where he came from two back (2nd) with 3-under 69 to win by one. The Georgia alum, who checked in off a T48 at last week’s Sony, was making his ninth visit to the AmEx, records his second top 10, both wins, and improves to 6-for-9 on the season, replacing a prior-best T32 at the Shriners five starts ago. After kicking off with 70-65-66, he began in a six-way T5, and landed 10 (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation. The Florida native went out in 3-under (4 birdies, 1 bogey), now T2, two back of overnight co-leader Lee Hodges (70), and came home in a crazy 5-under, adding five circles at 10, 11, 12, 14 and 17, squaring two bogeys at 13 (3-putt from 57'4") and 15, and seized control with an eagle-3 at 16 from 8'1" after an approach from 198 yards. For the week, he tallied one eagle and 29 birdies, No. 1 in total birdies, against eight bogeys, and played his weekend laps at the Stadium Course in 66-64. At press time, Swafford is in the field at this coming week’s Farmers. See link below to post-round presser.

The 34-year-old owns two TOUR wins in 204 events, most recently last season’s stand-alone Corales (Sep. 2020) 36 starts ago. His maiden victory came here in 2017, which remains his only top 10 in the event in eight prior visits, and in each of his victories, he’s come from two shots back, which is where he is now, trailing clubhouse leader Tom Hoge. The Georgia alum, who opened 70-65 (LQ-NT), squared one bogey today on 12 greens in regulation (penalty off-the-tee), outflanked by seven birdies at 12, 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9 (fringe-shot from 13'6"), two conventionally from between 30 and 38 feet. This is his first time in the top 10 after 54 holes since the 2021 BMW Championship nine starts ago in the FedExCup Playoffs, where he was T9 before finishing T17 (67-66-68-72). See link below to post-round comments.

Gaining strokes on approach in five consecutive outings to end his swing season, Swafford’s ball-striking carried the load for him this past fall. Collecting top-40 finishes at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT, WWT Championship at Mayakoba, and the Houston Open, the 34-year-old was just a cooperative short-game away from garnering memorable results. Hoping Harman can pick up where he slacks off, the duo has a great opportunity to ham-and-egg their way around Tiburón Golf Club given the potential of their skillsets to compliment each other.

The 34-year-old Harman won the Shootout at Tiburon with another Sea Island resident, Patton Kizzire, in 2019, when the two beat Emiliano Grillo and Graeme McDowell by a shot. Swafford will be making his tournament debut in Naples. Harman arrives at Tiburon for his fourth Shootout appearance off a T-61 at the RSM Classic. He’s made five starts in the new season, making three cuts and missing out at the Shriners and Mayakoba. His T-54 at the Houston Open is his best finish this fall. Last season, Harman was 41st on the FedExCup standings, making 24 cuts (a career high) in 28 starts with five top 10s. He finished T-3 at The Players and T-5 at the WGC-Match Play in consecutive starts to crack the top 50 in the world ranking and qualify for the Masters, where he finished T-12.

After struggling in the early parts of the fall, Swafford’s ball-striking has come to his aid. Gaining strokes off-the-tee and on approach in five consecutive outings, the two-time winner on the PGA Tour appears ready to add a third title soon. Capturing top-35 finishes at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT, World Wide Technology Championship, and the Houston Open, Swafford now returns home. Unable to find his footing at Sea Island in the past, Swafford has missed the cut four times in his eight RSM Classic starts. In order to right the ship and perform on his home turf, the 34-year-old will need to see an improvement around-the-green. Losing strokes to the field in 11 consecutive measured tournaments dating back to last season, if Swafford is able to flip the script in said category, he could turn in the best finish of his RSM Classic career.

Swafford played alongside Robert Streb (-11) and Carlos Ortiz (-1) today. The trio would have shot 16-under in a scramble today. For Swafford, he did most of the heavy lifting with his putter. He rolled home five birdie putts from outside of 11 feet and also saved par from 14'2" at the par-3 16th. He walked off the course gaining 4.287 strokes putting (2nd). If Swafford can maintain this pace throughout the week it won’t be his first taste of desert-golf success as he won the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge out at PGA WEST.

Winning the first of two Corales Punta Cana Resort and Club Championships last season, the 34-year-old got off to a dream start in his 2020-21 season. Playing with house money from there on out, Swafford was a boom-or-bust option during the majority of the year. Missing 16 cuts in total, Swafford still found himself with a realistic opportunity to play into the Tour Championship. Sitting at 31st in the FedEx Cup standings heading into the final round of the BMW Championship, it wasn’t meant to be, but it goes to show how meaningful a strong start to the fall swing can be. Coupling his victory with a runner-up effort at the Palmetto Championship and a strong playoff push, Swafford will likely want to be a bit more consistent this season. Making his sixth appearance in Napa this week, Swafford has made five of five cuts at Silverado, including a top-10 finish in 2014, the first year this tournament was moved to the resort.

The 33-year-old, the lowest-ranked OWGRer in the field, is making his first appearance at the BMW since T40 in 2017 and has never made it to the playoffs finale at East Lake in seven previous seasons. His best finish in the FedExCup standings is 38th in 2017, buoyed by his maiden win at the CareerBuilder, and at the moment, is up nine spots to 31st in the season-long points race, 11.502 FEC points short of 30th on the list Patrick Reed, who is idle. The Georgia alum, who added a second TOUR victory at the stand-alone Corales back in September, will play out of the fifth-to-last twosome in R4 with reigning FEC champ Dustin Johnson. Thru 54 holes, he’s recorded laps of 67-66-68, tallied 18 birdies against three bogeys, and ranks 7th in SG: Approach (3.022) and 5th in SG: Putting (6.038), though 40th in SG: Off-the-Tee (-0.298) and 58th in SG: Around (-1.399).

Swafford didn’t impress with traditional metrics today (8-of-14 fairways and 13 GIR). Yet, his good approach shots were really good (+1.5 SG:Approach) and he caught fire with the flat stick (+3.9 SG:Putting). There were a lot of mid-range putts falling but he also poured home a trio of putts from outside of 15 feet. He ranks second for the week in putting as he gained nearly two strokes putting on day one, as well. The Georgia Bulldog has never made it to East Lake but that could change if he keeps his foot on the gas this weekend. Starting at 40th in the FedExCup race, he is currently projected to move up to 23rd, with his current positioning of T3 on the live leaderboard.