John

Oda

The young UNLV product has proven that his game translates to the big stage with three finishes of T11 or better in 12 PGA TOUR appearances. However, his game has hit a wall more recently. Oda arrives with 15 straight worldwide starts without a top-35 finish, including seven straight missed cuts. His longterm pedigree makes him an appealing sleeper for the DFS format but his lack of any form makes him a high-risk option in any format.

The qualifier field terrorized Boulder Creek Golf Club today with 62 golfers posting sub-70 scores and 17 turning in a card of 65 or better. Oda settled for par on two of the par 5s but still managed to string together eight birdies today. The UNLV product and Las Vegas resident will be comfortable in his surroundings this week. Most impressively, he also Monday Q’d into last week’s Safeway Open before going on to finish T40. It seems to just be a matter of time before he breaks out on the main stage. Others to qualify today were Andrew Novak (-9), Dylan Wu (-9), and Isaiah Salinda (-9). Golfers to fall short on 8-under were 17-year-old Gordan Brixi, Tag Ridings, Roberto Diaz, Seamus Power, and David Gazzolo.

Beginning off No. 10 tee, the World No. 498 hit nine (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, gaining 0.753 strokes off-the-tee and 0.938 approaching-the-green. He squared a lone bogey-4 at hole 2 (failed sand save), outflanked by seven birdies at 12, 13, 16, 17, 4, 5 and 9. The UNLV product converted three scoring tries from between 17 and 23 feet, registering a tidy 1.533 putts per GIR and 3.154 SG: Putting. He opened with 70 (3 birdies, 1 bogey). This is the Honolulu native’s 11th career TOUR start with two prior top 10s, including a best of T3 at the 2018 Barracuda, also as an OQer.

The junior from UNLV, nicknamed Joda, was locked in from the start today but the real highlight of the round came at the par-3 seventh when he circled a hole-in-one, climbing to 4-under on the round. Oda has just one PGA TOUR event on his resume, and that was a missed cut at the 2012 edition of the Sony Open (sophomore in high school at the time). His scoring average of 71.63 led the team last year at UNLV en route to 10 top-20 finishes. He will have local knowledge on his side this week but he’s severely lacking in the experience department. At 22nd in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Oda is certainly one to watch closely this week.

The UNLV product go out early with a bogey-free, 64 to start his day and cruised home with a six birdie, two bogey, effort in round two. The Honolulu native has two appearances on the PGA TOUR, both coming at the Sony Open in Hawaii (both missed cuts). Notables to miss the cut at this qualifier include: 138- Beau Hossler; 140- Charlie Beljan; 143- Max Homa, Collin Morikawa; 144- Paul Goydos; 149- Charlie Wi.

The UNLV alum made a big splash earlier this season with a solo 8th at the OHL Classic. The rest of his PGA TOUR career features finishes outside the top 65. Other starts this year include a 3-for-3 record on the Mackenzie Tour. Oda was highly touted out of college so gamers should certainly keep a close eye on him. Other qualifiers include: Ryan Wenzler (-10), Domenico Geminiani (-6), and Kevin Foley (-5). Foley survived a 7-for-1 playoff that included MJ Daffue, Wes Homan, Jason Widener, Kenny Goodykoontz, Blanton Farmer, and Zachary Olsen.

The UNLV alum is very comfortable with Nevada golf and today he took it low at Hidden Valley Country Club in Reno. Oda is not at the level of T.J. Vogel this year but this will be Oda’s fourth time getting through a Monday Qualifier in 2018. He’s yet to convert on those opportunities but he did grab a solo 8th at the OHL Classic last fall when playing on a sponsor’s invite. Oda ranked as high as 20th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings before turning pro early. The upside is there but he does rely more on accuracy than distance which doesn’t always translate on the lengthy PGA TOUR setups. Other than Oda, the other three to qualify were Sulman Raza (-10), Scott Strohmeyer (-9), and Edward Olson (-8).

The UNLV product posted a T3 at the Barracuda Championship to earn his ticket into this week’s event. It was his second top 10 of the season (OHL Classic) as he tries to play his way into some professional status. Today he split 10 (of 14) fairways and landed 15 greens. From there, his flat stick caught fire to the tune of 3.308 strokes gained putting. That included four putts drained from outside 14 feet. The longest came from 41'4" for birdie at the par-4 sixth hole. This is the 10th start of his young career (seventh since turning pro) and it easily eclipses his previous low round (6-under 65, R2 of 2017-18 OHL Classic). Oda doesn’t overpower courses so Sedgefield Country Club is the perfect layout for him to showcase his talents.

The Honolulu native is in the field via a top-10 exemption after finishing a career-best T3 at the opposite-field Barracuda two weeks ago as an open-qualifier. Overall, this is his 10th career TOUR start, seventh this season, four of those as an OQer. The former UNLV golfer made his pro debut at the OHL last fall on a sponsor invite and posted a solo 8th. He’s also 3-for-3 on the Mackenzie Tour this year with three top25s and two top 10s, so despite a small body of work, there’s obvious potential here. At the Barracuda, Oda totaled 22 birdies against seven bogeys and ranked 2nd in SG: Approach (8.590) and was No. 1 in SG: Tee-to-Green (13.187).

UNLV product earned a spot this week through Monday qualifying. It was the fourth time he’s qualified on a Monday this week. He traded 10 birdies with four bogeys over the first two rounds but he circled seven birdies today. The lone blemish came at the par-3 16th when he missed a 7'1" par-saving attempt. On the week, Oda has piped 38 (of 42) fairways to rank 1st in fairways hit. That steady striking is allowing him plenty of scoring chances and that should continue tomorrow.