Johnson

Wagner

The three-time TOUR winner has gone three seasons without a top-25 finish. He’ll get a chance to change that in Bermuda this week, or at least make an attempt. Wagner played just six events last season and slammed his trunk early in four of them. Wagner will be making his fourth start at Port Royal with a missed cut, 45th place and 51st place on his tournament resume.

The 42-year-old Wagner last played at the start of July at the John Deere Classic, where he missed the cut. The three-time Tour winner is playing on Past Champions status, and has made just two cuts in six starts this season, with four straight missed cuts including in his last start at the John Deere Classic in early July. There is no reason attached to his WD but gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups. Meanwhile, the Barracuda will make the eighth Tour start this season for Potter, who has yet to make a cut. Most recently he shot 75-68 to miss the cut at the Barbasol.

Wagner is playing on Past Champions status so starts are tough to find. He is just 2-for-6 this season with four straight missed cuts including one last week at the John Deere Classic. There is no reason attached to his WD but gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups and wait for a spark of form before considering a reinvestment.

Carding an opening 5-under 66 in the first-round of the Bermuda Championship last season, the former Virginia Tech Hokie eventually finished in a tie for 45th. Making three cuts in his 12 PGA Tour starts since, the 41-year-old has struggled with his ball-striking. Losing strokes to the field in said category in each of those starts, Wagner’s week is typically dependent on how hot his putter gets. Posting +3.7, +5.4, and +4.1 Strokes Gained: Putting in his three made cuts, Wagner will likely once again need a great week on the greens to make the weekend. Boasting a career scoring average of 71.17 in his two appearances at Port Royal Golf Course, Wagner has his work cut out for him this week.

Wagner enters the week with a 6-for-21 record since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. It’s been a rough two-year stretch but perhaps a happy hunting ground will provide the spark he needs. Wagner has rattled off top 20s in four of his last six starts at TPC Deere Run, with three of those doubling as top 10s. He had this to say about the course back in 2018, “I feel like I have a lot wedge opportunities. I like it off the tee. I putt well here. I love the people. I mean, just everything about it.” If there were ever a chance to take a chance on Wagner in weekly fantasy formats, this would be it, but he remains a high-risk option, given his lack of any prolonged form over the last two years.

The Charlotte resident is making his 14th career appearance at this event and still hoping to pick up his first top 10. He came close in 2018 when he landed a T13 finish but most years he finishes out of the money (seven missed cuts in 13 tries). His lack of tournament success is not for the lack of course knowledge. He said this while contending back in 2018, “It’s my home course. I’m a member here so I play here, I don’t know, if I’m on a week off, I play here four, five times a week.” Playing on conditional status only, Wagner has managed just one cut made in eight starts this season. He is relying on a sponsor’s invite to crack the field this week.

Wagner split six (of 14) fairways but was still able to manage 16 greens in regulation. That allowed his putter lots of opportunity to shine, “I really made a lot of putts. I didn’t particularly have my best stuff off the tee today, which was a little disappointing, but new caddie on the bag, Chris Jones, and we just picked the right clubs.” Wagner took 29 swipes with the flat stick which isn’t particularly notable so this appears to be a case where his putting was better than traditional metrics would indicate. Wagner arrived on the heels of four straight missed cuts so perhaps this caddie switch was necessary to provide a spark in his game.

Playing on conditional status, Wagner is just 2-for-7 this season. He cashed in one of five events in the fall, a T64 at The Greenbrier. He proceeded to miss the cut in his first start of 2020 before posting a T35 at the alternate-field Puerto Rico Open. Scrambling has been an issue as he ranks just 200th in strokes gained around-the-green, losing strokes in that department in 80% of his measured rounds this season. Perhaps feeling the pressure more than usual, Wagner also dropped down to play a Korn Ferry Tour event, missing the cut at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. That was his first KFT start, outside of Korn Ferry Finals events, since 2006. The 39-year-old will now have some forced time off due to the Coronavirus pandemic. He may find it tougher than usual to find starts when play resumes, if mid- and lower-tier golfers play a busier schedule to make up for the lost time.

With preferred lies being utilized today, Wagner took full advantage with 11-of-14 fairways hit. From there, he peppered 15 greens with +3.8 strokes gained on approach in the process. By day’s end, he gave himself 10 scoring chances from inside 14 feet and converted on seven of them. Playing his 31st round at Sedgefield Country Club, this beats his previous-low round of 64 which he did in R2 of the 2017 edition. Wagner started the week ranked 156th in the FedExCup standings so he could really use a big finish this week.

The Charlotte resident enters with a 6-for-12 record at this event. Home cooking hasn’t been all it’s cracked up to be but Wagner did pop with a T13 last year. He was T2 after R1 with an opening 4-under 67. “It’s my home course. I’m a member here so I play here, I don’t know, if I’m on a week off, I play here four, five times a week.” Sitting in the bottom 30 in driving distance in this field, Wagner doesn’t have the ideal game for the lengthy layout this week but his local knowledge does bring him back into the equation like we saw last year. Wagner has just two finishes inside the top 30 this season but he did post a runner-up finish at the Puerto Rico Open so there is still some upside lurking for this three-time TOUR winner.