Jonas

Blixt

Blixt is playing just his ninth event of the season and he arrived with just a single top-60 on his resume. This round was a surprise to most gamers and also a surprise to Blixt himself, “At this point when you don’t have that much confidence in your game and you find something, you just kind of go out and see where you swing at it, and that’s what happened. I mean, 62 doesn’t happen very often on the PGA TOUR, at least not for me.” He gained a massive 5.2 strokes on approach today. This will go in the books as his second time holding a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (T35/2014 Greenbrier Classic).

The PGA TOUR rookie is 3-for-9 this season with two missed cuts since returning from the holiday break. There is no word on what caused this late WD but gamers should remove him from all weekly fantasy rosters.

The 33-year-old from New Zealand last played at the Travelers, where he withdrew due to a hip injury. Since then, he also withdrew his name from last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. On the season, he’s made 11 cuts in 21 starts with three top 10s -- including a T-10 at the recent RBC Canadian Open in June. For Blixt, it will mark his eighth appearance at Sedgefield CC, where he’s made four cuts with a top 10 in 2014. On the season, the 38-year-old Swede has made five cuts in 20 starts with his best finish being a T-28 at the Canadian Open.

The 38-year-old Blixt earned medalist honors with rounds of 67-65 to finish at 10 under, with Tarren (68-65) and Kodaira (68-65) one shot back. Blixt, a three-time Tour winner, is currently competing on a major medical extension and has missed eight of his last nine cuts on the Tour. Most recently, he withdrew from the AT&T Byron Nelson due to food poisoning but said Monday he felt things are moving in the right direction: “I think too much on the golf course, technically,” he said. “Today I just wanted to go out and not think too much and just play, and I did OK with that. Made some putts and things are going a lot better with my game. It was nice to see that today.” Finishing as first alternate was Canada’s Jared DuToit, with Derek Bard as second alternate. Among those missing out for next week at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., are Greyson Sigg, J.J. Spaun, Ryan Armour, Paul Barjon and David Lipsky.

The 38-year-old, playing this season a Major Medical Extension, has two starts remaining to earn 237.448 FedExCup points to meet the terms. He checked in 2-for-12 on the season, earning 15.329 FEC points with a T65 at the Shriners back in October and a T42 at the AT&T Pebble Beach five starts ago, where he was T3 after R1 (64-72-73-72). The Swede, who is a mid-tourney WD for the first time in 213 events, owns 13 career top 10s, most recently a solo 5th at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge, and is a 3-time TOUR winner, most recently the 2017 Zurich (teamed with Cam Smith) 80 starts ago. After beginning with a 1-under 71, he opened his scoring today with birdie-4 at 12 before squaring six bogeys at 14, 16, 17, 1, 2 and 3, calling it quits at 5-over thru 12 holes and 4-over total.

The 37-year-old, who carded the low lap of the day at MP, has eight starts remaining on the medical, including this week, to earn 248.877 FedExCup points to satisfy the terms, and so far through seven starts has collected a measly 3.9 points. This is his first time in the top 10 after 18 holes since the 2019 Charles Schwab 23 starts ago, where he was T4 and went on to be the 36-hole leader by one before finishing solo 5th (67-64-74-68), his most recent of 13 career top 10s. On nine (of 13) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, the Swede opened with bogey-5 at hole 1 but then played his final 17 in error-free 8-under, circling eight birdies at 5, 6, 9-11, 13, 16 and 17 (1.429 putts per GIR). One of his seven career top-3 finishes on TOUR came here four tries ago in 2016, where he finished solo 3rd, T16 after 18 holes (67-69-67-69), and will head on over to Pebble Beach GL for Friday’s second round. See link below to post-round comments.

The Swede returned from injury in the middle of last season and picked up three paychecks in eight events played. Since the switch to the new season, he is just 1-for-3 with a T65 at the Shriners Children’s Open. Consistency making his way to the weekend was never his strength, even when at full health. Over the course of his career, he boasts a cuts-made ratio of just slightly over 50 percent (110-for-203) but has turned seven of those paydays into podium finishes. Blixt will remain a risky week-to-week fantasy option but when he does finally pop again, it wouldn’t be surprising if he found himself right in the thick of contention. If you heavily weigh course history then you probably won’t favor Blixt this week as he’s just 1-for-3 at El Camaleon Golf Course with a solo 60th at the 2019 edition being his lone payday in Playa del Carmen.

The Swede lost nearly two years due to injury but he made his PGA TOUR return at the Valspar Championship, in early May. He missed the cut that week but has gone 2-for-4 since then with a T65 at the Wells Fargo Championship and a T36 last week at the Travelers Championship. Blixt gained 4.4 strokes off-the-tee at TPC River Highlands and another 4.1 strokes putting. The Florida State product may have missed a good chuck of time but he does sport some history at Detroit Golf Club. He posted a T29 finish during the inaugural 2019 edition, gaining strokes in all four sub-categories of strokes gained that week. It may be too early to hop on the train for weekly gamers but it may be worth keeping an eye on him to see where his game trends.

The Swede was last seen on the PGA TOUR when he missed the cut at the 2019 Northern Trust, 626 days ago. There is no official word on his injury but he has dealt with back injuries over the course of his career. More recently, Blixt has used his allocated warm-up starts on the Korn Ferry circuit, missing the cut in 4-of-5 starts with a T70 at the Louisiana Open being his lone cut made. The 37-year-old will now be playing on a Major Medical Extension with 23 starts to earn 276 FedExCup Points. Gamers should watch him closely this week but keep their expectations at a reasonable level, given his long layoff and his lackluster recent results on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The Swede shut things down after the 2019 season and didn’t play a single PGA TOUR event last year. There has been no official word on his injury but he has a long history with herniated discs and nerve compression issues in his back. Blixt will have 23 starts on a Major Medical Extension when he returns to the PGA TOUR. Before that, he decided to test the water this fall on the Korn Ferry Tour. Blixt posted rounds of 75-70=145 to miss the cut by nine shots. The 36-year-old had finished inside of the top 125 FedExCup in each of his first six seasons on TOUR so gamers should look to buy-low if he proves a clean bill of health early in the 2021 schedule.