Jonathan

Randolph

Randolph is a member at this week’s venue and says it’s the only course he’s actually a member at. This truly is his home course. After finishes of T73, MC, and T65 here, that local knowledge finally paid off with a solo third at last year’s SFC. He injured his shoulder the following week which likely explains his downward slide in 2018 performance. Entering the week he needs 211.376 FedExCup Points to meet the terms of his minor medical extension. “If I’ve got one shot to get status back for the coming year, I’d rather it be here in front of the home crowd in a place I’ve had success before.” Randolph arrives with 26 straight finishes outside the top 35.

The former first-team All-American at the University of Mississippi posted a four-stroke victory to lead 20 qualifiers at the site. Afterwards, he wrote the following on Twitter: “Well had a solid 65 today to finish off 1st stage Q School and get the W. Now time to catch up on classwork and get ready for Second stage!” He’s wrapping up his degree in managerial finance. Among those that failed to advance include former PGA TOUR member, Tom Johnson (4-over 292), who missed the cut on the number.

Randolph was a first-team All-American at the University of Mississippi, so he’s right at home at Annandale. He hit 12 greens in regulation and buried nine birdies to neutralize three bogeys. His set included 4s on each of the par 5s. He tied for 21st here last year in what stands as his only top-60 finish in three career starts on the PGA TOUR.

The Ole Miss alum calls Oxford home and lists the Country Club of Jackson as his home course. That should give him a big leg up on the competition to start the week, but he’ll still need to go out there and hit the shots. Randolph is just starting his second stint on the PGA TOUR, with his first go-round ending in an 11-for-25 record (2014-15). The 28-year-old has just three top 25s in 31 career starts, but this is certainly a good opportunity to increase that tally, given his in-depth course knowledge. Randolph has a pair of top 25s at this event, but nothing better than T73 since the event moved to his home course.

The 28-year-old returns to the big leagues after a one-year hiatus. His rookie campaign in 2014-15 resulted in a 179th-place finish in the FedExCup standings with only 11 made cuts in 25 starts and one top 25 (T20, Wells Fargo). The Mississippi native and resident finds his way back to the main circuit after an 18-for-23 season on the Web.com Tour, with 10 top 25s, four for top 10s. He finished 13th on the regular-season money list, buoyed by a pair of T2s, and is making his second start at the Safeway (MC/2015).

The 28-year-old was 4th alternate when the field was first published but got in on a sponsor exemption. He’s made just one cut in five starts this season, a T65 at the opposite-field Sanderson Farms. The Mississippi native and resident began the season 30th in the priority rankings and has dipped to 41st following the first reshuffle. He missed the cut by three in 2015 on laps of 74-72.

The Web.com Tour grad arrived without a top 50 on the PGA TOUR since the 2015 Barbasol Championship (T39). He’s on pace to easily find a top 50, but also has a chance to secure his career best on TOUR, currently a T14 at the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship (played right in his back yard at Annandale GC). There is no local knowledge this week, but Randolph is still cruising. On the week he’s carded 13 birdies and an eagle. He ranks just T27 in the field with that tally of birdies, but he remains in contention by carding just two bogeys (T1 in the field). Starts have been tough to come by out of the WCT graduate reshuffle but a top 10 this week would earn him a nice chunk of FedExCup Points and also give shot at next week’s Shell Houston Open.

The Web.com Tour grad found just seven (of 14) fairways, just like the first round leader, Trey Mullinax. Both of them proved that inaccuracies off the tee are not the end of the world at Coco Beach G&CC. Randolph recovered to land 15 greens in regulation. The highlight of the round came early when he holed out for eagle at the par-5 second hole. This fast start breaks a string of slow-starting events for Randolph as he previously positioned himself outside the top 95 in each of his last four PGA TOUR starts. With a 2-for-7 start to the season, the 28-year-old could really use a big finish this week.

The Ole Miss alum put on a ball-striking clinic on Thursday but it was a completely different conduit to success today. Today, he lost 1.245 strokes approaching-the-green but gained 3.951 strokes with the putter. There was a lengthy 42-foot birdie conversion at the par-4 fourth, but everything else was a steady stream of putts. He ended the day with nine putts converted from outside six feet. This will be the second time in Randolph’s career that he’s positioned himself inside the top 10 thru 36 holes, with the previous time also coming in Texas (2015 Byron Nelson). He would go on to finish T34 by week’s end.

Starting on the 10th tee, Randolph found a bit of trouble with bogeys at Nos. 11 and 12, missing a 7'6" putt at the 11th and then three-jacking from 34'4" at the 12th. He responded admirably with three birdies before the turn, including a 16'5" roll at the par-4 17th. The Ole Miss product later stuck a 172-yard approach to inside four feet for a tap-in birdie at the 3rd, added a 37'5" hole out at the 6th, and picked up his final birdie when he wedged a 100-yard approach to three feet. The Web.com Tour grad posted a T24 in his latest start (Puerto Rico Open) and he’s off to the races again.