Joshua

Creel

The PGA TOUR rookie is 4-for-20 this season and finds himself just 216th in the FedExCup race. It wasn’t a lost year, though, as he became a dad in January. His chances of cracking the FedExCup Playoffs continue to dwindle with just two events remaining in the regular season. Creel’s best finish of the season was a T16 just two starts ago at the Barracuda Championship. He currently ranks 195th in strokes gained tee-to-green and 121st in putting.

The 45-year-old Hoffman started the fall season on a solid streak by making the cut in his first five starts, with his best finish being a T-22 at the Fortinet Championship. He missed the cut in final start of the fall, at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, where he shot 71-68 to miss the cut by one. Hoffman withdrew from the American Express last year during the third round with a back injury, and he was in contention at the time – just three strokes off the lead after shooting 70-66 to start his event. The news is undoubtedly a welcome development for Creel, who was forced to withdraw from his tournament debut in the Sony Open in Hawaii last week after testing positive for COVID-19 following a 2-over 72 in the first round at Waialae Country Club.

The 31-year-old, who welcomed a son (Colt) last week, posted a tweet three days ago that he was “Pumped to be in the Aloha State for the Sony.” Making his tournament debut and grouped with Aaron Rai and Takumi Kanaya out of the early wave, he outbalanced two birdies at 15 and 18 with four bogeys at 13, 14, 7 and 8, losing 3.770 strokes tee-to-green and 0.361 on-the-green. The Central Oklahoma product, who checked in off a career-best T40 at the RSM eight weeks ago (68-70-68-70), was making just his fifth career TOUR start and this is his first mid-tourney WD. He earned the promotion to the main stage after finishing 26th in the Korn Ferry Tour Priority Rankings last season, where he recorded three top 10s in his last five events, including a two-shot win at the Utah Championship this past August for his maiden title.

The 31-year-old from Wyoming entered the season with just one previous start on the PGA TOUR (T64 at the 2018 Valero Texas Open). To earn his PGA TOUR card, he posted a pair of top 10s during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. That put a cap on a season that saw him post top-25 finishes in 10 of his 40 events played, including a win at the Utah Championship. It was a relatively slow start to his debut season on the PGA TOUR (T40 at The RSM Classic his lone cut made) but he’ll have plenty to look forward to in 2022, including the birth of his first child who is due in January.

Winning his first Korn Ferry Tour event just a month ago at the Utah Championship, Creel arrived to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals bustling with confidence. After a pedestrian start the Albertsons Boise Open, the former NCAA Division II champion rebounded in the final two events of the season. With back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship and the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, the Wyoming native played his way inside of the top-25 and secured his PGA Tour card.

The Central Oklahoma product fired a bogey-free, 7-under 65 on Monday to earn medalist honors at the Monday qualifier. He kept that same go-low mentality today as he circled five birdies to erase a pair of bogeys while he makes his PGA TOUR debut. Strong iron play was key as he ended the day with +2.068 strokes gained approaching-the-green. The 28-year-old has yet to have much success on the professional level but he may be in for a career week here in San Antonio. Creel went 2-for-4 on the Web.com circuit last year including a T10 at the Digital Ally Open.

Playing on conditional status last year on the Web.com Tour, Creel posted a 2-for-4 record with a T10 and T31 at the Digital Ally Open and Ellie Mae Classic, respectively. The University of Central Oklahoma product will get his first taste of PGA TOUR action now. He also boasts a 9-for-20 record on the Mackenzie Tour (2013 and 2014). Joining Creel as qualifiers are Paul McConnell, Troy Matteson, and Curtis Reed, who all posted scores of 5-under 67 today at Briggs Ranch Golf Club.