Julian

Etulain

Playing on a sponsor’s invite, this is Etulain’s first start of the new season. He has stayed active with five starts on the Korn Ferry Tour with a T11 at the Great Exuma Classic being the highlight. Making his fifth start at the Puerto Rico Open, Etulain piped 12-of-14 fairways and landed 14 greens in regulation. That kept things simple on the greens. Playing his 15th competitive round at Grand Reserve Country Club, this is his fourth sub-70 lap and third posted at 67 or better. His T17 during the 2017 Puerto Rico Open remains one of five career top 25s for Etulain.

The Argentine started the week ranked 173rd in the FedExCup standings, in need of a big week to crack the playoffs, or even jump inside the top 150. The big week never arrived as he traded three birdies with four bogeys and a pair of doubles in his opening lap. From there, he swallowed three bogeys and six pars on the first nine holes of his second round. Finding himself at -7 in the Modified Stableford system at that point, Etulain packed it up and skipped the last nine holes. He’s currently listed in next week’s Wyndham Championship field so he’ll have one more crack at things before the season is over.

The Argentine was picking up steam early in the year when he rattled off top 45s in 8-of-9 starts but then a wrist injury forced him out of the Valero Texas Open after 30 holes. Since then, he is just 1-for-5 with nothing better than T68 over that time. Gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups and wait for a clean bill of health before considering a reinvestment.

The Argentine opened his week with a 2-under 70 which put him inside the top 35. He returned to the course on Friday morning and recorded a one-bogey 37 on his outward nine. After the turn, he swallowed a triple bogey, par, and double bogey. After his tee shot on the par-4 fourth hole he withdrew and cited a wrist injury. He was 6-over on his round and 4-over for the tournament. Playing his 37th career PGA TOUR event this goes in the books as his second career mid-tournament WD.

The Miami resident is enjoying a return to the Sunshine State. He split 10 (of 14) fairways and found nine greens in regulation from there. The highlights were obvious ones as he holed out from 74'1" for birdie at the par-3 fifth and five holes later he dunked a greenside bunker shot (47'4") for birdie. Etulain missed a pair of scoring chances from inside 10 feet on his way into the clubhouse but it’s hard to complain with this opening effort. Playing in his 34th career PGA TOUR event, this is his best positioning after any round, previously T12 thru 36 holes at the 2019 Sony Open.

The Argentine went 13-for-22 during his 2016-17 rookie campaign but only three of those doubled as top 25s. That had him finishing 161st in the FedExCup rankings which took him back down to the Web.com Tour. Etulain racked up six top 25s in 25 starts down there, including a win at the Louisiana Open. The 30-year-old is playing out of the Reshuffle category and currently finds himself 16th on that list. That should provide him with ample opportunity for starts in early 2019. Given his cuts-made ratio of just 54 percent on Web circuit (92 starts), he will likely be a volatile option that should only be considered in deep leagues.

The 28-year-old Argentine parlayed a trio of top 10s into the 20th spot on the Web.com Tour money list to punch his ticket onto the PGA TOUR for the 2016-17 season. He added another runner-up at the first event of the Web.com Tour Finals (DAP Championship). Etulain finished the season ranked 31st in driving accuracy and 12th in GIR percentage. His only two appearances on the PGA TOUR have been a missed cut at the 2014 Puerto Rico Open and a T42 at the 2011 edition of the same event. Gamers should definitely take a wait-and-see approach to see how the late bloomer takes to the PGA TOUR.

The Argentine went 2-for-5 during the Fall, with a T57 at the Sanderson Farms being the highlight. In seven career starts he’s found himself inside the top 40 just once after any round (R1, Safeway Open). For gamers, that means we can continue to play the wait-and-see game until he provides some upside on the big stage. Last year on the Web.com Tour he posted nine top 25s in 23 starts. At 38th in the WCT graduate reshuffle, Tula may be hard-pressed to find a lot of starts after the calendar flips to 2017.

For the 47-year-old Cabrera, this may have been a team event, but it will still go down as his first top-10 finish on TOUR since his win at the 2014 Greenbrier Classic 55 starts ago. Teamed with fellow Argentine Etulain, 19 years his junior, they opened with 70-63-71 to begin the final round T6 on 12-under, seven back of 54-hole leaders Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith. The pairing went out in 3-under, with Cabrera circling birdie-4s at Nos. 2 and 7 (from 11'10"), and birdie-2 at nine from 15'10". Etulain got on the board with birdie-4 at 11 (12'11") and completed their scoring with a 9-footer for birdie at the par-4 14th. In between, Cabrera circled 12 and 13, both from inside of 10 feet. For Etulain, this is a career best and first top 10 in 13 career starts, previously T17 at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open.

The PGA TOUR rookie started the day in a share of 47th place, allowing him to play stress-free golf and attack flagsticks. The Argentine did just that, landing 15 greens today en route to eight birdies. Etulain would love to have his first round back, as he carded a 1-over 73 before blitzing Coco Beach Golf & Country Club to the tune of 15-under-par over the final three rounds, swallowing just one bogey in Rounds 2 thru 4. This will go in the books as a career-best TOUR finish for Etulain, previously a T33 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.