Matti

Schmid

The young German was playing in his 13th career PGA TOUR event but looked like a savvy vet this week with a trio of sub-66 rounds to offset an even-par 72 on Friday. Stellar driving orchestrated his week as he ranked 1st in strokes gained off-the-tee among measured rounds at the Pete Dye Stadium Course and also ranked T7 in fairways hit and T18 in GIR. This was a much-needed result for Schmid who now jumps from 187th to 109th in the FedExCup standings.

The PGA TOUR rookie found nothing better than a T59 in his first five fall starts. He started working with a new coach over the holiday break and is starting to see the results, despite a missed cut last week at the Sony Open. “We did a lot of work over the break. Worked hard on my swing, my short game, my putting. I think everything starts to feel pretty good now.” Schmid piped 11-of-14 fairways, landed 17 GIR and gained 0.86 strokes putting. With the Stadium Course out of the way for now, he’ll turn his attention toward La Quinta Country Club for the second round.

The young German tumbled early as he started on the 10th tee and swallowed a double at the par-4 13th. He bounced back immediately with a wedge to five feet, knocked home for a birdie. He missed three scoring chances from inside of 11 feet just before the turn but then the fireworks went off. He birdied six of his final eight holes, gaining nearly three strokes on approach along the way. Schmid held the 36-hole co-lead and 54-hole lead earlier this summer at the Barbasol Championship. He’s finding early success on the big stage and gamers should continue to ride the hot hand.

The World No. 244, making his tourney debut and first TOUR start as a pro, led by two after kicking off with 65-63-66, and opened R4 with birdie-3 from 4'10". Back-to-back bogeys followed at 2 and 3, and the wheels seemed to coming off with double bogey-6 at 6, but he rebounded with circles at 7 and 8, now one swing back at the turn. The German’s third birdie was a 2-putt variety at 11, still T2 and one back at that point, but the wheels definitely came off from there, playing his final six in birdie-less 5-over. All that said, he hangs on for the top 10, bettering a T59 at last season’s Open Championship as an amateur, and was already in the published field at this coming week’s opposite-field Barracuda in California. For the festivities, the Louisville alum ranked No. 1 in Total Birdies with 28, but gave too many away with seven bogeys and two doubles, swallowing both doubles in R4.

The German is making his fifth overall TOUR start, first as a pro, with a best of T59 at last year’s 149th Open at Royal St. George’s, which netted him low amateur honors. After kicking off with 65-63, both rounds bogey-free, he co-led with TOUR rookie Max McGreevy, who fell to T13, eight adrift after a 74, but will remain with him and R1 leader Adam Svensson in the final group, as there will be no re-pairing between Rounds 3 and 4. The Louisville alum got three holes of his third round completed late Saturday evening before dark, dipping to T2 after a birdie-bogey-par start, and returned Sunday morning to one bogey and seven birdies, including five in a row at holes 7-11, and a walk-off, hole-out 3 at 18 from the right rough 19'6" away.

The Louisville alum, who arrived off a T30 at last week’s Irish Open, is making his fifth PGA TOUR start, first as a pro, with a best of T59 at last year’s Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, which was good for low-amateur honors. After opening his tourney debut with a bogey-free 65 on Thursday, he was 5-under thru 10 holes on Friday (T3) when play was suspended due to darkness, and returned on Saturday to four more birdies at 13, 14 (from 38'6"), 15 and 17. The 24-year-old German, who is error-free at halftime, is in the top 10 for the first time on TOUR in his 12th career round, and has tallied 16 birdies versus no drops, and currently ranks 1st SG: Approach (5.971), 3rd SG: Tee-to-Green (7.334) and 9th SG: Putting (3.595). See link below to post-round comments.

This is the 7th Barbasol and fourth at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, fourth consecutive. Schmid, a recent Louisville alum and DP World Tour member, is making his fifth overall PGA TOUR start, first as a pro, and his highlight to date is a T59 at last year’s Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, which was good for low-amateur honors (74-65-71-72). Today, he ticked seven birdies on 13 greens in regulation, including four of his final five, and at last glance, gained 2.667 strokes tee-to-green and 2.036 on-the-green. The 24-year-old German, who is making his tourney debut, was a second-team All-American in 2019 and an honorable mention All-American in 2020, and commented afterward (link below) on having “a lot of Cardinals coming out already...”

The 24-year-old Schmid told media at Keene Trace on Tuesday that playing college golf for Louisville helped his golf game “tremendously,” noting that, “I wasn’t that good before. I would say I don’t think I would have made it straightaway on Tour, a high level on Tour, but college really has prepared me and has given me the opportunity to improve.” On the season, Schmid has made 11 cuts in 17 starts with one top 10, finishing T-3 at the Steyn City Championship for his only top 10. He arrives stateside off a T-30 at the Horizon Irish Open. Last season, Schmid secured his DP World Tour status for 2022 just three months after turning professional. His amateur career included back-to-back European Amateur titles and low amateur honors at the 2021 Open Championship, where he finished T-59 at Royal St. George’s. In seven DPWT starts after turning pro, he made five cuts with two top 10s, notably finishing solo second at the Dutch Open in September and earning DPWT rookie-of-the-year honors as the Henry Cotton Award winner. Visit the link below to read Schmid’s full comments.

The 24-year-old Schmid opened with three rounds in the 60s at The Club at Steyn City – including a bogey-free 65 in the second round and an 8-under 64 in Round 3 – before falling back with a 71 on Sunday to finish at 19-under 269, tied with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and six strokes behind winner Shaun Norris. In eight starts this season, Schmid has made six cuts. Last season, Schmid secured his DP World Tour status for 2022 just three months after turning professional. The Louisville product earned the Silver Medal as low amateur at the Open Championship in July, turning professional directly after his T-59 performance at Royal St. George’s. Schmid also was T-14 as an amateur at the BMW International in June. In seven DP World Tour starts after turning pro, he made five cuts and most notably finished solo second at the Dutch Open in September and T-9 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October. He’ll make his tournament debut this week at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

The 24-year-old Schmid had a breakthrough season during which he secured his DP World Tour status for 2022 just three months after turning professional. The Louisville product earned the Silver Medal as the low amateur at the Open Championship in July, turning professional directly after his T-59 performance at Royal St. George’s. Schmid also claimed a T-14 finish as an amateur at the BMW International in June. In seven DP World Tour starts after turning pro, he made five cuts and most notably finished solo second at the Dutch Open in September. Schmid went 11-under over the weekend (65-66) to finish at 20-under 298, three strokes behind winner Kristoffer Broberg of Sweden. He also went 2-of-3 in Challenge Tour starts. “To win the Silver Medal at the Open Championship was a very special achievement but going out into the professional ranks is a different challenge,” he said. “I think that I am capable to compete at the very highest level which gives me the confidence for the future. To secure my card on the DP World Tour in just seven starts is something I am proud of and to win this award is just a wonderful bonus and a nice reward for the hard work I have put in.”