Patrick

Sheehan

Sheehan had eight points today after finishing with 10 on Thursday. Ian Leggatt, who was paired with Sheehan, had 13 points today and resides in second place. Sergio Garcia is in third. Phil Mickelson collected four points in the second round, finishing on the projected cutline of five.

The veteran has made three cuts, and they have been in his most recent three starts. He ranks 70th in GIR, but 164th in scrambling which will put pressure on him to find the putting surface on approach.

Sheehan’s round included seven birdies to only one bogey and gives him a 54-hole score of 5-under-par 74-71-66=211. While this is only his second made cut of 2012, he’s trending well after finishing tied for 34th at Mayakoba two weeks ago. Getting around in 23 putts, including a putting average of 1.364, allowed Sheehan to take advantage of many of the 11 greens he hit in regulation in the third round.

Because he’s failed to post a top 30 among six paydays in 14 starts this year, you may not be aware that the 42-year-old is fully exempt as a Q School grad. He opened last week’s stop in Mississippi with a pair of 69s before fading to place T64. Today’s loop of Hamilton showcased a blend of capitalizing on opportunities with scrambling. Sheehan hit only 10 greens but limited the damage to two bogeys thanks to a tidy 24 putts. He also circled six birdies, including a 14-yarder that found the cup from off the green at the fourth holes and traditional conversions from 29'6" and 14'7" at Nos. 10 and 14, respectively. For good measure, he added a par save from 10'6" at the 16th.

If there is a bright spot, Sheehan is coming off a T34 in Memphis. That known, his form is still lacking. He fails to rank inside the top 100 in any major statistical category and is 177th in all-around ranking.

A career journeyman, Sheehan was on TOUR in 2006 when this week’s venue last hosted the event. The vibes won’t be good, as he missed the cut. Unfortunately for him, missed cuts have been the rule in 2012 as he’s cashed in just six of his 14 events and has yet to break the $100k mark.

The Q School grad has made seven of 18 cuts, but has yet to crack a top 25 while earning just $120,378 to date. Needing to finish inside the top 125 on the money list to retain full PGA TOUR status or crack the top 150 for conditional status, his current 199th standing isn’t going to cut it. He ranks 181st in the all-around ranking.

Sheehan actually had his round to six-under after six birdies, but a bogey at the 16th hole settled him into the sixth place finish. The result is his best on the PGA Tour since he finished T-5 at the Bay Hill Invitation in 2005. He currently is in the field for next week’s Honda Classic.

After four consecutive years (2003-06) on the PGA Tour, Sheehan lost his card and played the Nationwide Tour in 2007, where he finished ninth on the money list and earned a return trip to the bigs. The 38-year old college teammate of Jerry Kelly and Tim Petrovic has never won on the PGA Tour and has finished inside the Top 100 on the money list just once (63rd, 2004). Fantasy owners are advised not to make a move for this journeyman.

Sheehan has had some success at Harbour Town with a T-3 in 2004 being his best result.