Robert

Garrigus

The Tennessee Am flashed his potential in the fall with notable rounds of 64 and 65 on Friday and Sunday of the Bermuda Championship (T65 due to a Saturday 85). He pegged it last week at PGA WEST and missed the cut, but certainly held his own, just three shots off the torrid cutline pace at the AmEx. Gamers should continue to monitor the youngster’s progress as he could be on the fast track to the big show. Others to punch their ticket today included: Harrison Kingsley (71), Spencer Levin (71), and Robert Garrigus (71).

The 37-year-old from Venezuela recently finished T-49 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He’s made 16 cuts in 21 starts this season, with his best finish being a T-4 at the Corales Puntacana Championship in March. Vegas, a three-time Tour winner, last visited the winner’s circle at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open. He’s made six previous starts at the Wyndham, making the cut twice including in 2021 when he finished 15th. For the 44-year-old Garrigus, this week will mark his 14th start of the season, where he’s made five cuts with one top 25. Most recently he missed the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, marking his sixth MC in a row. Garrigus has made eight previous starts at Sedgefield, where he’s made six cuts with a best finish of 11th in 2013.

The 29-year-old Kim most recently played at the Barbasol Championship, where he finished solo seventh. He’s played the last two stops on the Korn Ferry Tour, finishing solo third at the Memorial Health and T-13 over the weekend at the Price Cutter charity Championship. For the 44-year-old Garrigus, this week marks his 13th start this season and a bit of a re-do after last week at the 3M Open, where he withdrew during the first round citing fatigue. He’s made five cuts in six starts with his best finish being a T-16 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.

Grillo was having a rough year by his standards but something clicked at TPC Deere Run when he landed a runner-up finish and he posted another one just last week at the 3M Open. The Argentine gained a combined 19.3 strokes tee-to-green in those two events. He’s also climbed to 53rd in the FedExCup standings. He’s also put himself on the radar for a potential Presidents Cup captain’s selection. Gamers should be willing to reinvest as soon as he returns to action, considering this is just a change of schedule, not an injury-related WD.

Garrigus had a busy scorecard with one birdie, eight bogeys, and a pair of doubles. He found the greenside bunker at the par-3 17th and was staring down 26 feet for par when he withdrew today. This will go in the books as his 16th career mid-tournament WD, in 370 total starts.

Both golfers got in on a sponsor’s invite this week and were pleasantly surprised to be paired together. “He told me I was playing with Tommy, and I was so happy because I know this dude can get on a roll. I can hit it any spot on the golf course because I’m used to getting it out of the bushes.” That is exactly what happened today as Gainey poured home six birdies and Garrigus circled birdies on the two holes where Gainey struggled. Garrigus arrived with a 4-for-4 record this season with a T16 at Pebble Beach being the highlight. Gainey popped with a T3 at the Puerto Rico Open in March but missed the cut in his other four starts this season. Next up, they’ll switch to the alternate-shot format ahead of Friday’s second round.

“I am grateful to have been given a sponsor exemption into this week’s event and I just want to focus on playing the best I can,” he said via GolfChannel.com. The 44-year-old Garrigus last played a full season on Tour in 2018, and he’s made four cuts in four starts this season with a best finish of T-16 at Pebble Beach. He’s the first player to commit to the invitational series, which kicks off June 9-11 at the Centurion Club in London and features eight events around the world, with $25 million purses and a team component. Garrigus is making his 11th start at the Zurich Classic, where he’s made three cuts with a best finish of T-5 in 2014. He’s missed the cut in his last three appearances – in 2017 with William McGirt, 2018 with Harold Varner III and 2021 with J.B. Holmes.

Garrigus kept this round relatively stress-free by striping 8-of-14 fairways and pelting 15 greens in regulation while battling some windy conditions. That resulted in seven birdies which erased a lone blemish, a bogey at the par-4 ninth hole. He arrived without much success on his course resume (2-for-6 with a pair of 38th-place finishes). Garrigus addressed his poor history after today’s round, “I felt like I have underachieved on this golf course my entire career. It always felt like I was coming here after three or four weeks of travel, and I actually used it as a vacation to get away instead of just playing golf...And this week, I need to play well.” Motivation is a powerful tool and Garrigus will look to keep his foot on the gas for three more days. If this co-lead holds then it’ll be his sixth time leading or co-leading after round one of a PGA TOUR event. The most recent FRL coming at the 2018 RBC Canadian Open. Garrigus has failed to convert any of those fast starts into top-20 finishes so his work is far from over.

This is the 42-year-old’s 15th mid-tourney WD in 353 events, second this season in two starts, also WDing the Corales during R2 due to heat exhaustion. Unlike the Corales, however, where he had one hole left and was about to MC by at least eight shots, Garrigus had made the cut here in Bermuda, which would’ve been his first since a T53 at the 3M Open back in July. Along with Garrigus, World No. 170 Pat Perez WD as well, his 26th mid-tourney WD in 469 events, and had also made the cut on the number at 1-over 71-72=143. No reason was furnished for either WD, but both players had played their respective second rounds on Friday morning and potentially were no longer on site when the cut was made on Saturday, thinking perhaps they had MC (speculation, but both are Phoenix-area residents). In addition to these, World No. 564 Michael Gellerman WD (no reason) after play was suspended on Friday, his first mid-tourney WD in 18 events, but the 28-year-old was headed for a MC at 4-over thru 16 holes and 6-over total.

Blair was in the preliminary field but had a change of heart over the weekend. He was on social media playing at Augusta Country Club so this does not appear to be injury-related. Gamers should remove him from consideration this week. He has opened the new season with a T70 at the Corales to go along with three missed cuts.