Sam

Stevens

Stevens took part in the longest day in golf, twirling a 65-62=127 (-13) to easily qualify from the Springfield, Ohio sectional. That means he’ll be playing in next week’s U.S. Open with a chance to improve upon last year’s debut (T49). Stevens has earned a paycheck in seven of his last eight stroke-play events and finding some momentum ahead of the summer stretch.

Casey cited an injury for this pre-tourney WD. We saw him deal with back injuries last spring and more recently he’s settled for finishes of T25 or worse in six straight events on the LIV and Asian Golf circuits. Taking his place will be Sam Steven who arrives with podium finishes in two of his last six starts but will be making his PGA Championship debut

Stevens scribbled three bogeys today but erased those with five birdies and a pair of eagles. He gained 4.5 strokes on approach today. “In Puerto Rico I had a chance, or not kind of had a chance, I was a couple back going into the last day and that was a learning experience for sure. I kind of learned from that last week and was able to hang tough after a bad start last week, the final round. Yeah, I’m getting more confident, more comfortable and I feel like yeah, hopefully, I can get in contention again soon.” Stevens had posted a T15 at the Puerto Rico Open, missed the cut in his next start (Valspar Championship), styled a T3 at the Corales, and now has a new personal best on the PGA TOUR.

The PGA TOUR rookie arrived at 137th in the FedExCup race. He found his groove this week, though, ranking 7th in GIR and 10th in Putts per GIR. That resulted in 19 birdies and a pair of eagles. While he didn’t find the winner’s circle it was still a positive week to build on moving forward. Yesterday’s co-lead was his first time leading or co-leading after any round on the PGA TOUR and this T3 finish will be the first top 10 on his TOUR career. His previous best was a T13 at this year’s Farmers Insurance Open. His two other top finishes have come at the Puerto Rico Open and Pebble Beach Pro-Am so gamers may want to give him a long look whenever the TOUR heads back to a coastal course.

Stevens got his week started with a wedge to kick-in range for an opening birdie. He added a 10-footer for birdie two holes later then maintained momentum with some key par-savers. He saved par three times from outside of nine feet before his day was over. Stevens walked off the course ranked 5th in strokes gained approach and 4th in putting. “I’ve been driving it pretty well this year, hitting my irons pretty good for the most part. So yeah, I think it’s a ball-striker’s course, for sure. I struck it great today and when I didn’t, I was able to make some nice up-and-downs.” The PGA TOUR rookie arrived with a 3-for-8 record with nothing better than a T57 on his resume so far. He’s flipping the script early in San Diego with his ’66' being one of just two 6-under rounds recorded on the South Course today (Andrew Novak).

Stevens is playing out of the KFT Graduate category but he was 41st in the initial reshuffle so he was forced to Monday Q if he wanted a spot in this limited, 132-man field. He delivered under pressure with a score that was matched only by Travis Trace. The two others to punch their ticket include Brian Davis (67) and Ryan Hall (68). Some other notables to miss the mark included Martin Trainer (70), Jeff Overton (70), Kris Ventura (73), Jamie Lovemark (74), and Kevin Stadler (75). Back to Stevens, the Oklahoma State product is making his fourth start of the season with two missed cuts and a T67 finish on his season game log so far.