Scott

Harrington

Whaley was an early WD ahead of last week’s Mayakoba and he’ll remain sidelined for at least one more week. He’s opened the season with two missed cuts and a T61 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship. There is no word on an injury but gamers should keep him away from their fantasy rosters until he returns to action and proves he’s back in form.

The Korn Ferry Tour returns to action after a three-week break and opens a two-week stretch in Louisiana, with the inaugural Lake Charles Championship set for the following week. The 41-year-old Harrington was last in action at the KFT’s LECOM Suncoast Classic, where he played bogey-free in the first and third rounds and was on his way to repeat the feat in the final round before making bogeys on his 69th and 71st holes. He ultimately finished T-2 with a 16-under 268, one stroke behind winner Byeong Hun An. Harrington missed the cut in his two other KFT starts in 2022, both in the Bahamas. Last season, he played full time on the PGA Tour, where he made 30 starts with 13 cuts made. He had two top-10 finishes, with a T-14 at the Corales Puntacana Championship and T-20 at the Barracuda Championship.

The 41-year-old Harrington carded a 4-under 67 on Sunday to finish at 16-under 268, one shot back of winner Byeong Hun An. It marked the first runner-up result for Harrington since a solo second at the 2019 KFT regular-season finale, the WinCo Foods Portland Open, where he earned his first PGA Tour card. Harrington also finished T-2 on the PGA Tour at the 2019 Houston Open, which vaulted him to a No. 98 finish in the 2019-20 FedExCup standings. Last season on the PGA Tour, he made 13 cuts in 30 starts with two top-25 finishes – a T-14 at the 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship and T-20 at the Barracuda last August.

The Oregon native peppered 14 greens today and stayed calm after a slow start to the day. “I felt I was hitting pretty good shots. I knew there were plenty of good chances on the front nine for me to make some. Fortunately I did. Kind of missed a short putt on 2 for birdie. But on 3, I made a 20-footer that kind of kickstarted me. Yeah, birdied five of the next six right there, which was really nice. Driving it really well. And just kind of keeping it, hitting a lot of greens. Pretty low stress.” Currently T4 on the leaderboard, this will be just the third time in his PGA TOUR career that he’s posted inside of the top 5 thru 36 holes. He was T2 thru 36 at the 2019-20 Houston Open and went on to finish T2. He was T5 thru 36 at the 2021 Honda Classic and faded to T53 by week’s end.

The 40-year-old, in his second season on TOUR, checked in 176th in the FedExCup standings with just 12 made cuts in 28 events. His start today in Truckee, California, goes a long way towards securing a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, or perhaps much more. On 10 (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation, the Northwestern alum offset two bogeys (-1 point each) with five birdies (+2 points each), and an eagle at the drivable par-4 eighth, which was worth +5 points in the Modified Stableford Scoring. His career best in 54 events, and lone top 10 among four top 25s, is T2 on debut at last season’s Houston Open, where he was T23 after 18 holes and T2 at the midpoint.

This is the Northwestern alum’s first career DQ in 46 events. While the exact error has yet to be revealed, he was 5-over 75-72=147 and headed for the exits anyway, six swings short of the projected cut line. The now-40-year-old, who made it to the main stage as a PGA TOUR rookie last season (finished 98th in the FedExCup standings), arrived this week 157th in FEC points with one top 25 among nine made cuts in 19 events, a T14 at Corales as an 18-hole co-leader. Through 30 events (of 50) so far this season, he is the only player to record an albatross (Sanderson Farms/R1) and a hole-in-one (Genesis/R4), so that’s a highlight on an otherwise disappointing campaign thus far.

The 40-year-old checked in off a T61 at last week’s PLAYERS, where he began the finale tied-last (T69) and played the final round as a solo (72-71-77-70). This is the second time this season in 17 starts that he’s been in the top 10 at the midpoint, joining the Genesis two starts ago, where he was T9 before finishing T26 (71-66-75-70). On seven (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, the Northwestern alum gained 0.142 strokes off-the-tee, 1.501 approaching and 1.090 around-the-green. He squared two bogey-5s at 10 and 16 (3-putt from 49'4"), outpaced by five birdies at 1-3, 13 and 18, three from between nine and 26 feet. The Oregon native posted 1.733 putts per GIR and 0.936 SG: Putting, buoyed by a par-save at 6 from 9'7". At halftime, he ranks 40th in SG: Off-the-Tee (0.337), 17th in SG: Approach (3.112), 7th in SG: Around (3.134), and 20th in SG: Putting (2.576). Harrington’s lone top 10 in 40 prior events is T2 at last season’s Houston Open in his tourney debut, where he was T2 after 36 holes.

Harrington piped 10-of-14 fairways today while battling some windy conditions. From there he landed 12 greens in regulation and was efficient when missing the green (+1.922 strokes gained around-the-green). His putter contributed with a par-saver from just inside 11 feet at the 17th and a 10'7" birdie conversion to end his day at the par-4 ninth. The 40-year-old arrived off three straight paydays including a T26 at the Genesis. He missed the cut here last year in his Honda Classic debut (74-74=148) but is off to a much better start this time around. At press time, he finds himself in a share of fourth place.

Harrington gained 1.9 strokes on approach today and another 1.8 strokes around-the-green. Overall, his 5-under 66 was 4.9 shots better than the field average. That may have come as a surprise to gamers who were following his recent form closely. Harrington entered the week having posted scores worse than the field average in 15 of his last 17 rounds played. The Oregon native is now in the second-best, 36-hole position of his PGA TOUR career (T2 thru 36 at the 2019-20 Houston Open; finished T2).

Harrington did not bring any tournament experience to the table but he does have West Coast roots so that may help raise his comfort level this week. Starting the week with an afternoon tee time, Harrington piped 12-of-14 fairways and missed just one green in regulation. It was a clean ball-striking display which help set up eight scoring chances from inside of 10 feet. Harrington converted seven of those but also knocked one home from 16'4" for a bonus birdie at the 17th. Fast starts are nothing new for the Oregon native as he was T7 after round one of the Safeway Open last month and shared the first-round lead at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Harrington has just one career top 10 on the PGA TOUR and it happened to come on this same week last year, posting a runner-up finish on October 13th, 2019 at the Houston Open.