Scott

Stallings

Stallings split 9-of-14 fairways today en route to 14 GIR. He gained nearly two strokes tee-to-green but did most of his damage with the flat stick. Highlights included a 24'5" birdie bomb at the ninth and a 22-foot birdie blast at the 17th. “Got the ball in front of me, and the fairway obviously can be tricky here. Managed myself out of a couple of spots where I missed the greens and made some nice putts, but kind of how it was to have a round like that.” Stallings entered the week just 95th in the FedExCup race, still searching for his first top 10 of the season.

Stallings put on a tee-to-green clinic as he racked up five birdies and an eagle at the host course today. His lone bogeys were both on putts missed from inside of five feet. He lost strokes putting but gained 4.3 strokes tee-to-green (3rd). “Left a few out there, but I’m sure a lot of guys will say the same thing. It’s there for the taking. You got to keep it in front of you and manage it.” Stallings arrived with four top 30s in his last six tries at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am with three of those doubling as top 15s. He’s off to another fine start on the California coast.

The three-time TOUR winner has played his way to Kapalua three times, now four. He’s posted finishes of T22 (2012), T13 (2013), and T14 (2015) in previous trips to Kapalua. While he didn’t win in 2022, he elevated his game to make it to East Lake for the first time in his career which earned him an invite to this week’s event. Stallings had an eventful week as he made headlines with his lost Masters invite which was sent to the wrong Scott Stallings. The Tennessee Tech product is playing his 13th season on the PGA TOUR, hoping to pick up his fourth career title before 2024.

Stallings was early in his PGA Tour career when he lifted the trophy in 2012 when the event was played at Annandale, the second of three PGA Tour victories for Stallings from 2011-14. While he hasn’t added any since, the veteran has a chance to break that drought on some familiar turf in Mississippi as he heads into the final round at 12 under, tied for third and three shots behind leader Mark Hubbard. Stallings shot a 4-under 68 in the third round, aided by four straight birdies from Nos. 2-5, and he would have been closer to Hubbard were it not for closing bogeys on two of his final three holes. Despite the late wobbles, Stallings has a chance to join Fred Funk (1998, 2004) as the only other two-time champ in tournament history.

Stallings is the only player at the Sanderson Farms Championship without a bogey through the first 36 holes, as he heads into the weekend at 8 under following rounds of 69-67 to sit two shots behind co-leaders Mackenzie Hughes and Thomas Detry. The veteran is making his first start since a surprise run to the Tour Championship, and he picked up right where he left off with a 5-under second round that included 15 of 18 greens in regulation. Stallings won this event back in 2012, when it was known as the True South Classic and played in July. He has made six starts since, topping out with a T-6 finish in 2020. Stallings will head into the third round alongside Garrick Higgo and Mark Hubbard as he looks to win for the first time since the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open.

Stallings didn’t win last season but he played his way to East Lake for the first time in his career, on the heels of seven top-10 finishes. His previous best in that regard was four top 10s (2013). “Definitely the best year of my career. I want to carry it over. Nothing really changes. Continue doing the stuff we were doing week in, week out to prepare to play well through the weekends.” Stallings is a past champ at this week’s event but that win took place on a different course. He is 5-for-7 at the Country Club of Jackson with a 6th-place finish at the 2020 edition being his lone top 25 at the course.

Stallings traded 20 birdies with just seven bogeys this week at Wilmington Country Club. Iron play was the name of the game as he walked off the course ranked 1st in strokes gained approach this week (+6.052). Perhaps making it more impressive was the fact he started the week at just 46th in the FedExCup race and had the pressure of playing his way into the TOUR Championship on top of trying to pick up his fourth career win. “That was the biggest goal of the year. I had a very in depth conversation with all the guys I work with in Napa, and to figure out what it was going to take, some tweaks in my game to do the things I need to do to play at this level, to compete with the best players in the world and make it to East Lake was better late than never, I guess. But super excited the way that John and I kind of handled ourselves and knew what we were doing with coming down the stretch, and excited for next week for sure.” This is his 12th season on TOUR and the first time he’s played his way into the TOUR Championship.

Stallings has three PGA Tour wins to his credit, the most recent coming at the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open, and he has qualified for the playoffs in nine of his 11 prior seasons on Tour. But he has fallen short of the season finale in each of those postseason appearances, as this week marked just his third BMW Championship appearance and first since 2013. But after starting the week No. 46 in points he’s now projected to move comfortably into the top 30 (No. 16), as he heads into the final round tied for second with Xander Schauffele and just one shot behind leader Patrick Cantlay. Stallings fired a 5-under 66 in the third round and may need a similar score to ensure he stays inside the top-30 bubble, but this week’s success in Delaware caps a summer that has included top-10s at the John Deere (T-4), Travelers (T-8) and Rocket Mortgage (T-10). Stallings has made just three major championship appearances since 2015, missing the cut in all three, but if he makes it to East Lake he’ll be assured of spots in all four majors in 2023.

The 37-year-old was making his 313th career start and after arriving off a T4 at the Deere four weeks ago and a T8 at the Travelers the week prior, he hangs on for a third consecutive top-10 finish. It’s the first time he’s accomplished that since 2013, where he had a run of T4-T4-T2, and got there this week by posting rounds of 70-65-67-70. This was his fourth Rocket, fourth cash and second top 25, second straight (T25/2021), is projected to bump four places to 42nd in the FedExCup standings, and wrapped the week with 21 birdies against five bogeys, ranking 12th SG: Tee-to-Green (7.475) and 37th SG: Putting (1.126), eking out a 0.080 SGP on Sunday. The Tennessee Tech alum is in the published field at this coming week’s Wyndham, and if he were to top 10 again, it would be the first time he’s recorded four consecutive top 10s in his career.

The 37-year-old, chasing his third consecutive top-10 finish on the season and fourth TOUR win, first since the 2014 Farmers (T3, six back), began the day T7, six back, moved up one spot to solo 6th, but is now seven adrift. He played today with reigning FedExCup champ and top-ranked Patrick Cantlay (66), and will be with him again tomorrow out of the third-to-last twosome, each chasing co-leaders Taylor Pendrith (66) and Tony Finau (65). At the three-quarter mark, the Tennessee Tech alum has recorded rounds of 70-65-67, tallied 17 birdies against three bogeys, six versus one on Saturday, and ranks 5th SG: Tee-to-Green (8.395), eking out a 0.039 TTG in R3, and 41st SG: Putting (1.049), getting stronger with the flat stick with each passing day (2.668 SGP in R3).