Sean

Crocker

Crocker admitted to feeling the nerves on his opening hole today. “I think that was just kind of first-hole PGA TOUR jitters for me because this is honestly my first ever PGA TOUR event ever. So a little bit nervous on that tee shot on the second but we kind of shook it away pretty quickly.” While his statement isn’t exactly true, we know what he means. This will be his first start in a Stateside PGA TOUR event, not counting majors. He does have three previous starts on his TOUR resume (T47/2018 Open; MC/2022 U.S. Open; T66/2022 Scottish Open). Crocker really took it low today with a seven-pack of birdies which is ideal for this week’s scoring format. The USC product was raised in California so this is familiar turf for him. He entered the week just 147th in the DP World Tour Rankings so it hasn’t been the strongest season for him but he’s looking to flip the script this week while playing close to home.

The 25-year-old Crocker, who was born in Zimbabwe and raised in California, didn’t make a cut in his first nine events in 2022 before finishing T-7 earlier this month at the Soudal Open. On Monday, in final, 36-hole qualifying at Lakewood Country Club and Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, Texas, he carded round of 64-67 to finish at 11-under 131 along with Kurt Kitayama (65-66), Matthew NeSmith (62-69) and Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma (68-63). Mackenzie Hughes was among three Canadians who qualified in Dallas, including Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan, who advanced via a six-man playoff for the final two spots along with Davis Shore. Travis Vick, who plays at Texas and reached the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur last summer, was the lone amateur to qualify. Crocker, who will make his U.S. Open debut at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., has made just one other major appearance, finishing T-47 at the 2018 Open Championship.

The Zimbabwe-born American went 17-for-27 on the DP World Tour last season, finishing 48th in the Race to Dubai. That was a two-spot improvement over last season (50th) and 34 spots higher than 2019 (82nd). One constant with all three seasons is that he’s posted a runner-up finish in all three. That’s not too surprising when you see that he ranked 4th in strokes gained off-the-tee and 7th in approach, last season. Short game is the only thing holding him back from being a top player on tour. At 144th in the OWGR, it wouldn’t take too much to catapult him into WGC territory which could really advance his career. The 25-year-old could become a regular on the PGA TOUR before we know it.

The Zimbabwe-born American arrives with three straight top 20s including a T2 at the Czech Masters and a T4 at the Omega European Masters. That has vaulted him to 52nd in the Race to Dubai and he’ll look to keep his foot on the gas this week at Wentworth. The 25-year-old pieced together rounds of 72-70-72-73 last year at this event to share a slice of 44th place. He currently ranks top 10 on tour in strokes gained off-the-tee and approach but outside the top 130 in putting and around-the-green play. Crocker is still searching for his maiden Euro Tour win.

The 24-year-old Crocker, who was born in South Africa but calls the U.S. home, finished at 13-under 275, two shots behind first-time winner Johannes Veerman. It marked a nice rebound from back-to-back missed cuts and marked his second top 10 in four starts after he finished T-9 at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in July. Crocker was top 10 on the week in several significant statistical categories, finishing ninth in driving accuracy (71.4), fourth in driving distance (321) and sixth in GIR (77.8). On the season, he’s made 10 cuts in 17 starts, and is projected to move up 43 spots to 69th in the Race to Dubai.

The Zimbabwe-born American-resident circled five birdies and swallowed two bogeys on the first 17 holes. Then he reached the par-5 18th and stumbled home with a triple-bogey snowman. He was playing one group ahead of Bezuidenhout so he could have applied pressure with a birdie but it wasn’t meant to be today. Despite the sour finish, this still ends up as a strong finish, matching a T2 at the 2019 Trophee Hassan II as his personal best on the European Tour. Crocker is currently listed in the field for next week’s Golf in Dubai Championship if he wants a chance to build on this momentum.

The Zimbabwe-born American-resident and -representing 23-year-old is now 46 starts into his European Tour career, a spell that has seen him collect five top tens. He finished 82nd on the 2019 Race to Dubai rankings and is currently 95th in 2020. He’s 5-for-7 in the campaign, but has a best of just T38 (in the Saudi International). His best golf on the circuit has come in Australia (top tens in the World Super 6 Perth and, twice, the Australian PGA Championship), China (his one ET top ten there in the China Open sitting alongside two top tens in the country on the Challenge Tour) and Morocco (he was T2 in the 2019 Trophee Hassan II).

The American, who was born in Zimbabwe, is 72nd on this year’s Race to Dubai with three top tens, ranking 10th in Driving Distance. He’s loose off the tee (173rd) but that may not be too much of an issue this week as the fairways are fairly generous at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. He’s also shown he can perform on a tree-lined Spanish track (a much tighter one) by finishing T26 and T58 in two starts at Valderrama. Crocker’s latest form is mixed (MC-36-MC-28) and he seems to have been alternating solid finishes with missed cuts for a while. If you like sequences, he’s due to make the cut this time.

The American made his pro and European Tour debut at the course in 2017 and started brightly with a 69 before fading to 78th after a Sunday 81. He’s made rapid strides since and his last seven starts on the Euro Tour show a second place at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco, T10 at the China Open, T12 in the Kenya Open and T18 in the Oman Open. That’s been good enough to secure him 50th spot on the current Race to Dubai standings. Crocker ranks 11th in Driving Distance this year so will hope to emulate another big-hitting American, John Daly, who won at Munchen Nord-Eichenried in 2001.