Trey

Mullinax

A 3-under 67 doesn’t sound all that amazing at first glance, but there were only three others that posted a better score on Sunday at Memorial Park. Mullinax used his power, not accuracy, to dismantle the course. He ranked just T104 in fairways hit but T14 in GIR Percentage. He’s quietly rattled off quite a few big finishes with four top 12s in his last nine starts. That was kicked off by a win at the Barbasol Championship in July. The Alabama product is now 72nd in the early FedExCup race and he’ll look to add some more points next week at Sea Island where he is currently in the field for The RSM Classic. This week’s finish will go in the books as his fifth career top 5 on the PGA TOUR.

Mullinax has been getting off to fast starts lately and he was up to his old tricks again today. He’s positioned himself at T23 or better after round one in five of his last six starts. Today, it was a hot putter that got the job done. Notable conversions included birdies from 14 feet and 20 feet at the 6th and 18th. He gained 2.6 strokes putting by round’s end, seventh in the field. Despite his recent fast starts, he arrives with nothing better than a T22 finish in his last six starts. He’ll look to avoid that same fate by keeping his foot on the gas for three more rounds at Memorial Park Golf Course.

Mullinax roared out of the gate with six birdies in the first 11 holes. The first three were converted from inside of 10 feet before he warmed up the putter to pour home three from outside of 20 feet. He walked off the course ranked 4th in strokes gained approach and 8th in strokes gained putting. “think it’s an awesome golf course. I think they’ve done an amazing job with it. We don’t get to play these kind of courses all the time, so I think it’s a lot of fun for us and a treat. You could hit any shot you want and you don’t have to hit the same shot over and over, which is really fun about this golf course and kind of brings an artistic feel to it. I really enjoy those type of golf courses, so I’m looking forward to it.” Mullinax opened the 2022-23 campaign with back-to-back missed cuts but is flipping that script early at Congaree Golf Club. If this co-lead holds then it’d be his third time posting a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (T44/2017 Puerto Rico Open; T24/2022 Mexico Open).

Mullinax started just two shots off the lead today but never had his best stuff. He missed four putts from 10 feet and in on the first six holes alone. Mullinax lost 1.8 strokes putting today. “I wasn’t hitting it great. I was trying to scramble all day and when I hit good shots off the tee, I gave myself good looks. The putter on the front nine, I got behind the eight-ball early. Made a run there on the back nine early beginning with three birdies and the three-putt on 15 kind of knocked the wind out of our sails a little bit. Hey, it’s a learning experience. Grateful to be where I am and I’m looking forward to next week.” It wasn’t the best Sunday for Mullinax but this T5 finish vaults him from 70th to 40th in the FedExCup standings and puts a potential East Lake debut well within his sights.

The 30-year-old, a pre-tourney 90/1 outright, claims his first PGA TOUR victory in his 106th event, coming from three back (T3) to clip debutant and playing competitor Kevin Streelman (67), who missed birdie at the last from 9'0" which would’ve forced sudden death. He wins in his third Barbasol appearance, brushing aside a prior-best T55 on debut in 2017 during his rookie campaign, and records his second career podium, bettering a T2 at the 2018 Valero, where he was solo 3rd, one back after 54 holes. After opening with 65-65-67, the Alabama alum, who played 33 holes on Sunday due to a plethora of weather delays and suspensions, went out in 3-under 33 (5 birdies, 2 bogeys), now T1 with Streelman, and came home in error-free 3-under, circling 13, 15 and 18. For the week, he tallied one eagle and 27 birdies against four bogeys, and ranked 1st SG: Tee-to-Green (13.682), including 1st SG: Approach (8.660), and 21st SG: Putting (3.099). The Alabama native, originally in the field at this coming week’s opposite-field Barracuda, enjoys a sudden change of plans with the win, and will now be heading to the 150th Open (St Andrews), where he’ll make his tourney debut and third overall major start, first since a missed cut at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills (79-74). See link below to Mullinax’s post-tourney presser.

The 30-year-old has been slumping since a T24 seven starts ago at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, where he was in a six-way T1 after a 7-under showing in R1 (64-69-73-69). Since, he’s missed four of six cuts with no top 30s, and arrived 140th in the FedExCup standings with two top 25s in 23 events and one top 10, a T4 at the Sanderson Farms back in October. Today, the Alabama alum rang up seven birdies on 14 greens in regulation, including three straight out of the gates, and recorded 1.988 SG: Tee-to-Green and 2.818 SG: Putting, highlighted by three scoring conversions from between 15 and 26 feet, and a par-saver at 15 (6'2") after hitting his first tee ball OB. This is his third Barbasol with a best of T55 on debut in 2017 during his rookie campaign (68-65-73-70). See link below to post-round comments.

After kicking off with a 7-under 64, the Alabama alum co-led with five others, including Rahm. On nine (of 13) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, he lost 0.169 strokes on approach but gained 0.329 off-the-tee, 0.974 around and 0.692 on-the-green. Beginning on 10 tee, the 29-year-old penciled five birdies at 11, 12, 1, 2 and 7, two from between 13 and 32 feet, taking some gloss off with three squares at 10, 3 and 5. He owns five top 10s in 98 career events, one this season in 15 starts, a T4 at the Sanderson Farms back in October, where he was T15 thru 36 holes (70-66-64-68). The Korn Ferry Tour grad, back on the main stage for the first time since 2019, has landed on the podium one time prior, a T2 at the 2018 Valero Texas Open, where he was T25 at the midpoint (74-68-62-69).

Mullinax was most impressive with the driver today (+2.38 SG:Off-the-Tee) but he also dialed in his irons to give himself lots of looks. Mullinax had nine scoring chances from inside of 15 feet, converting on six of them with the most notable being a 7'7" eagle splash at the par-4 seventh. The Alabama product added a 30'2" bonus birdie at the 11th. He walked off the course gaining 1.67 strokes putting. If this co-lead holds then it would be the second time in his career that he held a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (T44/2017 Puerto Rico Open).

This duo started their day on the 10th tee and picked off four birdies before the turn. That included a 37'4" birdie bomb from Mullinax at the 12th. The highlight of their round would come after the turn, though. They swallowed a rare, four-ball bogey at the par-4 fourth but Mullinax holed out from the rough (96 yards) for an unconventional eagle at the par-4 fifth hole. “Wesley, he played great. There was a few times out there today we kind of didn’t know where it was going, but I thought we scrambled around really well. We hung in there. Our attitudes were good.” Bryan arrived with a 1-for-2 record at the Zurich, a T29 back at the 2017 edition while Mullinax is 2-for-3 here with a T31 in 2018 and T13 in 2019.