Tyler

Duncan

Duncan made it look easy today with 9-of-14 fairways hit and 15 GIR (T2). That translated to five birdies and one bogey. The Purdue product had finishes outside of the top 30 in 16 straight events leading up to this week, so gamers may have been hesitant to pull the trigger. “I think it’s been coming together the last few weeks. Phoenix I actually played really well and I had one of my worst putting weeks ever, and then last week I finished 33rd. Going around Riviera is a hard golf course. I felt like I saw some good signs last week, and this week it was just all there.” This will go in the books as the second-best finish of his career, second behind only the 2019-20 RSM Classic win. He vaults to 78th in the FedExCup race.

Duncan arrived on the heels of five straight missed cuts but flipped the script today while playing the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA WEST. “Been working hard the last couple days. I felt like I’ve been moving in the right direction and felt like last week wasn’t a good reflection of kind of the work I put in in the off season and where my game was it. It kind of showed the last couple days a little bit and the back nine today I really felt like I got it going.” Steady striking was the recipe as he striped 13-of-14 fairways and landed 17 greens today. His lack of form makes this somewhat of a surprising round but he’ll look to keep the ball rolling tomorrow at the Pete Dye Stadium Course.

Duncan opened his week with a 2-over 73, losing more than two strokes with the putter. The putter stayed cold this morning as he missed seven putts from inside of 12 feet before making the turn. This will go in the books as his first mid-tournament WD, in 141 career starts on the PGA TOUR.

This will be the fourth time the two pair up as they nearly got the job done in 2018, finishing in a tie for seventh-place at 17-under. Missing the cut in 2019, the two impressed last year with rounds of 64-73-63-73 and finished in a tie for 11th-place at 15-under. Falling five-strokes out of the playoff at 20-under, the two may have looked at their Alternate Shot score of 2-over as a possibly hindrance. Schenk comes into this year’s Zurich Classic with numerous missed cuts in 2022, but has been in contention a decent amount, commanding the 36-hole lead at both the Farmers Insurance Open and Corales Punta Cana Championship. Unable to convert either into a victory, his volatility paired with Duncan’s steadiness may be a perfect combination. As Duncan arrives off a T-12 effort at the RBC Heritage and has collected four top-40 finishes in his last five starts on the PGA Tour.

1-for-3 making his way through to the weekend at Harbour Town, Ducan’s lone made cut came in the summer of 2020 after the COVID-19 layoff. A former winner in Sea Island at the RSM Classic, Harbour Town should theoretically fit Duncan’s mold. An accurate driver of the golf ball, before his missed cut in Texas, the former Purdue Boilmaker was flashing some form. Beginning with a T-35 finish at the Puerto Rico Open, Duncan then added a T-25 effort at the Valspar Championship and a T-28 result at the Corales Puntacana Championship. An adequate around-the-green player, the 32-year-old’s week will be told by his iron play as it has been inconsistent throughout the 2021-22 season.

The tweet released by PGA TOUR Communications read, “Tyler Duncan is a WD from The Honda Classic and replaced in the field by Chase Seiffert. Seiffert, who participated in the Open Qualifier this week and failed to advance from the 16-for-1 playoff for the last spot, finished T3 at the 2021 Honda Classic.” This will be Seiffert’s fifth start of the 2021-22 season. Making his first two cuts at the Fortinet Championship and the Bermuda Championship, the 30-year-old has since struggled after the turn of the calendar. With previous success at PGA National, perhaps this will be the week Seiffert turns his game around after back-to-back missed cuts to begin 2022.

The Purdue alum is 1-for-3 at the Sony, sandwiching a T57 in 2019 with missed cuts in 2020 and 2018 by one and six shots, respectively. That T57 in 2019, however, included a couple of 66s in R2 and R3, unfortunately, he played Rounds 1 and 4 in 3-over. The 32-year-old, who arrived off a missed cut at the RSM eight weeks ago (70-72), site of his only TOUR win to date (2020), went 3-for-5 in the fall with a best of T14 at the Sanderson Farms four starts ago (68-68-69-66). Today, he ticked six birdies thru his first 12 holes, ended with six pars, and at last check, posted 1.438 SG: Tee-to-Green and 2.067 SG: Putting on 11 (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation. See link below to post-round comments.

At the 2020 event, Duncan shot 61 in the second round and 65 in the final round to finish tied with Webb Simpson at 19-under 263 and force extra holes. Duncan made a 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to secure his maiden title. He followed up with a fairly middle-of-the-pack season last year, making 16 cuts in 33 starts and finishing 162nd on the FedExCup standings. His best finish was a T-11 at the Zurich Classic where he paired with Adam Schenk. Duncan has made four starts already this season, missing the cut in the Fortinet Championship but rebounding with a T-14 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He finished T-45 at the Mayakoba and T-29 last week in Houston, where he closed with a final-round 66. In four previous starts at the RSM, Duncan missed the cut just once – last year.

Finishing in a tie for 14th at the Sanderson Farms Championship, Duncan posted +5.1 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. His best result since the 2020 Wyndham Championship, the former Purdue Boilmaker will attempt to keep the strong play going ahead of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. With finishes of T-50, T-38, T-48, and T-23 in his four starts on the Greg Norman design, this week could be an ideal spot for Duncan to find his way towards the top of the leaderboard.