Tyler

Strafaci

Turning professional this summer at the AT&T Byron Nelson, the former Georgia Tech standout has struggled ever since. Connecting on only two cuts in his five starts as a professional – mixed between the PGA Tour and the Forme Tour – Strafaci has still yet to find the top 50 in any tournament. His struggles continued into this week at the Big Money Classic where he once again failed to make a cut, carding rounds of 71-70. Heading into the new year without much form, the holidays may be a welcomed sight for Strafaci as he continues to find his bearings as a professional.

Strafaci reached as high as 8th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking during his time at Georgia Tech. The youngster is coming off a tough week at the Walker Cup where many dealt with food poisoning. “Yeah, it was a struggle for three or four days. I spent a couple days in and out of a hospital. Lost 20 pounds, so I’m still kind of recovering from it.” That’s not ideal prep ahead of your pro debut but it’ll have to do. As an amateur, he played in five PGA TOUR events, still searching for his first cut made. Given his strong peformance on the college level, gamers should certainly keep a watchful eye this week and perhaps invest in later events this year when he’s had some time to regain some of that lost weight. What will his schedule be moving forward? “I have this week, take a week off, and then I go to Colonial. Then I go straight to Memorial and then a week off and then play the U.S. Open.”

The 22-year-old had a stellar summer of 2020, winning the North & South Amateur, Palmetto Amateur, and U.S. Amateur with the latter being his ticket into this week’s big event. He sits at 11th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking which is the highest he’s reached during his time at Georgia Tech. Strafaci has been utilizing all of his available practice rounds, “Leading up to the tournament, I think I played close to ten rounds of golf. The course changes every single time I come. It gets firmer and faster. It’s kind of cool because I came the last four weekends before the tournament, so I’ve kind of acclimated myself a little bit, but the greens are kind of getting firmer. So I’ve got some more prep over the next few days to feel comfortable.” The Low Am will be well within his reach this week with only him and two others competing for the award this week, Charles Osborne and Joe Long. On top of that, he can also aim to eclipse his grandfather, Frank Strafaci who played in the 1938 and 1950 Masters with a T56 in 1059 being his best result. Back to Tyler, he’s played in four PGA TOUR events and missed the cut in all of them.

The 22-year-old, in the field as the 2020 U.S. Amateur champion, was making his fourth career start after missed cuts at the 2021 Farmers (sponsor invite), 2018 U.S. Open, and the 2018 Valspar as the 2017 winner of the Valspar Collegiate Invitational. The former Georgia Tech product opened with 7-over 78 (1 birdie, 8 bogeys), and was T118 out of 120 after 18 holes. Media reports have him remaining an amateur through the Masters in April, as well as the Walker Cup, May 8-9 at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket won the 2017 Valspar Collegiate Invitational to punch his ticket into this week’s field. The sophomore currently ranks 183rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. While Strafaci picked up his ticket while playing at The Floridian, this week’s Valspar venue will be very comfortable for him. After the Collegiate victory he noted that his family used to vacation to Innisbrook and he estimated that he’s played this week’s course about 20 times. He is still a long shot to contend but we’ve seen local knowledge pay off here for amateurs in the past, most notable Lee McCoy who picked up a solo fourth in the 2016 edition.