Wes

Roach

After a less than memorable start to the season that saw Roach miss three consecutive cuts, the former Duke Blue Devil has turned the corner in 2021. Racking up seven paydays in a row, while playing on conditional status, Roach has made the most of his time when teeing it up on the PGA Tour. Hopping back and forth between the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour this year, a strong showing at the 3M Open would go a long way for Roach as he sits 201st in the FedEx Cup standings and just outside the top-200. He is set to get his 3M Open started tomorrow at 2:01 p.m. CDT alongside Kris Ventura and Tom Lovelady.

The Duke alum slept on his first lead/co-lead after any round on the PGA TOUR in 248 rounds. After tossing up an eagle and six birdies against one bogey in R1 for 64, he went birdie-less in R2 and swallowed six bogeys. The 32-year-old, playing this season on conditional status, gained 1.504 strokes off-the-tee but lost strokes approaching (-1.149), around (-3.012), with the flat stick (-1.627), and at last check, posted a -3.699 SG: Total on Friday. On a positive note, he did make his fifth cut of the season in nine events, second straight after a T61 at the Byron Nelson four weeks ago (68-70-71-70), and he still has 36 holes remaining to mount a rally.

Roach’s ball-striking stats were nothing to write home about today. He piped 10-of-14 fairways (54) and pelted 11 greens in regulation (68). The obvious highlight was a hole-out eagle from 105 yards at the par-5 fourth hole. It was his putter that did the loudest talking, though. He poured home a trio of putts from outside of 10 feet and didn’t miss any short putts, gaining 4.775 strokes putting by round’s end. Playing his 248th career round on TOUR, this will go in the books as his first time leading after any round. It’s also his low round of the season. “I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well for the majority of year and my putter has just, it wasn’t very good, to be honest. So kind of mixed things up a little bit a few weeks ago back home and, yeah, everything’s in a good spot right now.”

Roach settled for a 7-for-14 record last season while playing on conditional status. He’ll remain in that conditional bucket which means starts will remain relatively tough to find. Before the COVID-19 break he collected a T9 at the Puerto Rico Open which was his second top 10 on the season (T8 at the Bermuda Championship). Those would stay as his only top 25s on the year. Since he can’t play in all of the PGA TOUR events that he’d like to, Roach has split time by dropping down to the Korn Ferry circuit. He’s collected three top 25s in six starts this season on the KFT. The Duke product has 15 top 10s in 136 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour but his top-10 rate is sliced in half on the big stage (5 top 10s in 82 PGA TOUR starts). It’s too early to call him a bust just yet but he doesn’t provide a lot of season-long value right now while playing with conditional status only.

This was the 31-year-old’s fourth PRO and second top 10, joining a T4 on debut in 2014 (69-66-70-67) during his rookie campaign. Playing this season on conditional status, he improves to 7-for-10 with two top 25s and two top 10s, at the moment, just shy of a T8 at the opposite-field Bermuda. For the week, the Duke alum recorded rounds of 67-70-69-69 and totaled one eagle and 18 birdies against seven bogeys. In the finale, he landed 11 (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, offsetting two bogey-5s at holes 1 and 9, with five circles at 2, 5, 13, 15 and 17.

The Duke University alum put together a ball-striking clinic today. He split 10-of-14 fairways and parlayed that into 17 greens in regulation. He was the only golfer to hit 17 greens today and only Kyle Stanley landed all 18 GIR. Back to Roach, success at the Puerto Rico Open is nothing new as it’s the site of a T4 finish which came in his 2014 tournament debut. That remains one of just four top 10s on his PGA TOUR resume and one of just two top-5 finishes for Roach. His comfort on this course makes him one to watch closely over the final three days.

Playing this season on conditional status, the Duke alum checked in 4-for-6 with one top 25, a T8 at the opposite-field Bermuda Championship three starts ago. This is his fourth AmEx with one prior cash, a T34 two tries ago in 2016 (67-71-69-68). The 31-year-old hit seven (of 14) fairways and 10 greens in regulation, carding five birdies at holes 9, 11, 12, 14 and 15, adding a hole-out eagle at the par-5 seventh. He opened with an up-and-down 68 at La Quinta CC (1 eagle, 5 birdies, 3 bogeys), so will challenge the Stadium Course in R3.

The 30-year-old, who finished 134th in the FedExCup standings last season, improves to 2-for-4, arriving off a T28 at the Houston Open three weeks ago. It’s his fourth top 10 in 69 career events, first since T10 at the John Deere eight starts ago, one of two top 10s last season in 21 starts. For the week, the Duke alum carded rounds of career-low 63, 69-69-68, and totaled three eagles and 20 birdies against eight bogeys and one triple. In R4, he outpaced bogey-5 at hole 4 and triple bogey-7 at 11, with five birdies at 2, 5, 8, 12 and 14, adding eagle-3 at 17.

After opening with career-low 63, the 30-year-old has fallen off the pace with back-to-back 69s. On 11 (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, he carded an eagle-3 at 7 and three birdies at holes 6, 8 and 15, taking some luster off with three bogeys at 2, 5 and 11 (failed scrambles). The Duke alum, who’ll play out of the third-to-last threesome in R4, recorded 1.636 putts per GIR with 28 total putts. Playing this season on conditional status, he checked in 1-for-3 and off a T28 in his most recent start three weeks ago in Houston (69-68-72-74).