Zac

Blair

Blair was a pre-tournament WD last month at the AT&T Byron Nelson but returned at Colonial Country Club. He missed the cut that week. Gamers should remove him from weekly lineup consideration and keep him off their radar for the foreseeable future.

Playing on a Major Medical, Blair has landed just two top 25s on the season. He has nine starts remaining on his medical extension, needing 270 FedExCup Points to fulfill the terms. He won’t add any this week and gamers should remove him from all weekly rosters. Blair is currently 134th in the FedExCup race.

Blair opened the 2020-21 season with three missed cuts and a T70 before shutting it down. He utilized his Korn Ferry Tour rehab starts this summer, going 5-for-5 with all five doubling as top-35 finishes. Now, he’ll start a Major Medical Extension where he has 24 starts to 437 FedExCup points (284 for conditional status). Blair is picking a good course to return to action, given he has posted a 12th-place (2014) and 4th-place (2019) finish in six tries at Silverado Resort and Spa.

Blair was in the preliminary field but had a change of heart over the weekend. He was on social media playing at Augusta Country Club so this does not appear to be injury-related. Gamers should remove him from consideration this week. He has opened the new season with a T70 at the Corales to go along with three missed cuts.

The BYU product should feel comfortable with the climate this week, playing out West where he was born and raised. That comfort hasn’t translated to success in Vegas, though, arriving with a 1-for-5 record with a T75 in his 2014-15 debut going as the lone payday. It’s very similar when you look at his recent form log, as well. Blair has missed the cut in four of his last five starts with a T70 in the other. Blair has six career top 10s in 146 starts but it’s tough to know when those big finishes are on the way.

The BYU product posted a 12-for-22 record this season to make the Playoffs for the third time in his career (2015, 2016). The most notable finish this seaon came back in the fall, a T4 at the Safeway Open. Since the restart, he is 3-for-8 with a T35 at the alternate-field Barracuda Championship going as his only top 50. Taking a look at TPC Boston this week, Blair will look to improve upon his T60 from his 2015 course debut which remains his only visit to the Arnold Palmer design. He’ll need to climb inside the top 70 in the FedExCup race if he wants to extend his postseason.

This is the 29-year-old’s fourth PRO with a best of T38 on debut in 2015 and finished T59 last year as an alternate (71-73-70-74). He arrives 8-for-12 on the season with four top 25s, two straight, including a T18 in his most recent start two weeks ago at the AT&T Pro-Am. The BYU alum has bumped from 18th in the Korn Ferry grad reshuffle to 7th, buoyed by a season-best T4 at the Safeway, and was also an 18-hole co-leader at the AmEx with a career-tying-low 64 before fading to T55 (64-70-71-73). Blair, whose career-best finish (and lone podium) in 132 events is 3rd at the 2016 Sony, ranks outside the top 140 in all strokes gained stats with the exception of putting, where he sits 31st (.522).

This is the BYU alum’s fifth FIO, first since a missed cut in 2018. His best among one top-25 finish is T11 on debut in 2015 (72-70-71-69). The Utah native checked in 6-for-10 on the season with two top 25s and one top 10 (T4, Safeway), and off a T55 at last week’s AmEx, where he was an 18-hole co-leader (64-70-71-73). Beginning off No. 10 tee, he found nine (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, carding six birdies at 11, 16, 17, 1, 5 and 17. The 29-year-old opened with an up-and-down 72 on the South, exchanging five circles with one bogey and two double bogey-6s.

After a bogey-free lap on La Quinta CC in R1, which tied a career low (in 395th round), the BYU alum didn’t have the same swagger on Day 2. He’ll take a crack at the Stadium Course on Saturday, historically the most challenging of the rota, as he looks to get back into the hunt. On 12 (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, the 29-year-old recorded 1.800 putts per GIR, needing 30 total putts. He squared both of his bogeys in the early going (holes 2 and 6), but settled in with circles at 7, 10, 11 and 16, which should give him a bit of momentum heading into Day 3.

Blair piped 12-of-14 fairways today en route to 12 greens in regulation. He took advantage of the scoring holes, circling birdies on all four par 5s and four (of the 10) par 4s, as well. The short sharpshooter walked off the course gaining 5.53 strokes over the field average at La Quinta CC today. If this lead holds then it’d be his second time leading after 18 holes on the PGA TOUR. The last time he did that was at the 2017 Barbasol Championship where he co-led after day one before going on to finish T27 by week’s end.