Day: July 6, 2021

Bettors are all in on Brady-Mickelson to winBettors are all in on Brady-Mickelson to win

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Luke Gannon leads John Deere Classic qualifiersLuke Gannon leads John Deere Classic qualifiers

The John Deere Classic’s Monday qualifier at Oakwood Country Club ended in a rarity for 2021. No playoff was needed to determine the final spots in the field of this week’s PGA TOUR event. Luke Gannon, 22, was medalist after shooting 63 (-8). He will make his PGA TOUR debut at TPC Deere Run. Gannon has worked a maintenance job for his dad’s church while trying to make ends meet as a professional golfer, per Ryan French’s Monday Q Info account on Twitter. Alex Smalley, Eric Cole, and Rodrigo Lee finished in a 3-way tie for second at 6 under. An elite group that include Brooks Koepka’s younger brother (Chase Koepka), a former TOUR winner (Eric Axley), and a player who successfully Mondayed just two weeks ago (Stephen Stallings Jr.) finished a shot back. Rodrigo Lee will join Gannon in making his PGA TOUR debut. Q&A with Alex Smalley PGATOUR.com spoke with Alex Smalley after he successfully qualified Monday for his fifth career PGA TOUR start. PGATOUR.COM: What did your back-to-back top-5 finishes on the Forme Tour do for your confidence leading into this Monday qualifier? Alex Smalley: I knew I was playing well coming into this week, so I just had to do the same things I’ve been doing. I played in the Rocket Mortgage qualifier last week and missed the playoff by one, so I knew I was close. It was certainly nice to be able to get over the hurdle this week. PGATOUR.COM: How hectic will preparation be this week after you revise the travel and lodging plans? Alex Smalley: Travel and lodging are always difficult when you qualify because most hotels in the area (especially this week) are sold out. Thankfully I was able to find a place. The TOUR gives out courtesy cars for players, so that certainly helps the finances for the week not having to worry about a rental car for seven days. I am currently trying to cancel my return flight to Atlanta that I booked for 6 a.m. Tuesday if I didn’t make it. That is currently the most difficult thing that I’m dealing with right now. PGATOUR.COM: How have your expectations matched your goals since turning professional? Alex Smalley: I’m not sure I had a whole lot of expectations turning pro. I was trying to feel it out the first few months. The thing I did realize pretty quickly is just how competitive all levels of pro golf are. Monday qualifiers, mini-tour events, and Q-School are all crazy competitive, so I’ve had to adjust my expectations after competing in a few of those. Especially for Monday qualifiers, you could go a whole year playing well in those and never make it into an event. Just trying to manage that part of it is difficult, mentally speaking. PGATOUR.COM: What has been the most surprising to you the most about the grind of a professional golfer? Alex Smalley: I think the most shocking thing is how lonely it can all be. Traveling back and forth between events is tough, but doing it alone would be even tougher. I’m lucky that my mom travels with me and caddies for me in the Monday qualifiers and mini-tour events. She actually caddies for me in the Forme events as well. Going back to what I said in the last question, it’s just so competitive. I was 20 under last week at the Forme event in Auburn and finished T3 with four other guys. That’s just crazy. I’ve also played in three-day mini-tour events where the winning score was -24. If you’re not shooting 6 to 8 under every day in some of these events, especially Monday qualifiers, you’re not going to sniff winning. That’s probably been the thing I’ve realized most. Everyone is so hungry and driven to get to the PGA TOUR. Qualifiers Luke Gannon Age: 22 College: Southern Illinois University Turned pro: 2019 PGA TOUR starts: 0 Cuts Made: 0 Notes: Gannon has played in three Korn Ferry Tour events in the 2020-21 season. He finished in the top 20 in two consecutive events on the Adams Pro Tour in June. Gannon helped lead Southern Illinois University to two NCAA Regional appearances in 2016 and 2019. He was ranked the No. 7 junior in Kansas in 2015. Alex Smalley Age: 24 College: Duke University Turned pro: 2019 PGA TOUR starts: 4 Cuts Made: 2 PGA TOUR earnings: $93,000 Twitter: @asmalley_golf Notes: Smalley made the cut at Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in 2020 (T14) and 2021 (T22). Before Monday, Smalley finished in the top 5 in consecutive starts on the Forme Tour. Smalley was a member of the 2019 U.S. Arnold Palmer Cup team and the Walker Cup team, registering a 3-1-0 record in each event. He also finished one stroke back of the all-time scoring record during the 2016 U.S. Amateur stroke play, winning medalist honors by shooting 65-68. He also competed in the 2017 U.S. Open, missing the cut after rounds of 73 and 74. He won the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur in 2018 and 2019, the first player to go back-to-back in that event since Rickie Fowler. Eric Cole Age: 33 College: Nova Southeastern University Turned pro: 2009 PGA TOUR starts: 2 Cuts Made: 1 PGA TOUR earnings: $28,000 Notes: Has won more than 50 times on the Minor League Golf Tour. Finished T23 at Final Stage of Korn Ferry Q-School in 2017 to earn temporary status. Cole has made 26 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in the 2020-21 season, including a third-place finish. His dad, Bobby Cole, won the 1966 British Amateur and won his solo PGA TOUR title in 1977 at the Buick Open. His mother, Laura, is the youngest player to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur at age 16 in 1971. She was the 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year and finished in the top 10 of 70 LPGA tournaments. Rodrigo Lee Age: 33 Turned pro: 2010 PGA TOUR starts: 0 Cuts made: 0 Notes: The John Deere Classic will be Lee’s first PGA TOUR start. He has recorded a top-10 on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica every year since 2017. He was 2011 Rookie of the Year on the China Tour. Notes Notables who missed qualifying: Stephen Stallings Jr., Eric Axley, Chase Koepka, Robert Garrigus, Tain Lee, Akshay Bhatia, John Augenstein, Hayden Springer, M.J. Daffue, Justin Suh, Dylan Meyer, Ben Crane, Andrew Loupe, and Broc Everett. 2020-2021 Monday Qualifier statistics: Last event’s qualifier result (Rocket Mortgage Championship): Connor Arendell (MC), Justin Suh (MC), Daniel Wetterich (MC), and Tain Lee (MC) Total money earned by Monday qualifiers on TOUR this season: $1,002,323 Best finish: M.J. Daffue (T12, Sanderson Farms Championship). Next Monday Qualifier: Barbasol Championship at Boone’s Trace National Golf Club in Richmond, KY (July 12, 2021)

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Sleeper Picks: John Deere ClassicSleeper Picks: John Deere Classic

Kyle Stanley (+900) … This is the 10-year anniversary of his runner-up finish to Steve Stricker’s threepeat at the John Deere Classic. It’s one of five top 25s contributing to an 8-for-10 record. For a talent primarily known as a ball-striker’s ball-striker, that he’s been to convert on his chances with better-than-average performance overtime is proof for his level of comfort for TPC Deere Run. His scoring average in 36 rounds on the track is 68.75. Also strides in having connected seven straight paydays. Sits a customary 39th in fairways hit, 11th in greens in regulation and third in proximity to the hole, so an eighth consecutive cut made is the lowest of expectations this week. Richy Werenski (+1200) … The Georgia Tech product has sustained position comfortably inside the top-125 bubble since a T4 at Bay Hill four months ago, but last week’s T25 in Detroit was his best finish in individual competition in the interim. He’d like to have the final round back given he launched into it slotted T6 and just three shots off the lead, but another tournament means another opportunity to close. Perfect in three trips to TPC Deere Run with a pair of top 25s, a scoring average of 68.25 and an active streak of eight sub-70s. Maverick McNealy (+750) … Like so many decorated amateurs, he came through here in 2017 and finished T44 with four sub-70s. Back for the first time since, he’s chasing elevated positioning in the FedExCup for a deep run into the Playoffs. Currently 54th in points despite missing 10 of 21 cuts. The 25-year-old has picked his spots and enters on a T20-T30-T21 run since Colonial. Fabián Gómez (+3300) … The 42-year-old from Argentina hasn’t recorded a top 10 in a PGA TOUR event rewarding 500 FedExCup points or more to the winner since the 2016 FedExCup Playoffs, but he is coming off his best finish in said competition in 23 months. His T14 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic just missed matching a T13 at the 2019 Wyndham Championship, but it had the makings of even better. He finished T6 in greens hit, fourth in proximity and fifth in Strokes Gained: Putting. Although he’s just 1-for-6 at TPC Deere Run with a T23 in 2018, his scoring average in 12 rounds is 69.83. Alex Smalley (+2500) … Should come cheap in DFS but expect his stock to rise. Already 2-for-2 with top 25s in both editions of the Corales stop this season, the product of Duke University gained entry into the John Deere Classic via open qualifying on Monday (with a 6-under 65 at Oakwood Country Club). With the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada postponed due to the pandemic, the Forme Tour was created to give golfers from the developmental circuit places to play and sharpen their axes. In the two events thus far, he’s one of only four golfers with top 10s in both – a T5 and a T3, respectively. When including LOCALiQ Series stops in the second half of 2020, the 24-year-old has posted five top 10s and another five top 25s in his last 11 starts across three tours. In essence, since turning professional in 2019, he’s made the most of the opportunities presented during the worst time in modern history to turn pro. (NOTE: The Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada is scheduled to begin its 2021 season on July 26 in Quebec. It will be limited to golfers already situated in Canada.). Odds were sourced on Tuesday, July 6 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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Fields confirmed for Olympic Games golf competitionsFields confirmed for Olympic Games golf competitions

The names of the 60 men and 60 women who will be representing their respective countries in the Tokyo Olympics golf competition have been ratified with the publication of final quota places for the tournaments at Kasumigaseki Country Club. The men will compete July 29-Aug. 1 and the women Aug. 4-7. Once the Final Olympic Golf Rankings were established with the completion of the recent men’s U.S. Open and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) were required to confirm the athlete places they would use, as each NOC has its own criteria for final nominations. The IGF, in turn, reallocated all unused quota places before yesterday’s Tokyo 2020 Sport Entries Deadline. “We are extremely pleased with the strength and diversity of both the men’s and women’s fields, which reflect the continued growth and popularity of golf,” said Annika Sorenstam, President of the International Golf Federation, which oversees the Olympic golf competition. “We have such wonderful storylines to share, be it Jon Rahm and Nelly Korda both winning major championships in the final week of qualifying to become the No. 1 players in the world, or the variety of lesser known but equally inspiring stories of Olympic athletes representing their respective countries.” With 36 countries included in women’s competition and 35 in the men’s, the composition of the Olympic fields highlights the broad global interest in golf and the opportunity to reach new audiences across all the continents through the expansive coverage of the Olympic Games. Across the two competitions, Europe has 53 qualified players, Asia 30, the Americas 26, Oceania six and Africa five. Golf is looking to build upon the success of its return as an Olympic sport at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after an absence of more than 100 years, when it achieved significant numbers internationally and was watched by a younger, more gender-neutral audience than that generally achieved for professional golf events. In fact, golf finished as the seventh most popular sport in Rio in terms of fan engagements around the world. Click here to view the Final Fields for the men’s and women’s Olympic golf competitions.

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