Five storylines for Sunday: Matsuyama’s time?

PGA TOUR star Bryson DeChambeau’s quest for a world long drive title remains alive after he surged to the final 32 of the Professional Long Drivers of America World Championships in Mesquite, Nevada. DeChambeau silenced the critics by breezing through from the final 64 to the final 32 competitors on Wednesday afternoon at the Mesquite Regional Sports and Event Complex. RELATED: The prototype driver DeChambeau is using for the World Long Drive Championship Fresh off helping the U.S. Ryder Cup team to victory, DeChambeau finished second in his 16-man group with 800 points, cruising to the next round by winning three of his five sets. The Open Division that began with 80 players, was whittled to 64 on Tuesday, and then slashed in half in tough gusting winds throughout Wednesday’s play. DeChambeau will now return Thursday in a bid to make the final 16 on Friday where a winner will be crowned. On Wednesday four 16-man groups competed in five four-man sets. A player earned 200 points for winning a set, 100 points for finishing second and 50 points for finishing third with the top eight of each group advancing. DeChambeau started impressively in his opening set, finding the grid with all six balls, topping out at 351 yards. It was good enough for second place, losing top spot to Ryan Steenberg’s final second 353-yard effort. But the eight-time TOUR winner smashed one 355-yards to win his second set, a result that put him on the road to advancement. A 351-yard drive in his third set to be second all but secured his place to Thursday but it was official with a 347-yard slap in his fourth set that was good enough to win. The fifth set was a mere formality, but DeChambeau pummeled a 328-yard effort into a stiff wind all the same for another set win to close it out. “What he’s doing is obviously wonderful for the sport. He’s a good guy. He has a very altruistic desire to help the sport out. It’s great to have someone appreciate what the guys can do out here,” former world champion and fellow competitor Kyle Berkshire said. “He took a big leap of faith and put himself in a vulnerable position to compete out here and he’s backed it up with his performance. He’s doing the PGA TOUR really proud.” Berkshire has been an advocate of DeChambeau’s quest to compete and says those expecting less of the former U.S. Open champion are way off base. He expects DeChambeau to seriously threaten making the final 16 and beyond. “The competition is going to get even more serious now which is great to see. I think Bryson has a gear we haven’t seen yet, I expect we will see him close to 220mph ball speed,” Berkshire, who also cruised to the final 32, said. “If he comes out and wins a set or two tomorrow, which I think he can do especially getting so many balls in play, he absolutely has a great chance to advance further.” The live-stream announcer alongside DeChambeau was gung-ho on DeChambeau’s chances of making it to the end. “We are close to Vegas and they’ve got odds on him making the final eight. I’m getting on it for sure,” he said. “He’s ruining our long-drive reputations because not only can he hit the long ball but he can chip and putt as well!” The announcers also confirmed DeChambeau will not take any money for his performance, donating anything he wins back into the purse for the other competitors.

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Danny Lee … Sometimes an eye with experience in understanding a generalized value over growing popularity of a sharper focus is more valuable this early in a season. While his six starts in 2019-20 isn’t below average, the fact that his best two results by far occurred in tournaments without ShotLink presents an example as to why a grain of salt often is required when reviewing everyone in depth before relying on any one statistic. For example, of the 236 golfers who qualify to be ranked officially in the stats, he’s 218th in Strokes Gained: Putting, but neither his solo second at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES nor his T10 at The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP contribute to measured data because ShotLink wasn’t active. Consider that at Nine Bridges, he led the field in both scrambling and fewest putts per round, ranked second in one-putt percentage and placed T8 in putts per GIR. Overall in his six starts, he’s 38th in scrambling, 44th in fewest putts per round, 48th in one-putt percentage and 53rd in putts per GIR, stats influenced by every tournament, not just those with ShotLink. Peter Malnati … Who better than one of the best putters on the PGA TOUR to deserve elevated expectations in a putting contest cloaked by a shootout? Not only did he finished T18 at The American Express last year, but last week’s T12 at Waialae was his best showing in individual competition on TOUR in four years. He paced the Sony field in one-putt percentage and fewest putts per round. Overall this season, he’s 13th in Strokes Gained: Putting, 16th in putting: birdies-or-better and second in both one-putt percentage and fewest putts per round. Maverick McNealy … On the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, he cruised through on the strength of confident putting. Ranked fifth on the circuit in putts per GIR and eighth in putting: birdies-or-better. It’s a skill that he’s taken to the PGA TOUR where the rookie is 45th in Strokes Gained: Putting, T21 in one-putt percentage and 10th in putting: birdies-or-better. It’s a bonus that the 24-year-old slots T28 in par-5 scoring average. After opening the season with a pair of missed cuts, he walked off the fall with six consecutive cuts made that included a season-best T17 in Houston. Bronson Burgoon … With only 41 cuts made in a career 78 PGA TOUR starts as a professional and just five top 10s to his name, he’s not a talent to whom you often point to contend. Yet, he’s figured it out with timely precision to have retained enough status to remain on the radar. If you were going to settle on a commonality as to why he’s landed on leaderboards, you’re going to find numerous occasions that yield low scores. It’s manifested itself already thrice this season with one top 10 among a trio of top 20s. The success is supported by a potent putter. Currently 18th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting, T7 in one-putt percentage and sixth in putting: birdies-or-better. Seung-Yul Noh … Making his first PGA TOUR start since the inaugural edition of THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in October of 2017. He then spent nearly two years fulfilling his military conscription in his native South Korea before returning to competition for a pair of starts in his homeland last fall. The latter resulted a T6 at the Genesis Championship (won by Sungjae Im). Noh, who modified his ball flight to a fade during his time away, is 28 years of age and one year younger than when fellow countryman Sangmoon Bae began his military assignment in 2015, so there’s reason to believe that time is on Noh’s side whereas Bae struggled mightily in his return to the PGA TOUR. Armed with a full season’s worth of starts via a status extension (in the Major Medical category), Noh also can tap into the positive experience of a T17 in 2016 when the current rotation of course first hosted The American Express. 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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