Sleeper Picks: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

Tiger Woods shot an even-par 72 in the first round and will need to have a good day Friday to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open.

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Maclain Huge and Nathan Petronzio led the way at open qualifying for this week’s Barbasol Championship, matching 8-under 64s at Boone’s Trace National GC to earn tee times Thursday at Keene Trace GC. Huge, who played collegiately at Virginia Tech, made eight birdies Monday and was without a bogey. The former PGA TOUR Latinoamerica member is set for his first career PGA TOUR start after years on the grind on various smaller tours. Petronzio goes back-to-back at Monday qualifying after carding 62 to earn a spot in last week’s John Deere Classic. The rising SMU junior won the American Atlantic Conference Championship this past spring and is continuing to display firepower, aiming to channel lessons from a missed cut at TPC Deere Run into this week in Kentucky. Like Huge, he was bogey-free with eight birdies. Gunner Wiebe carded 7-under 65 to earn the third available spot via Monday’s qualifier, with Daniel Wetterich earning the final spot by way of a 3-for-1 playoff at 6-under 66. Falling just short were Fred Meyer and Jansen Preston. In all, 71 players competed for four spots in the Barbasol Championship field. For all scores from the Barbasol Championship qualifier, click here. Here’s a capsule look at this week’s Barbasol Championship open qualifiers … Maclain Huge (8-under 64) Hometown: Lovettsville, Virginia Alma mater: Virginia Tech PGA TOUR starts: 0 Last name is pronounced HEW-ghee Notes: Has spent time on GPro Tour, Minor League Golf Tour and Florida Professional Golf Tour in chase of his professional golf dreams, among other tours … Missed cut in lone Korn Ferry Tour start at 2016 LECOM Health Challenge, into which he also Monday qualified … Won 2015 Virginia State Amateur, defeating Mark Lawrence, Jr., 4 and 3, in the 36-hole final … Played collegiately at Virginia Tech alongside two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Trevor Cone … Took up game at age 4 after seeing golf on TV and becoming intrigued. First club was a sawed-off 7-iron with electrical tape wrapped around the grip; he would hit balls around his family’s 75-acre sheep pasture. Nathan Petronzio (8-under 64) Hometown: Bee Cave, Texas Alma mater: SMU (rising junior) PGA TOUR starts: 1 Cuts made: 0 Best PGA TOUR finish: MC, 2022 John Deere Classic Notes: Made his PGA TOUR debut at last week’s John Deere Classic with close friend and SMU teammate Justin Thompson on the bag; Thompson drove upwards of 15 hours from Texas to the Quad Cities … Was named 2021 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year … Won 2022 American Athletic Conference individual title with a three-round total of 13-under at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Florida, longtime host venue for Second Stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School; helped SMU to AAC team title as well. Gunner Wiebe (7-under 65) Age: 33 Hometown: Denver, Colorado Alma mater: University of San Diego PGA TOUR starts: 2 Cuts made: 0 Best PGA TOUR finish: MC, 2010 Farmers Insurance Open/2016 Fortinet Championship Notes: Has made five career Korn Ferry Tour starts in addition to two prior TOUR appearances … His dad Mark Wiebe won twice on the PGA TOUR (1985 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill; 1986 John Deere Classic) in addition to five PGA TOUR Champions victories … Was named 2010 Colorado Golf Association Player of the Year … Spent three years working as an assistant pro at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, in addition to a stint in the finance industry … Has overcome an arm injury to resume his professional golf career. Daniel Wetterich (6-under 66; advanced through playoff) Age: 25 Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio Alma mater: Ohio State PGA TOUR starts: 2 Cuts made: 0 Best PGA TOUR finish: MC, 2020 The Honda Classic/2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic Notes: Holds conditional Korn Ferry Tour status this season after finishing T135 at Final Stage of Q-School last fall; has made one 2022 start at Visit Knoxville Open (MC) … Played three seasons at Ohio State, graduating in 2019 with a degree in finance, after playing one year at Xavier in his hometown … Won 2019 Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at Ohio State University GC (Scarlet), site of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship … Cousin Brett Wetterich won the 2006 AT&T Byron Nelson in addition to three Korn Ferry Tour titles and represented the United States at the 2006 Ryder Cup.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – On a star-studded leaderboard, Tiger Woods is firmly in the mix entering Saturday’s third round of the Masters. Tiger begins his weekend chase of his fifth green jacket just one shot back of the five co-leaders at Augusta National. We’ll have hole-by-hole updates after Tiger tees off at 2:05 p.m. ET, so check this file often. MORE MASTERS Leaderboard | Tales of Tiger’s equipment | Rd. 2 recap: Tiger one back entering weekend Pre-round notes TIGER’S PUTTING: Through the first two rounds, Tiger has been great from long range … and horrible from short range. From outside 20 feet, Tiger ranks first in the field, making 5 of 15 attempts for a rate of 33.33%. No other player in the field has made more than three putts from that distance. From inside 5 feet, however, Tiger has missed three of his 29 putts, leaving his conversion rate at 89.66%. Among the 65 players who made that cut, the only player with a worse percentage is amateur Alvaro Ortiz at 89.29%. From 5-10 feet, though, Ortiz leads the field, making all eight of his attempts. Woods has missed four of his eight attempts (50%). Just 12 players have lower percentage rates than Tiger from that distance. FAMILIAR PAIRING: Tiger is paired with Englishman Ian Poulter for the third round at the Masters for the second consecutive year. Both were well off the pace when they played together a year ago, with Tiger shooting an even-par 72 to end the round tied for 40th, while Poulter shot a 74 to drop into a tie for 50th at that point. Saturday will be the sixth round that Woods and Poulter have been in the same group at a PGA TOUR event. The first time was at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2010 when they were in the same threesome for the first two rounds. The last time was at THE NORTHERN TRUST during last season’s FedExCup Playoffs. Four times, Woods has shot the better score, and the other time they recorded the same score. RECENT SATURDAYS AT AUGUSTA: When Tiger won his last green jacket in 2005, he shot a 7-under 65 that moved him from six shots behind to three strokes ahead. That 65 tied for his lowest round in his Masters career – in fact, both of his 65s at Augusta National have happened in the third round. In his 10 starts since 2005, Tiger has shot in the 60s just twice in the third round, a 68 in 2008 and another 68 in 2015.

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