Fowler falls short in bid to qualify for U.S. Open

Here is a look at the two players who Monday qualified for the Travelers Championship. The qualifier was held at Ellington Ridge Country Club in Ellington, Connecticut. There was a five-for-two playoff for the two spots. There are just two spots available at each Monday Qualifier following the resumption of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season after the COVID-19 break. QUALIFIERS David Pastore (67) Age: 28 College: University of Virginia Turned pro: 2014 PGA TOUR starts: 3 PGA TOUR earnings: $0 Twitter: @dP_pastore Notes: This will be his fourth PGA Tour start. In 2019 he Monday Qualified for both the Farmers Insurance Open and The Honda Classic … In that Honda Classic Monday Qualifier, he missed a very short putt on the first playoff hole for eagle to win but managed to come back and get through … He played in the 2015 Travelers Championship … He is a 2020 Korn Ferry Tour member but hasn’t made any starts yet this year after finishing T126 at final stage … Has played three career Korn Ferry Tour events, the last in 2019 at the LECOM Health Challenge … Finished seventh on the Mackenzie Tour – Canada Order of Merit in 2019 … He finished the year with one runner-up, one third place finish, among four total top 10s … After his freshman year at University of Virginia, he had to re-earn his spot back on the team through an open tryout … His senior year he injured his hand and only played two events Chase Koepka (67) Age: 26 College: University of South Florida Turned pro: 2016 PGA TOUR starts: 5 PGA TOUR earnings: $197,400 Twitter: @ChaseKoepka Notes: This will be his third PGA TOUR start of 2020 … He finished 46th at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and finished 67th at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open … His career-best finish on the PGA TOUR is a fifth-place finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans where he teamed with his brother Brooks … Is a 2020 Korn Ferry Tour member after making it to final stage and finished T68 … Koepka has played in one 2020 Korn Ferry event, The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, where he missed the cut … In 2019 was a Challenge Tour member in Europe … Made two of 12 cuts that year … 2017 was his best year on the Challenge Tour as he made 14 of 18 cuts and finished eight on the Order of Merit … Was a European Tour member in 2018 … That season he made 11 of 28 cuts, with a best finish of seventh in South African Open … In January, he had a 20-foot putt on the last hole to shoot 59 on the Minor League Tour. He shot 64 the second day and won the event. It was his 11th win on the Minor League Tour. KOEPKA Q&A A quick chat with Chase Koepka after Monday qualifying at the Travelers Championship: PGATOUR.COM: Last year you decided to come home after playing in Europe for a few years. Did you think it was time for a change, or was the distance from your family an issue? CHASE KOEPKA: “It was a little bit of both. I was definitely a little bit homesick from playing over there for a few years, and it doesn’t help that I wasn’t playing my best golf over there last year. And that makes the homesick worse playing poorly that far away from my family. Just looking at my career though, I have never really been able to do Korn Ferry Q school up until this year, so I told myself I’d concentrate on that. I wanted to get ready for finals. It didn’t work out exactly how I wanted at finals, but I still have some status.” PGATOUR.COM: Do you have a number in mind once you play a practice round and get a feel for the course, or do you try not to think of a number instead just go as low as possible? KOEPKA: “At some courses you know, it’s going to take 8 or 9 under, but at this course coming in, I actually had no idea what to expect. I heard some guys discussing 67 that got into a playoff in years past, but that was with four spots. So, I really didn’t know what to expect with two spots. I thought 6 or 7 [under} would be a good round today. I was a little bit shocked when I came in that I was tied for the lead at 5 under. I thought it would be a little short.” PGATOUR.COM: With limited Korn Ferry Tour status, are you going to chase Mondays or play some mini-tour events? KOEPKA: “I will try to mix in some Mondays with some mini-tour events in between. You cannot do Monda’s 24/7 and expect to get better. One good thing that has come out of all this, is there is a lot of new mini-tours popping up and giving guys like me a place to play. I mean if you don’t have full status on Korn Ferry or PGA Tours, you are basically a mini-tour player, so I’m just glad there is places to play.” PGATOUR.COM: There are a lot more downs in this game then ups. Does successfully Monday qualifying like this give you a huge mental boost? KOEPKA: “Oh yeah definitely, if you get through one Monday qualifier a year, you are doing really well. When you do, it’s all about capitalizing on your opportunity. You see stories every year, there is maybe three or four guys that turn one Monday qualifier into status or a place in the Korn Ferry finals. Every single year. It’s awesome that we have those in this game, a way to play yourself into these events. It was a bit shocking that they even are having Monday qualifiers again, and so when they announced that they would, it gave everyone a little hope.” PGATOUR.COM: We saw Brooks was at the course watching you come up 18 and you sat down together between the round and playoff. What advice did he give you? KOEPKA: “When I got done, we talked and basically just told me, ‘Awesome job’ and asked me what holes we were playing for the playoff. I went and asked and once I told him he told me to get out to the range and practice those shots to be ready.” PGATOUR.COM: You have dealt with a lot of different types of pressure in your career. Where does a Monday qualifier playoff pressure fall? KOEPKA: “It was like I was trying to win a big-time golf tournament. It was a lot of pressure for sure. You are either in with a huge opportunity for your career or you are going home. I try to look back on putts that I have made in my career and use that. It’s just human nature to look ahead and think about getting into event and what could happen, but you really have to try your best to block that our and stay in the moment.” PGATOUR.COM: Now that you are in the field, do you set hard goals, such as a top 10 or just measure how you play and let the chips fall where they may? KOEPKA: “It’s pretty much play as well as I can and see where the chips fall. Play well and see where we stand on Sunday. I can’t look too far ahead. I am going to try get as many FedExCup points as I can. If I can finish in the top 10 and get into the next week, that would be a huge bonus. All I wanted to do this year is play as many tournaments as I can and just get better. This week’s event just happens to be a TOUR event and is a huge opportunity for me.” NOTES NOTABLE MISSES: Vincent Whaley 68, Chase Seiffert 68, Cliff Kresge 69, Spencer Levin 71, Ken Duke 72 STRENGTH OF TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP MONDAY QUALIFIER: Combined number of PGA TOUR starts: More than 2,130 Number of players with at least one PGA TOUR win: 2 (Ken Duke 1, Carlos Franco 4) Combined number of PGA TOUR wins: 5 Combined PGA TOUR earnings: More than $62 million Combined Korn Ferry Tour wins: 11 Player with most PGA TOUR wins in the field: Carlos Franco 4 COURSE INFO Name of course: Ellington Ridge Country Club, 6928 yds, 74.2 rating, 136 slope 2019-2020 SEASON MONDAY QUALIFIER STATS Average Medalist score: 65.4 Average last qualifying spot score: 66.7 Total number of cuts made: 10 of 47 (21.3%) Most recent results (Honda Classic): Hayden Buckley 69th, Arjun Atwal MC, Andrew McCain MC, Daniel Wetterich MC Money earned: $325,518 Best Finish: Garrett Osborn, T18, Sanderson Farms NEXT MONDAY QUALIFIER June 29: Rocket Mortgage Monday Qualifier, Oakland University Katke Course July 6: Workday Open Monday Qualifier, Country Club of Murfield Village NOTES FROM OTHER TOURS Ryan McCormick finished T14 at the Korn Ferry Classic at TPC Sawgrass after Monday Qualifying, then finished T6 at the King and Bear Classic. Paul Peterson finished T16 at the Korn Ferry King and Bear Classic after Monday Qualifying, earning a spot in the Utah Championship presented by Zion’s bank.

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HUMBLE, Texas — Ian Poulter has the chance to do something special tomorrow at the Houston Open. But he doesn’t want to think or talk about it. Asked after he posted a bogey-free 65 on Saturday — his second straight round without a blemish on the card — what a return to the Masters would mean if he won on Sunday, Poulter was quick to squash the question. “No, not thinking about it, not talking about it,” Poulter said. “I’m going to go out and have some fun tomorrow. There’s a lot of its and buts.” Poulter is correct; there’s no point in thinking about something that’s still very much up in the air. But considering where Poulter was at the beginning of the week, it’s impossible to not wonder what tomorrow would look like if the 42-year-old managed to secure his first TOUR title since 2012 — a win that would also earn him a spot in the field at Augusta National Golf Club. Poulter opened with 73 on Thursday and looked to be out of contention before he even had a chance to get going — to the point that he packed his suitcase to go home Friday night. Instead of fading into the background, Poulter played the next 36 holes in 16 under to rocket up the leaderboard. For a guy who said he had “no expectations” going into the weekend, Poulter is suddenly playing his best golf in the most pressure-packed of situations while trying to have fun on the course at the same time. Poulter attributed his run of good form this week to an adjustment he made to his shoulder position that helped him find a spark on the greens. Through three rounds he ranks ninth in strokes gained: putting. “Just opened my shoulders slightly,” Poulter said. “I’ve been seeing my lines a lot easier and been rolling a few putts in. So good golf has obviously been rewarded with rolling a few putts in.” With a hot putter in his hands, Poulter will be chasing history tomorrow in Humble. Should he go on to win, he would become the first player in the last 35 years to win a TOUR event after being tied for 123rd or worse after the first round. There’s also a TOUR title and a Masters invite on the line. But Poulter isn’t worried about any of that — at least not yet. “I’m in a funny position, right? I said to you guys I’ve got no expectations going out on the golf course,” Poulter said. “I didn’t have any expectations, I just went out to play golf. I’m going to do exactly the same tomorrow regardless.” OBSERVATIONS With a 76 on Saturday, Lee Westwood’s hopes of making a 14th straight Masters appearance came to a disappointing end. A runner-up at Augusta in 2010 and 2016, Westwood was making his first TOUR start of 2018 in a last-ditch effort to win his way into the field. Asked after his round when he might play again on TOUR, Westwood was non-committal, saying there was a chance he might not make another start in the States before the end of the year. Phil Mickelson ended his third round the way it began, at 5 under after 54 holes. The route Mickelson took to shoot 72, however, was anything but conventional. The round included a triple-bogey, double-bogey and two separate stretches where he made three straight birdies. “I’m a little worried that I missed some [drives] that I haven’t been missing and so I’ll have to work on that,” Mickelson said. Four three-putts in the first eight holes had Jordan Spieth wondering “what if” after three rounds. Spieth kept his cool and made two birdies on the back-nine to shoot 71, but without the putter struggles on the front side, the former FedExCup champion would likely be a lot closer than four shots off the lead. “I just got a little anxious trying to get out there early and make a statement, and the greens sped up a good foot today and I didn’t make that adjustment,” Spieth said. If Rickie Fowler comes up short this week, he’ll look back at the par-5 13th hole as the spot where things took a turn for the worse. Fowler battled back from a double-bogey on the front with four birdies to make the turn in 34, but a triple-bogey on the 13th proved to be too much for the four-time TOUR winner to overcome. Fowler lost his ball left off the tee and was forced to drop; he compounded the mistake by three-putting from 11 feet. He’ll start the final round five shots behind Poulter and Hossler. The leaderboard remains bunched with Ian Poulter and Beau Hossler holding a two-shot lead after 54 holes. A total of 14 players are within four, including TOUR winners Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth. Three of the last four Houston Open winners were four or more shots back of the lead entering the final round. Lee Westwood wasn’t the only player in the field who saw his Masters hopes come to an end on Saturday. Bill Haas and Brandt Snedeker MDF’d and will miss out as well. Haas is out of the field for the first time since 2009 while Snedeker’s streak ended at seven consecutive starts, dating back to 2010. NOTABLES Henrik Stenson – Stenson followed up a pair of 68’s with a 69 on Sunday. He only has two bogeys on the card after 54 holes and sits three back of the leaders. Made five birdies during the third round, including a 32-footer on the last. Justin Rose – Broke his streak of seven straight sub-70 rounds with a 72. Tripled the 11th but still managed to pour in three birdies on the back to cancel out the big number. Matt Kuchar – Kuchar posted his third straight sub-70 round to move into contention at 11 under. Ranks sixth this week in strokes gained: putting with more than 311 feet worth of made putts. Keith Mitchell – Two bogeys in the last three holes kept Mitchell from the penultimate group. He’ll still have the chance to build on last week’s runner-up finish at the Corales Puntacana just three back. Mitchell’s 67 was highlighted by seven birdies in 10 holes (Nos. 6-15). Julian Suri – The 72nd-ranked player in the world Monday qualified for the Houston Open and sits in a good position to possibly top-10 in his fifth TOUR start of the season. A 73 on Saturday has him three back of a group of six players at T7. Greg Chalmers – Eight birdies in 13 holes vaulted Chalmers 39 spots up the leaderboard. A 65 was his lowest round on TOUR since he posted the same score during the second round of the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. At 12 under, Chalmers is searching for his second TOUR victory. QUOTABLES I’ll be nervous just like I always am. I’ve learned at each stage of golf that I’ve played from junior golf to amateur golf to now playing professional golf that winning tournaments is difficult and it takes a level of comfortability to do that. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 65 – Thanks to a pair of 65’s, Ian Poulter and Greg Chalmers will go off in the final two groups on Sunday. Longest drive: 381 yards – Tony Finau recorded the longest drive of the day on the par-5 8th hole. Longest putt: 53 feet, 1 inch – Beau Hossler saved par on the par-4 5th hole after his third shot came up well short of the hole. Easiest hole: Par-5, No. 8 (4.589) with 2 eagles, 42 birdies, 38 pars and 7 bogeys and 1 double bogey. Hardest hole: Par-4, No. 5 (4.344) with 8 birdies, 51 pars, 25 bogeys, 4 double bogeys and 2 others. CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY

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The Players is never boring. This year is no different, from questions about Rory McIlroy’s game, Phil Mickelson’s absence and more.

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