Hataoka claims Kia Classic for 3rd LPGA Tour title

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With Whistling Straits in the rearview mirror, the attention of the golf world naturally turns to the promise of tomorrow. New names permeated leaderboards on the PGA TOUR in 2020-21, but the dearth of new blood at East Lake was emblematic of how difficult it is to push into the top of this sport. Last month, only two players – Sam Burns and Erik van Rooyen – made their TOUR Championship debuts. Taking the ‘next step’ in a career is different for every player. For some, securing a PGA TOUR card fits that description perfectly. Others might be looking to get their first PGA TOUR victory, FedExCup Playoffs appearance, THE PLAYERS win or first major title. Which players have shown notable promise at taking their ‘next steps’ in 2022? We dug into the numbers to identify some players likely to re-classify themselves in professional golf this season. MITO PEREIRA Pereira is almost too easy of a pick to make because his ascent has already begun in earnest. He won in back-to-back weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour in June, then proceeded to immediately contend in PGA TOUR events. In his last 10 starts worldwide, he’s finished sixth or better six times, capped by a third-place finish two weeks ago at the Fortinet Championship. In less than four months, the Texas Tech product has risen more than 200 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking, and now appears to be an extremely viable candidate to make Trevor Immelman’s International Presidents Cup team. Last season, Pereira ranked eighth on the Korn Ferry Tour in ball-striking and in the top 20 in greens in regulation. He ranked in the top-20 in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green in four of his last five measured PGA TOUR events, including at the Fortinet Championship, where he ranked first (+2.83 Strokes Gained per round). The Chilean is justifiably among the betting favorites this week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. DAVIS RILEY On the PGA TOUR last season, only five players ranked in the top 30 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Putting – Abraham Ancer, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Jason Kokrak and Patrick Cantlay. All five of those men reached the TOUR Championship and each won at least one time during the season. It’s not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, but Davis Riley did something similar statistically on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021. Riley and Lee Hodges were the only two players to rank in the top-30 in both total driving and putts per green in regulation. Riley not only won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021, he was a statistical force through the bag. Riley ranked fourth in birdie average, hit more than 70% of his greens in regulation and ranked eighth in the all-around ranking. The Mississippi native will try to benefit from some home cooking this week at the Sanderson Farms, the site of his third career PGA TOUR start back in 2019. TAYLOR PENDRITH Like Riley, Pendrith was a statistical marvel last season on the Korn Ferry Tour. He absolutely hammers the golf ball, averaging more than 323 yards off the tee in 2021. He hit an elite 73% of his greens in regulation, and ranked in the top 20 in both total driving and the all-around ranking. Oh, and he was top-10 on the Korn Ferry Tour in scrambling and a respectable 36th in putts per green in regulation. Pendrith took advantage of his limited PGA TOUR starts last season, picking up a pair of top 15 finishes late at the Barbasol and Barracuda Championships. With more reps on the TOUR, it’s easy to see a ball-striker of his caliber contending in several events early in 2022. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER At Whistling Straits, Scottie Scheffler became the first player in the modern era of the Ryder Cup (since 1979, when it expanded to include all of Europe) to be on a winning side before claiming his first PGA TOUR victory. At 21st in this week’s Official World Golf Ranking, Scheffler is the only player currently in the top 25 without a PGA TOUR title yet to his name. Only two players made more birdies last season on the PGA TOUR than Scheffler did. He had positive strokes gained per round across every category of the statistic last season, and has ranked in the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in both 2020 and 2021. A modest improvement in some key putting metrics – like from 10-15 feet, where he ranked 160th in make percentage last season – could pay enormous rewards for the uber-talented Texan. It’s not a matter of if – but when – for this former PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year to break into the winner’s circle for the first time. XANDER SCHAUFFELE For Xander Schauffele, the only possible steps left to take are the ones at the top of the professional golf staircase. In the last few months, Xander has added a Ryder Cup victory and Olympic gold to an already stout list of accomplishments. But in 2022, there are two labels Schauffele could add to that list of enviable, lifelong-attached achievements: major champion and world No. 1. Statistically, the U.S. Open has been Schauffele’s best of the four major championships. He’s finished in the top 10 in each of his first five career appearances at the U.S. Open, the first player to do that since Bobby Jones, who did it in his first seven. Schauffele has 76 birdies-or-better at the U.S. Open the last five years, most of any player in that span. But Schauffele has flashed at each of the four majors, finishing in the top-three at Augusta National twice and holding the 54-hole lead at The Open Championship in 2018. The top spot in the World Ranking may seem like an unlikely acquisition for Schauffele on the surface, but he’s closer to the peak in that regard than one might think. Schauffele has been in the top 10 for 56 consecutive weeks, and the top six for 39 in a row. He hasn’t been worse than 12th at any point for almost three years. Only eight American players have been world No. 1 since the inception of the OWGR in 1986. It’s not too far-fetched to imagine Schauffele as the ninth.

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CROMWELL, Conn. — We pause now to fondly remember Bubba Watson’s neon pink driver, which broke apart mid-swing on the second tee in the Travelers Championship on Friday. RELATED: Leaderboard | Win probabilities: Travelers Championship | No lead safe at Travelers Championship And, if the three-time Travelers winner is going to have luck like this over the weekend, please spare a thought for the rest of the field at the TPC River Highlands, too. Watson recovered after snapping his driver to make birdie at No. 2 on his way to a second straight 66 that left him at 8 under, one stroke behind 36-hole leader Jason Day. “It was a perfect tee shot right down the middle. Chipped it in there and made the putt for birdie,” Watson said wryly. “Ho-hum.” Day shot 62 for the day’s low score and a chance at his first top three finish in more than three years. The former world No. 1 missed three straight cuts before he tied for 44th at the PGA Championship, then withdrew from the Memorial with a back injury and did not qualify for the U.S. Open. Day seemed to fidget with his back on the course Friday, but still had eight birdies in a bogey-free round. “Sometimes when you do have sort of an injury or stiffness, even if you’re sick, sometimes you can come out and play some good golf,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to not really get in my own way today.” First-round co-leader Kramer Hickok was at 10 under before flying the green on the par-3 16th hole and then three-putting from 18 feet for a double bogey; he finished with a 69 to tie Watson for second. Justin Rose and Kevin Kisner each shot 63 and were among seven player tied for fourth at minus-7. Satoshi Kodaira, who was 7 under after the first round, shot a 2-over 72 in the second. A total of 79 players made the cut at minus-2 on the 6,841-yard, par-70 course outside of Hartford. Just squeaking in on the number: defending champion Dustin Johnson and two-time winner Phil Mickelson. Watson, who won the tournament in 2010, ’15 and ’18, started at No. 10 on Friday morning and was 1 under for the day when he arrived at the par-4, 350-yard second hole. That’s when his driver fell apart — but he didn’t. After making contact with the ball, Watson’s clubhead came hurtling off the shaft, landing short of the gallery to the right and leaving him with a broken shaft in his hands. “Luckily … it didn’t reach the crowd so nobody got hurt,” he said. “Nobody in my group knew were the ball was. Once you hit, you’re focused on where the driver head goes.” Despite a fairly pronounced fade, the ball landed in the fairway, about 50 yards from the pin. Watson pitched to 11 feet and holed the putt. Watson said it might have been the travel, going from hot to cold, or overuse that caused the club to break right above the hosel where the shaft connects to the head. His caddie, Ted Scott, tried to pry out the remnant of the shaft so the head could be reused; Watson had a spare driver in his car trunk in case of just such an emergency. Rule 4.1 allows Watson to replace the club. After hitting a 3-wood on the 437-yard, par-4 third, he had his backup in time for the 479-yard, par-4 fourth. “It’s one of those things that happened before and I always have a backup. They brought me the backup two holes later and I played with that the rest of the day,” he said. “I knew there was only a couple drivers left, so really wasn’t too big a deal.” Watson added birdies on the fifth and sixth holes before holing a 50-foot birdie putt on No. 7 to take the lead at 9 under. He gave that shot back with a missed 3-footer on the final hole. “I was trying to get some extra ones if I could,” he said. “Just one of those things that went the wrong way.” Bryson DeChambeau shot 66 on Friday and was at minus-5, one shot better than Brooks Koepka, who had a 67 in the second round. Koepka’s brother, Chase, who qualified for the tournament last year but withdrew because of COVID-19 protocols, shot 73 and missed the cut at 3 over.

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