Monday qualifiers: Travelers Championship

As Taylor Lowe completed his round at Monday’s Fortinet Championship qualifier, the full-time golf professional thought ahead to some impending logistical challenges. Lowe works at Wildhorse Golf Club in the Sacramento region, and he had an estimated 15 or 20 lessons on the books across the next five days. The 30-year-old signed for an 8-under 64 in the qualifier at El Macero CC, then went about rearranging those lessons. Lowe successfully qualified into his first TOUR-sanctioned event, earning one of four available spots in the Fortinet Championship. He was joined at 8 under by Fresno State alum Alex Lee; Aaron Baddeley and Seung-yul Noh survived a 6-for-2 playoff at 7-under 65. As Lowe sat in his car after the qualifier, he reflected on the journey to this point. The beauty of a PGA TOUR Monday qualifier is that it gives players of a variety of backgrounds and circumstances a chance to compete against the world’s best. Often the roster of four qualifiers is comprised of full-time touring pros – a mix of conditional TOUR pros, Korn Ferry Tour members, developmental tour pros and the like. Sometimes Monday qualifying delivers on its everyman premise. This marked such an occasion. Lowe typically plays golf just once or twice a week – his day-to-day responsibilities include doing inventory in the golf shop at Wildhorse GC, giving lessons, working in the shop and making the schedule. The California native was an avid junior golfer but suffered injuries in his late teens, and college golf took a backseat. He graduated from Sonoma State, where he played one semester as a walk-on but did not qualify for a tournament. “If you look it up online, you won’t see my picture on the roster or anything,” Lowe said. “I was hacking it up, but I got to practice with the team. I was on the team; I could’ve qualified to play in the events, but I never played well enough to do that.” Lowe didn’t play competitive golf between the ages of 21 and 26. He spent time selling wine, then began working in the cart barn at El Macero – of all places – at age 23. He pulled out carts, picked the range, then worked his way into the shop and gave occasional lessons. Then his high school buddy Charlie Klein’s family purchased Wildhorse GC, and he “cruised over there.” How does Lowe explain his game ascending from college golf benchwarmer to TOUR event qualifier? He credits acclaimed golf instructor and social media presence George Gankas. “I just watched George Gankas on Instagram; I’m not kidding,” Lowe said. “Growing up, taking some golf lessons here and there, I was swinging a certain way. And then I watched some videos of George Gankas on Instagram like five years ago and started playing a lot better.” Easy as that. Lowe channeled his local knowledge at El Macero CC to the tune of seven birdies and an eagle, against a single bogey. This came after successfully advancing through last week’s pre-qualifier, where he carded 3-under 69 at Yolo Fliers Club to earn a tee time Monday. He carried his own bag Monday, and he’s not yet sure of his caddie plans for the week. But he’ll figure it out, just as he’ll figure out his teaching schedule. The membership of Wildhorse GC is behind him. “My phone is vibrating a bunch right now,” he said appreciatively. “They’re all congratulating me.” From there, it was off for a well-deserved celebratory IPA, and two days of preparation into his PGA TOUR debut. “If you’re playing good, you know you can do it,” Lowe said. “You definitely visualize and all that stuff … but I’m still in shock. It’s definitely surreal for sure.” Here’s a capsule look at the four qualifiers for this week’s Fortinet Championship … Taylor Lowe (64) Age: 30 Hometown: Davis, California Alma mater: Sonoma State PGA TOUR starts: 0 Notes: Full-time golf professional at nearby Wildhorse GC … Graduated from Sonoma State in 2014 with a degree in business administration and management … Spent nearly three years at El Macero CC in guest services and as an assistant golf professional before moving to Wildhorse GC in 2017 … Cites Jordan Spieth and Kevin Kisner as pros he admires … Drink of choice is a “double or triple IPA.” Alex Lee (64) Age: 25 Hometown: San Francisco, California Alma mater: Fresno State PGA TOUR starts: 0 Notes: Made nine birdies Monday against one bogey … Held conditional Korn Ferry Tour status in 2022, making two starts … Graduated from Fresno State in 2019 with a communications degree; garnered All-Mountain West Conference honors in 2018 and 2019 … Attended 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach as a fan, following Fresno State alum Nick Watney. Aaron Baddeley (65, advanced through 6-for-2 playoff) Age: 41 Hometown: Lebanon, New Hampshire (raised in Australia) Alma mater: N/A PGA TOUR starts: 476 Cuts made: 282 Best PGA TOUR finish: Win (2006 RBC Heritage; 2007 WM Phoenix Open; 2011 Genesis Invitational; 2016 Barbasol Championship) Notes: Made seven birdies Monday and kept a clean card … Holds TOUR Past Champion status after failing to improve status via Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Earned fully exempt 2023 Korn Ferry Tour status via “floor of five” category in Finals … Long renowned as one of the game’s premier putters … Recently began working with putting coach John Graham, who also works with Justin Thomas … Split time between the PGA TOUR (13 starts) and Korn Ferry Tour (11 starts) last season. Seung-yul Noh (65, advanced through 6-for-2 playoff) Age: 31 Hometown: Gangwon-do, South Korea Alma mater: Korea University PGA TOUR starts: 208 Cuts made: 123 Best PGA TOUR finish: Win (2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans) Notes: Made two eagles and five birdies Monday against two bogeys … Holds TOUR Past Champion status after failing to improve status via Korn Ferry Tour Finals … Made 13 cuts in 22 TOUR starts last season. Best finish was T30 at Butterfield Bermuda Championship … Fulfilled mandatory two-year military obligation in South Korea between 2017 and 2019.

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HOW THEY QUALIFIED Team Winner – QBE Shootout Previous Year Harris English Matt Kuchar Top-12 players on Prior Season’s FedExCup points Kevin Kisner Russell Henley Pat Perez Daniel Berger Tony Finau Charley Hoffman Kyle Stanley Brian Harman Kevin Chappell Gary Woodland Jason Dufner Brendan Steele Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Keegan Bradley Billy Horschel Zach Johnson Shane Lowry Graeme McDowell Sean O’Hair Brandt Snedeker Steve Stricker Lexi Thompson Bubba Watson

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DETROIT — Tony Finau sent an approach from 250 yards soaring over trees and onto the seventh green at Detroit Golf Club, going for the reward and ignoring the risk with a difficult shot. The way he has been playing over the last week, it made a lot of sense. Finau, coming off his third career victory on the PGA TOUR, and Taylor Pendrith shared the first-round lead at 8-under 64 on Thursday in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The pivotal shot on Finau’s 16th hole, a 560-yard par 5, set up a two-putt from 43 feet for one of his eight birdies. “I had to get all of it to get it to the hole and hit it right in the middle of the green,” he said. The leaderboard was filled with players who took advantage of favorable scoring conditions with morning tee times. In the afternoon, the wind picked up and the scores did as well. Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, Michael Thompson, Cameron Champ, Lee Hodges and Matt Wallace were two shots back. Si Woo Kim and Kurt Kitayama, both ranked among the top 70 in the world, were in the pack at 67. Finau, who rallied from a five-shot deficit with 11 holes left to win the 3M Open by three shots Sunday in Minnesota, opened with a birdie and had five birdies on his front nine. After cooling off with four straight pars, Finau closed with his seventh and eighth birdies in a bogey-free round. He hit all 18 greens in regulation for the first time in 728 PGA TOUR stroke-play rounds. “Do the math, I missed 10 putts,” he said. “Obviously, 64′s a very good round, but this is a golf course where a lot of guys are going to make birdies.” On the par-4 eighth hole, he made a 41-foot putt downhill with a slight break from right to left for another birdie and a three-shot lead. “It was nice to just get a bonus birdie on 8 after a poor wedge shot, but that’s why we call our putter the equalizer,” Finau said. Pendrith, a 31-year-old PGA TOUR rookie, surged into a share of the lead with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on his back nine. Toward the end of his round, the relatively anonymous player in the world noticed the ‘h’ in his last name was missing on the leaderboard. Alas, the 8 under next to his misspelled name was correct. “That’s all that matters,” he said with a grin. Pendrith is atop a leaderboard for the first time on the PGA TOUR following an opening round. The Canadian did have the third-round lead by three shots last October at the Bermuda Championship before closing with a 76 and finishing a career-high fifth. In March, he was 13th at THE PLAYERS Championship and came away with a career-best $327,222 — and a broken rib. The injury prevented him from competing for nearly four months, leading to him being ranked No. 237. He has bounced back with ties for 11th and 13th at tournaments earlier this month. “When I’m healthy, I can compete with the best,” Pendrith said. Nate Lashley, who won his first and only PGA TOUR title in Detroit four years ago, shot a 68 after getting an anti-inflammatory shot in his right foot. “I’m having surgery next week,” he said, adding he will need four to six weeks to recover. Mark Hubbard was also four shots off the lead after a topsy-turvy round with four birdies, two bogeys and an ace on the par-3, 216-yard 11th hole. Hubbard dropped his club and his head after hitting his tee shot. “That’s embarrassing,” he said while the ball was in flight. The ball landed on the front of the green and rolled toward the cup before going around it and dropping in. “That’s probably going to end up being one of my favorite hole-in-ones,” said Hubbard, who has nine career aces. Defending FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, ranked No. 4 in the world, and 13th-ranked Will Zalatoris both shot 70. Cameron Young was another shot back and 20th-ranked Max Homa had a 72.

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