No. 16: Patrick Reed

Click here to read the full article…

Erik van Rooyen … It’s doubtful that the missed cut in his last start at the Made in Denmark dented the South African’s confidence. He finished T8 at the PGA Championship the preview week and ranked T9 in greens hit, ninth in proximity, eighth in strokes gained: tee-to-green and third in putting: birdies-or-better at Bethpage. That secured his exemption (via the top 10) into the RBC Canadian Open, which will be his fourth PGA TOUR start of the season and fifth of his career. He’s 19th on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings with a pair of runner-up finishes among five top 15s in the last three months. And now he’s fresh off qualifying for his first U.S. Open at the sectional in Columbus, Ohio. Danny Willett … Given that he won the Masters only three years ago, that he lands here is all you need to know about how far he’s separated from the main stage. The 31-year-old battled injuries in the interim but he was buoyed by a smattering of consistent results in the second half of 2018. The rise was punctuated with a victory at the DP World Tour Championship in November. As a renewed member of the PGA TOUR, he’s had only one top 25 since, but the waters are a-gurglin’. En route to a T41 at the PGA Championship, he ranked T3 in greens in regulation. Last week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, he finished T11 in GIR. Hot irons will play at Hamilton this week, so his next objective is to put four rounds together. Nick Watney … While the Zurich Classic of New Orleans presents as a twist to break up the routine of the season, it shouldn’t be overlooked as an opportunity to regain form. He and partner Charley Hoffman placed T9 for what was Watney’s first top-15 finish of the season. It also lifted him back inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings and sparked a 3-for-4 run in individual competition entering the RBC Canadian Open. Even better, he’s reclaimed confidence with his staple as a powerful ball-striker. En route to a T8 at cozy Colonial, he ranked T4 in greens hit, seventh in proximity and led the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Last week at the bigger ballpark of Muirfield Village, he finished T11 in GIR and paced the field in proximity. The 38-year-old now sits a much more comfortable 98th in the FedExCup. Tyler Duncan … The PGA TOUR sophomore made news at the AT&T Byron Nelson where he struck his wife, Maria, in the head on the first bounce of his drive on the 13th hole of Trinity Forest in the second round. (She’s OK.) Despite that shot, he performed wonderfully and in line with his profile as a ball-striker, but it was improved putting that made the difference between another forgettable result and the career-best-tying T5 that he logged. And that was on large greens. Hamilton’s smaller targets project to accentuate his strength even more. Cameron Tringale … He’s had a helluva career and he’s still only 31 years of age. Most wouldn’t trade a record of 156-for-256 as a professional with eight figures in earnings, but the Georgia Tech product remains winless in PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition. It’s also been three seasons since he qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs and he’s currently 138th in points, but the RBC Canadian Open could springboard him back. In fact, it’d be a continuation of form first captured in earnest at the Valero Texas Open where he finished T17 while ranking T3 in greens in regulation and T5 in proximity. After a T5 with Roberto Castro at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Tringale posted a T23 at the AT&T Byron Nelson and slotted T4 in GIR and second in conversion percentage inside 10 feet (66-for-70). As he’s conjuring old form, it’s relevant to cite that he finished T19 at Hamilton in 2012, finishing T5 in GIR and 12th in strokes gained: tee-to-green. He also co-led the field in fairways hit. 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.

Click here to read the full article…

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – When you talk about golf’s famous Class of 2011, you have to start with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, but there’s also FedEx St. Jude Classic defending champion Daniel Berger, and then of course there’s Sebastian Munoz. Wait. Who? The was the question at TPC Southwind as Munoz, a Colombian who played for the University of North Texas, shot 67 to tie for the lead at 9 under par halfway through the FedEx St. Jude. At 197th in the FedExCup standings and 373rd in the Official World Golf Ranking, Munoz was suddenly T1 with Chez Reavie (65) and Charl Schwartzel (66). “I’m super happy,� Munoz said. “I’m really proud of the way I played today. I had one mistake, but I think a pretty good bogey on 18, so I was just happy to be able to step it up.� These guys are good—that’s how the PGA TOUR slogan goes. But it could just as easily be: There are a lot of good guys. So many, in fact, that a few sometimes slip through the cracks. Who is Sebastian Munoz? HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Munoz, 24, is often asked to provide ID when entering PGA TOUR locker rooms. “It happens all the time,� he said with a smile. “I don’t mind.� The good thing is, he surprises people all the time, too. Consider Munoz’s zero-to-hero college career at North Texas, where the coach, Brad Stracke, discovered him through a Latin American recruiting service. “I’ll tell you the truth: The coach was the only one who sent me an airplane ticket to check it out,� Munoz said. “I did, and I was like, of course I’m going to go. I had fun that weekend, and they had a couple Latin players, Carlos Ortiz and Rodolfo Cazaubon. It felt right.� Alas, Munoz didn’t play his first two years, as Ortiz, who plays the Web.com Tour, and Cazaubon—PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, and Munoz’s Dallas housemate—took starring roles. “He wasn’t really into it,� Stracke says. “He was just there to study, and was just going through the motions with the golf. He was going to take over his parents’ business in Colombia. Then he saw Carlos Ortiz make it to the Web.com Tour and win, and it got him thinking. “We have these end-of-the-year meetings, and between his sophomore and junior years we sat down in my office. He said, ‘Coach, those other guys have graduated. This is my time. I’m going to play well. I’m going to carry the weight.’ I’m like, where is this coming from? He had hardly played. It’s cool when a kid says that and then comes out and does it.�      Munoz shot 71-63-69 to win the Jim River Intercollegiate and set a school record for 54 holes. He ditched his first name (Juan) for his middle name (Sebastian), necessitating new letters on his golf bag. He won the Conference USA individual championship as a senior, and shot 65 to beat his man and help North Texas win the team title over Alabama-Birmingham. A far cry from the guy who’d wandered aimlessly around Denton for two years, Munoz got a degree in business management, and turned pro. Last year he got a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Club Colombia Championship Presented by Claro, a Web.com Tour event, and he won to kick-start a pro career that had once looked like a pipe dream. JUST NEEDS MORE REPS For Munoz, who finished 22nd on last year’s Web.com Tour money list, the biggest challenge has not been learning courses but simply getting into tournaments. He got into the AT&T Byron Nelson (T50), but not the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational at Colonial. That one hurt a lot, what with being so close and yet so far in his adopted home state of Texas. “I just hid in my room,� he said. “I didn’t want to know anything about it.� Until Thursday, when Munoz shot a 6-under 64 in the first round of the FedEx St. Jude, he didn’t know much of anything about TPC Southwind, either. He’d never even played the front nine, but got tips over dinner from countryman Camilo Villegas, a four-time TOUR winner. It must have been some dinner. “I’ve been putting the ball in the fairway,� Munoz said, “and capitalizing on some putts.� As for his more famous fellow alumni of the Class of 2011, he’s not only never beaten them, he’s never even met them. That’s because Munoz sat the bench his first two years at North Texas, after which Spieth (Texas) and Thomas (Alabama) turned pro. Today, those guys already have fat bank accounts and work their way through endless autograph lines. Munoz? Yes, well. Maybe someday. Is it extra pressure, he was asked, to not get into many tournaments and therefor know he has to make the most of the ones he does get into? “Yeah, I mean, you can see it that way,� he said. “I just see it as opportunities.� At the FedEx St. Jude, Munoz is eying the biggest opportunity of his career.

Click here to read the full article…