Unique 84-year Masters record in jeopardy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There’s a small, handwritten note in the Quail Hollow clubhouse that points out the course record and the direction of the first tee. The sign, which hangs in a hallway that leads out of the club’s bag room, sits under an oversized scorecard, written in perfect Calligraphy, that commemorates the 61 that Rory McIlroy shot here three years ago. It almost had to be replaces Saturday, as Peter Uihlein took advantage of softer conditions to shoot a 62 that put him in contention at the Wells Fargo Championship. Pars on his final three holes kept Uihlein from matching McIlroy’s mark, but Uihlein now owns the lowest score at Quail Hollow since it underwent renovations before last year’s PGA Championship. He has a chance to win after sneaking into the weekend with just a shot to spare. He made just three birdies over the first 36 holes hole, shooting back-to-back 72s to start Saturday’s round in 48th place. “The way the golf course was set up today, it felt you could get after it a bit,� Uihlein said. “The first two days felt like a U.S. Open.� He teed off at 8:46 a.m. Saturday and walked off the 18th green almost an hour before the final group teed off. When he signed for his seven birdies and an eagle, Uihlein was tied for first with 36-hole leader Peter Malnati. It was Uihlein’s best single-round performance this season in both Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting. He parred the first four holes, then played his next six holes in seven under. He capped off the run by hitting a 3-iron to 14 feet at the par-5 10th hole and making the putt for eagle. “It started out very innocently, and then in the middle of that stretch, the quality of shots he hit – the high, cut 6-iron into 6, and then on 10, hitting a 340-yard drive over the bunker and hitting a 3-iron into the green – at that point you kind of sensed that something is going to happen,� said playing partner Mackenzie Hughes, who shot 70. “He played phenomenally. It was a clinic. I was getting lapped.� Uihlein added birdies at Nos. 14 and 15, then concluded his bogey-free round with three consecutive pars. He missed birdie putts of 24 feet and 40 feet on Nos. 16 and 17, then saved par after his approach shot to 18 trickled off the green. A 31-footer at the ninth hole was the only putt for birdie or eagle that he made from outside 15 feet. Five of those eight putts were shorter than 10 feet. He didn’t miss from inside 15 feet Saturday, making all 17 of his attempts. He gained 3.4 strokes with his putter after needing just 25 putts. He holed all five of his attempts from 3-7 feet and both of his putts from 10-15 feet. He is currently the fourth alternate for THE PLAYERS Championship, but could gain entry in the field with a win this week. This isn’t the first time Uihlein had an opportunity to break 60 in a professional event. He shot 60 at Kingsbarns in the 2013 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He just missed an eagle putt at the last that would have given him the first 59 in European Tour history. The 28-year-old is playing his first season on the PGA TOUR after graduating from last year’s Web.com Tour Finals, where he won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He ranks 86th in the FedExCup after finishing in the top 10 in two events in Asia last fall. He finished T10 at the CIMB Classic and T5 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Before this week, he’d missed the cut in five of his previous 11 starts. His only top-25s were T17s at the CareerBuilder Challenge and World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Uihlein switched coaches last December and now works with Justin Parsons. Uihlein made practice swings Saturday with his glove tucked under his right armpit, a drill that helps him maintain the connection between his arms and body. It worked. He hit 15 of 18 greens Saturday, gaining slightly more than three strokes on the field with his approach play. McIlroy’s final-round 62 in 2010 remains the best single round from a Strokes Gained perspective at Quail Hollow in the Wells Fargo Championship. He gained 10.7 strokes on the field with that round, which led to his first PGA TOUR victory. He shot 66-62 on the weekend after making the cut on the number. McIlroy gained 10.2 strokes with his third-round 61 in 2015 that led to his second Wells Fargo Championship. McIlroy’s record is safe. Now Uihlein will focus on trying to win his first PGA TOUR event.  

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Spieth maintains lead after up-and-down round

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The PGA TOUR announced today that Cameron Young has been named the 2022 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year as voted by the TOUR’s membership for the 2021-22 season. Young, who made his Presidents Cup debut for the victorious U.S. Team in September, earned five runner-up finishes and ended his rookie season No. 19 in the FedExCup standings. Young, a 25-year-old native of Scarborough, New York, and a 2021 Korn Ferry Tour graduate, will receive the Arnold Palmer Award for winning Rookie of the Year. He was selected for the honor over Tom Kim and Sahith Theegala, receiving 94 percent of the membership vote. “Congratulations to Cameron Young on being voted PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year by his peers,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Cameron’s career has seen a remarkable rise over the last several years, and he quickly became a favorite among fans last season with the style in which he attacks the golf course. And of course, given Cameron’s Wake Forest ties, receiving the Arnold Palmer Award as PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year will certainly hold a special significance for him.” Young’s runner-up finishes on the season came at the Sanderson Farms Championship, The Genesis Invitational, Wells Fargo Championship, The Open Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic. With five second-place results, Young tied the most by any player in a single season over the last 40 years, with Vijay Singh in 2003 the last to accomplish the feat. Young also recorded a pair of T3s at the RBC Heritage and PGA Championship, falling one stroke out of a playoff in each. The nine players that finished ahead of Young in his seven top-three results are all currently ranked in the top 25 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Young, a 2019 graduate of Wake Forest University, and 2021 Arnold Palmer Award winner Will Zalatoris are the first pair from the same college to win Rookie of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons (est. 1990). The two played together for the Demon Deacons for two seasons and both earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in those years (2016-17 and 2017-18). Arnold Palmer, the namesake of the award, won two individual NCAA Championship titles while at Wake Forest (1949, 1950). With $6,520,598 in Official Money in 2021-22, Young earned the most money in a single season by a rookie in PGA TOUR history, a record previously held by seven-time PGA TOUR winner and current World No. 6 Xander Schauffele ($4,312,674 in 2016-17). At No. 17 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of September 15, Young entered the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Season as the highest-ranked player without a victory in his PGA TOUR career. Scottie Scheffler was in that position at the start of last season and went on to win four times, including the Masters Tournament, and moved to World No. 1 on March 27, holding the top spot through the end of the season. Each of the last six players named PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year qualified for the 2022 TOUR Championship, with Xander Schauffele, Aaron Wise, Sungjae Im, Scheffler, Zalatoris and Young winning the award in their respective rookie seasons. With the exception of Zalatoris, who was No. 7 in the standings for the U.S. Team but withdrew his name from consideration for a captain’s pick due to a back injury, each of the last four competed in last month’s Presidents Cup. PGA TOUR members who played at least 15 official FedExCup events during the 2021-22 season were eligible to vote.

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