What to watch for at the U.S. Open this week

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NAPA, Calif. – Notes and observations from Saturday’s gusty third round of the Safeway Open at sun-splashed Silverado Resort & Spa. LEADING LIGHTS SNEDEKER CLOSING IN. Brandt Snedeker was coming back from a rib injury and missed the PGA TOUR’s fall swing last year. As a result, he felt like he was playing catch-up all season and missed the TOUR Championship, a hard pill to swallow given that he won it along with the FedExCup in 2012. This time, Snedeker said after shooting a 69 to take a three-shot lead into Sunday, he’s determined to rack up as many FedExCup points as he can, as quickly as he can. “That’s the reason why I came here,� said Snedeker, a nine-time TOUR winner. “… I want to make sure I get as high on the list as possible so you can kind of set your schedule up and set your season up and not be worried about where you are on the list.� Saturday brought the most challenging conditions yet, with gusting winds that scattered leaves across the greens and made club selection tricky. There’s more wind in the forecast for Sunday, but Snedeker isn’t worried. He likes unsettled weather, and authored one of best bad-weather rounds ever in winning the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open. TWAY A LATE BLOOMER. Kevin Tway bowed out of the Playoffs after THE NORTHERN TRUST (T56) and Dell Technologies Championship (T43) last season. He started well at both, but finished poorly. At the RBC Canadian Open, he contended before a final-round 76 dropped him to a T17. Now, he says, he’s ready to take the next step in his career progression: finishing off a win. “It always takes me a while to kind of get comfortable in new places,� said Tway, who shot 68 to get to 13 under, three back and in solo second. “I got in contention a few times last year and didn’t do very good, so I’ll use tomorrow to learn from the bad and try to do better.� NOTABLES MICKELSON FALTERS. All week, Phil Mickelson insisted he was playing poorly despite posting good enough scores to work himself into the final threesome going into the weekend. The popular lefthander finally faltered in the third round, hitting his tee shot out of bounds on the way to a double bogey at the 8th hole and finding just 5/14 fairways as he shot 74. He missed a birdie putt of just over 6 ½ feet at the downwind, par-5 18th hole and went from three behind starting the day to eight strokes behind and in a tie for 15th. COUPLES CRUISING. A day after he made his 500th cut on the PGA TOUR, Fred Couples, who turned 59 earlier this week, kept on going with a third-round 70 to get to 8-under and in a large tie for 15th place. His round was highlighted by a hole-out eagle from the bunker at the par-5 9th, after which he mostly spun his wheels with a 1-over back nine. “I think this is a good course for everybody, whether you’re 29, 39, 109,� said Couples, who missed a 4 ½-foot birdie putt at the par-5 16th hole. “And I really like it, so that helps.� OBSERVATIONS HAAS TAKES LONG VIEW. Bill Haas is taking nothing for granted after a season in which he was in a car accident and wound up 152nd in the FedExCup, missing the Playoffs. At 36, the 2011 FedExCup champion has been in an especially reflective mood amongst so much youthful talent at Silverado. “Doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past,� Haas said after shooting 67 to get to 11-under, five back. “You’ve got to keep playing. There’s young guys, year in and year out, coming out that are really good. You just can’t sit by and expect to play out here forever. So just motivated me a little bit to realize I’ve got to get after it if I want to hang around.� IM IN THE MIX. Sungjae Im didn’t waste any time last season as he started his Web.com Tour campaign with a win in his first start and a runner-up in his second. He wound up leading the money list wire-to-wire, and don’t look now, but he’s threatening to win his first start on the PGA TOUR, too, at the Safeway. Im shot his second straight 69 to reach 12-under and will go into Sunday four behind solo leader Snedeker. “I’m not looking at the leaderboard at all tomorrow,� Im said. “So I’m going to play my own game tomorrow.� GET TO KNOW … CHASE WRIGHT. University of Indiana product was mentored by fellow Hoosier and TOUR pro Jeff Overton; the two were even roomies for a time in Bloomington. Wright got engaged last week to Gretchen Zoeller, daughter of 10-time TOUR winner Fuzzy, and shot a third-round 70 to reach 10-under at Silverado. He’s tied for 5th place, six back. QUOTABLES I was kind of stunned.I’m not looking at the leaderboard at all tomorrow.It’s 1,000 percent attitude. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 67 by Bill Haas, Sam Ryder. Longest drive: 398 yards (Martin Trainer/No. 9) Longest putt: 57’ 9� (Sepp Straka/No. 5) Toughest hole: The 464-yard, par-4 13th played to a 4.267 average. Easiest hole: The 580-yard, par-5 16th played to a 4.535 average. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of the final round of the Safeway Open, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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TORONTO, Ont. – Patrick Flavin is getting pretty used to this Monday qualifier thing. Especially if they’re for events outside the United States. “For some reason I have the international ones covered,” Flavin said with a laugh after earning medalist honors at the RBC Canadian Open’s Monday qualifier. It was his fourth successful Monday this season to go along with the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, the Puerto Rico Open, and the Mexico Open at Vidanta. Flavin was 1 over through nine holes at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto but fired a 4-under 31 on his back nine to finish at 3 under. His performance could give him a good preview of next year’s RBC Canadian Open, which is scheduled to be played at Oakdale. Brad Adamonis, former NCAA champ Braden Thornberry, and Jeffrey Kang got through a 4-for-3 playoff after finishing at 2 under. Adamonis was in a playoff with Kenny Perry at the John Deere Classic 14 years ago while Thornberry was college golf’s player of the year in 2017 and on the stacked U.S. Walker Cup team alongside Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Champ and others. Oakdale has never hosted the RBC Canadian Open before and Flavin said he was “impressed” at the classic Canadian layout. “Obviously having the Canadian Open next year, it’s going to be a great golf course,” he said. “It’s so hard so I really didn’t have a number in mind. My experience in these Mondays … you never know what it takes. “I was 1 over through nine and I knew I had to get it going. With how tough it was playing and with the wind and the golf course in general, I knew I was still in it. I was happy to play really well on the back nine and … I honestly can’t believe it.” Flavin has played five PGA TOUR events this season and has earned 76 non-member FedExCup points. He’ll qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals if he can earn an amount of points greater than or equal to No. 200 on this season’s FedExCup points list after the Wyndham Championship. Bronson Burgoon, who has 80 points, currently sits 200th in the FedExCup standings. Flavin says he usually gets “distracted” by having to arrange logistics and the travel while playing a schedule of Monday qualifiers, but earning enough Non-Member FedExCup points remains “the carrot” he’s chasing. And so far, he’s doing a solid job with that chase. “I’ve gotten into a really nice mentality of enjoying the competition and enjoying the grind of it,” he said. “I don’t think there is a better feeling in the world than Monday qualifying because you’ve accomplished something that’s so hard, and you still have the tournament to look forward to. It’s a dream come true. I’m thrilled.” Here’s a capsule look at the four Monday qualifiers for this week’s RBC Canadian Open. Patrick Flavin (68) Age: 26 Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Alma mater: Miami (Ohio) PGA TOUR starts: 6 Cuts made: 3 Best PGA TOUR finish: T17, 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship Notes: 3-for-5 in made cuts this season on the PGA TOUR. He Monday qualified into the Butterfield Bermuda Championship (T17) and Puerto Rico Open (T22), and he received a sponsor exemption into the Corales Puntacana Championship (T54) … Sat T8 through 54 holes in Bermuda this season … Finished No. 6 on 2019 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit … Recorded two top-10s in 13 starts on 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour … Currently holds 76 non-member FedExCup points, which would currently place him No. 204 in the season-long standings, as he chases a top-200 position that would gain Korn Ferry Tour Finals entry in August. Braden Thornberry (69; advanced in 4-for-3 playoff) Age: 25 Hometown: Germantown, Tennessee Alma mater: Mississippi PGA TOUR starts: 9 Cuts made: 4 Best PGA TOUR finish: T4, 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic Notes: Best TOUR finish came as an amateur, the same year he won the NCAA individual title and Haskins Award as college golf’s player of the year … Was a member of the 2017 U.S. Walker Cup team that also included Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Champ and a handful more TOUR players … Was an 11-time winner while at Ole Miss … Finished No. 57 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List in 2020-21 season. Brad Adamonis (69; advanced in 4-for-3 playoff) Age: 49 Hometown: Cumberland, Rhode Island Alma mater: Miami (Ohio) PGA TOUR starts: 72 Cuts made: 28 Best PGA TOUR finish: T2, 2008 John Deere Classic Notes: Rookie season on the PGA TOUR was 2002 … Has one victory on the Korn Ferry Tour (WNB Golf Classic, 2007) … Lost in a playoff to Kenny Perry at the 2008 John Deere Classic … Last appearance on the PGA TOUR was the Valspar Championship in 2021 … Turns 50 and will be eligible for PGA TOUR Champions in January. Jeffrey Kang (69; advanced in 4-for-3 playoff) Age: 30 Hometown: Los Angeles, California Alma mater: University of Southern California PGA TOUR starts: 2 Cuts made: 0 Notes: Finished T7 at the season-opener on PGA TOUR Canada last week … Made first career TOUR start at the WM Phoenix Open (also Monday qualified). Earned his spot in the field on the 10th playoff hole … Won 2018 Chengdu Championship on PGA TOUR Series-China, one of six top-25s in 14 starts that season … Has made three Korn Ferry Tour starts.

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