At long last Tony Finau gets to defend a PGA Tour title in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where last year he made it a quick fire double of low-grade PGA Tour events to complete his rehabilitation from nearly-man to flat-track bully.
Finau didn't defend the Puerto Rico Open because why would you, and he didn't get to defend The Northern Trust, not really, as that event moved from New Jersey to Tennessee and took on a new title. He may not get to defend the Houston Open later this year as that seemingly now exists only for lower-ranked players, and who knows about Mexico 2024 as we await news of any kind of plan.
But over the next month he will get two goes at it, first in Detroit and then in Minnesota, and based on his record in such events, another victory would come as no surprise. In a curious case of the golfs, Finau's sudden ruthless streak which has led to four wins in his last 10 non-designated, Playoff, major or WGC starts, has coincided with a run of underwhelming major performances.
It truly is the puzzle that can never be solved and punters wishing to buy into this impressive strike-rate, who may rightly believe that defending a title won't be an issue for the affable Utah giant, have one big concern: the putter. In seven of his last eight appearances, Finau has putted to a standard which is insurmountable even for him. In the other, he saw off Jon Rahm to win in Mexico.
Not that he is alone in facing questions on the greens. Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, COLLIN MORIKAWA and TOM KIM all do too but there's certainly cause for optimism where Kim is concerned, while Morikawa's price in particular is hard to resist in this significantly weaker field as he seeks to remind us all of his capabilities.
Starting with Morikawa, he shot a second-round 63 to miss the cut by one at the Travelers after a rotten start to the tournament. In carding a score beaten by just one player he shook off Thursday's aberration while also coming alive on the greens, which serves as more encouragement as he attempts to end this 18-month winless run.
Advised at 25/1 in Connecticut and priced as a general 22/1 chance, he's just a hair shorter despite the absence of so many stars, including the top six players in the world, and it seems an oversight. Morikawa continues to look like a winner in waiting and while this course has been vulnerable to bigger hitters in the last couple of years, his precise approach is certainly not undermined in the way it can be in a US Open.
Morikawa can be excused his first round at the Travelers after a week of high expectations back in his hometown at LACC and is better judged on a near-flawless round of golf on Friday. It sets him up well for this course debut and I simply have to give him another chance, with most players half the price they were a week ago and with reason. This is much less competitive with fewer potential champions.
As for Kim, selected at 40/1, he made 22 birdies and an eagle and showed his long-game to be in excellent shape, only to rank 60th around the green and 57th in putting. But for holes 10, 11 and 12, which somehow cost him nine shots, he might've been among those asking questions of Keegan Bradley, and he looks to have found form again.
Kim now returns to the course at which his final-round 63 last year, a course record, earned him PGA Tour membership. From Detroit he went on to win at Sedgefield, another Donald Ross-designed course which requires low scoring, and then again in the Shriners during a fantastic autumn which also saw him make his Presidents Cup debut.
That final round here saw him climb to seventh place despite putting to an average standard and with that sighter behind him, and having offered so much encouragement on golf courses he hadn't seen before over the past fortnight, a big run at this title is expected.
Recent winners of these lower-grade PGA Tour events include Jason Day, Finau, Corey Conners and Justin Rose and it seems likely that the octet at the head of the market throws up our latest champion. None have more compelling claims at the prices than Kim and Morikawa, though another step forward from Thomas or more of the same from Rickie Fowler would make them both major threats, too.
Pendrith has struggled for the most part since featuring alongside Kim in the Presidents Cup and his driver is largely to blame, but he was excellent off the tee last year and has shown enough lately, particularly at the PGA Championship then again on Friday, to suggest his game is coming around.
His second-round 66 at River Highlands was built on what he did off the tee and as with Morikawa, missing the cut by one isn't at all off-putting, especially as in his case it was a first go at a golf course which wouldn't necessarily be an ideal fit on paper.
Champ's three PGA Tour wins have all come in similar company when able to attack off the tee and that's not really the case at the Travelers, where last week's missed cut made it three in three. There are few worse courses for him on the schedule.
Despite that, Champ hit the ball well enough and broke par in round two, while he was one shot shy of making the cut in Canada previously, another course which worked against him off the tee.
The last time he truly had his conditions, Champ ranked fifth off the tee and hit quality approaches in the Nelson, and that was also the case in Mexico where he gained almost 10 strokes with his ball-striking, chipped poorly, yet still finished eighth behind Finau.
Tarren struck the ball beautifully at times during the Travelers, particularly in round two when the only player in the field to rank inside the top 10 both off the tee and with his approaches, and he was excellent in all departments during a third-round 63 that was overshadowed by Fowler's 60.
Sunday didn't quite go as planned but still this big-hitter drove the ball well and all of this comes on the back of quality driving displays at the Charles Schwab and again in Canada, the confidence gained from a hot-putting top-30 finish at the PGA now showing itself through the bag.
With his approach play also good at Oak Hill and back in that kind of shape at River Highlands, Tarren might be repeating what happened last year when he featured in the US Open and went on to produce some excellent golf to salvage a season which had taken an age to get going.
He now returns to the Rocket Mortgage Classic where a quiet week on the greens restricted him to 20th on debut, where Tarrren had been inside the top 10 after round one and then bounced back from a poor third round to fire a closing 66.
Posted at 1200 BST on 27/06/23
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