TCU Golf 2019-2020

[JogginFrog]

Keep an eye on Tom Hoge at the Barracuda Championship. It's still early, but five holes into Round 2, Tom is at the top of the leaderboard with 19 points. Follow progress here:
https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/barracuda-championship/leaderboard.html

The scoring for the event is modified Stableford format, so high score wins.

Highlight of Tom from yesterday: https://www.pgatour.com/video/2019/...cond-leads-to-birdie-at-barracuda-champi.html

Update: Hoge finishes round 2 with 21 points, but he had the opportunity for a lot more, missing a couple of five-footers for birdie and an eagle putt from 15 feet; he also made two three-putt bogeys. He's in the mix for the weekend, though.

 

[JogginFrog]

Tom Hoge having a strong final round at the Barracuda--just posted his 5th birdie of the day and is currently T5 with four holes to play. Check out the action on Golf Channel or at https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/barracuda-championship/leaderboard.html

Update: Hoge finishes solo 6th, good for $126,000. Congrats to Tom on the payday.

 

[JogginFrog]

On the downside for Hoge: Had he birdied the par-5 final hole, he would have finished T3, giving him 45 more Fedex Cup points, which would have pushed him into the top 150 and given him better status for next season. Only one more tournament remains to earn points before the playoffs start. Unless he finishes in the top two next week, he'll be headed to the Korn Ferry Finals series to earn his card back.

Meanwhile, J.J. Henry needs roughly 20 points next week to get into the top 200 (he's currently 206th) and compete in the Korn Ferry Finals series. He received an exemption this year per a new Tour rule that allowed a one-time exemption for players who had made 300 career cuts on the Tour. Because Henry was the only player to immediately benefit, it became known as the J.J. Henry Rule--which has led to a lot of mockery of "the Purple Mamba" this year by golf pundits who would rather the tour make room for more young guns. I've been hoping that J.J. would post a high finish or two this summer to make some of those guys eat their words.

 

[JogginFrog]

Angela Stanford shoots +1 in round one of the Women's British Open, but she is not low Horned Frog. That would be Valentine Derrey, who is even par (T46, with a few players still on the course).

Derrey shot -3 in the Monday qualifier at Woburn and survived a 9-players-for-3-spots playoff with a birdie on the first extra hole.

Val has been plying her trade on the Ladies European Tour for the last several years; she won an event and had three other top-five finishes in 2014, but she has not had a lot of success in the past three years, so making the cut at the Women's British would be a boost. The cut is likely to be around +1 depending on conditions tomorrow, so she will need another solid round.

Here's a recent post of her swing:


Update: Derrey shoots 75 in round 2 and will miss the cut at +3. Stanford shoots 72 and will likely make the cut on the number at +1.

 

[JogginFrog]

Paul Barjon was featured on Golf Channel this a.m. for his streak of recent play. GC host Lauren Thompson mentions he attended TCU. Unfortunately, his 28-round under-par streak ended yesterday--he was +5 through 7 holes and could "only" manage 4 under the rest of the way.

https://www.golfchannel.com/topics/shows/morning-drive.htm?mediatype=Video

 

[JogginFrog]

Three Frogs are in the 156-player field (out of 1,375 entrants) in the U.S. Women's Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in Mississippi. Stroke play (36 holes) begins today; 64 will advance to match play.

Tee times have been moved up a bit due to weather. Freshman Jennie Park tees off shortly at 11:35 Central; Freshman Trinity King at 11:55; Sophomore Sabrina Iqbal at 1:15.

Course looks to be playing tough. Only one player has gotten to -2. UT's Hailee Cooper, who ranked 8th last year in NCAA D1, is +6 through 11.

Follow progress here: https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2019/u-s--women-s-amateur.html#!scoring

Edit: Looks like the time was pushed back an hour, not up. Park should be on the course at 1:35, King at 1:55; Iqbal at 3:15.

 

[JogginFrog]

Iqbal, King and Park all shoot 2-over 74s on Day 1 of U.S. Amateur stroke play. That has them right on the cut line as exactly 64 players are +2 or better. There are 38 players within two shots of them, so they will need a good round tomorrow (I'm guessing +3 will be the cut).

The Frogs caught a break with all three being in the afternoon draw today; the course was very wet in the morning after rain on Sunday night, and afternoon scoring was much better. On Tuesday, Park and King tee off before 8; Iqbal at 9:15.

 

[JogginFrog]

Sabrina Iqbal shoots even par in round 2 at the U.S. Women's Amateur. At +2, she will advance to match play.

After beginning her round with four straight bogeys, Trinity King fights back to post a 1-over 73. At +3, she will at least make a playoff to get into match play. (The afternoon wave is still on the front nine, and she currently sits T59 with 13 other players. The cut line is projected to rise to +4.)

Jennie Park had a solid day but only posted one birdie in a round of 75. At +5, she will likely just miss match play.

Sabrina Iqbal shows up in the gallery of shots from Old Waverly (slide 10):

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2019/u-s--women-s-amateur/galleries/119th-u-s--women-s-amateur--tuesday-s-action-from-old-waverly.html

Update: Looks like exactly 64 players will finish at +3 or better, so Trinity King advances without a playoff. She will face one of the top 11 players in round 1 of match play, so it will be a big opportunity for her. Sabrina Iqbal will face a top-20 seed.

 

[JogginFrog]

Tomorrow, Iqbal will face Stanford senior Andrea Lee, who is the 2nd-ranked amateur in the world (but just the 15th-ranked player in D1 last year). King will face Louisville senior Lauren Hartlage, who ranked 49th in D1; Hartlage finished T3 in stroke play at -5. Both matches will be in the afternoon.

 

[JogginFrog]

Well, that was a quick end for the Frogs in the round of 64.

Sabrina Iqbal didn't win a single hole in losing to Andrea Lee 6&5. Lee won only one hole with a birdie, so just a tough day for Iqbal.

Trinity King did a little better, winning three consecutive holes with birdies vs. Lauren Hartlage. Unfortunately she was 5 down before going on that run. King ended up losing 4&3.

Still, great to see three Frogs qualifying and two making it through to match play. Looking forward to a good season.

 

[JogginFrog]

Paul Barjon with another top-5 finish on the Mackenzie Tour today, boosting him back up to the top spot in the Order of Merit.

With three events left, Paul has virtually (if not mathematically) clinched a spot in The Five, which earns automatic promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour. Congrats to him!

 

[JogginFrog]

Three Frogs tee off in the U.S Amateur tomorrow at Pinehurst. All three will be playing the No. 4 course in round 1, the No. 2 course in round 2..

Stefano Mazzoli tees off at 6:45a Central
Hayden Springer at 7:28a (with 2017 Sr. Am winner Sean Knapp, at 57 the oldest player in the field)
Caden Christopherson at 8:10a



The top 64 of 312 qualifiers will advance to match play after 36 holes.

Good luck, guys!

 

[JogginFrog]

Of the 13 sub-par scores posted from the morning wave on Day 1 of the U.S. Amateur, two of them belong to Horned Frogs. Stefano Mazzoli shot a two-under 68 and is currently T2; Hayden Springer shot a 69 and is T13. Caden Christopherson was in good shape until a late double pushed him to a 73.

It's a great start for Stefano and Hayden, but all of the Frogs played Pinehurst No. 4, which is playing about 3 shots easier than Pinehurst No. 2. Only 1 of the 13 sub-par scores was posted on No. 2. So, most players won't really know where they stand until tomorrow. With so many players, the margin of error is thin. I'm guessing the qualifying cutoff for match play will be +2 or +3.

 

[JogginFrog]

At day's end, Mazzoli is T8, Springer is T19 and Christopherson is T102. All in the top third of the field, but only a fifth of the field will advance. All three Frogs play the famous Pinehurst No. 2 course in the afternoon tomorrow--Mazzoli tees off at noon Central; Springer at 12:43; Christopherson at 1:25.

No. 2 played four shots harder than No. 4 today (scoring avg. 77.0 vs. 73.1), due to narrower fairways and less-receptive greens, so expect half the field to come back toward the leaders. Forecast for tomorrow is windy, so it will take solid play to advance, and Christopherson will likely need a round of even or better.

First photo up in the deck below is Christopherson:


Edit: All three Frogs on the course for round 2. With scores rising through the morning, Christopherson at +3 tees off at T61. So +3 will definitely qualify; +4 is likely to get into a playoff.

 

[JogginFrog]

Springer, Mazzoli and Christopherson all still battling to make the cut into match play at the U.S. Amateur. Springer was in the top 5 until making an 8; he still has 2 shots to spare with 4 holes to play.

Mazzoli has struggled today, and when he doubled one of the two par 5s to go to +8 on the day, +6 for the tournament, he looked sunk. But he made back-to-back birdies sandwiched around a weather delay, and at +4 he is back on the cut line. No shots to spare with 2 holes to play.

Christopherson had the thinnest margin at the start of the day, but he is hanging in there; he just made the turn at +1 for the day, +4 for the tournament. He has no shots to spare with 9 holes to play.

Follow at: https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2019/u-s--amateur.html#!scoring

Update 1: Mazzoli makes a third birdie in four holes to come back from the brink. If he can par the last, he will advance without a playoff.

Update 2: Mazzoli pars the last to finish +3 and advance. Christopherson makes double at 11 to go to +6; he still has some of the hardest holes yet to play.

Update 3: Springer just finishes before play is suspended for darkness; upon review, his triple-bogey on 10 was updated to a quadruple bogey. Despite that, he finishes at +3 and qualifies for match play. Christopherson slips to +10 and will not qualify.

 

[JogginFrog]

Mazzoli faces Thomas Hutchison in the Round of 64. Hutchison is a junior at UC Davis, ranked 168 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (Mazzoli is 37th). They're the first pairing of the day, teeing off at 9:00 Central.

Springer plays at 12:10p against Palmer Jackson, a freshman-to-be at Notre Dame (turning down an offer by Stanford). Jackson made the Round of 16 in the U.S. Junior Am last month.

 

[JogginFrog]

Mazzoli really knows how to deliver when the heat's on. One down through 16 holes, Stefano birdies the last two holes, the first to stay in the match and the second to send it to extra holes. He wins with a par on the 19th.

In the next round, he will face the top seed, Stanford's Brandon Wu, or the 64 seed, Austin Squires, who survived a 27-for-3 playoff that lasted more than three hours this a.m.

Update: Hayden Springer loses 3&2. His opponent chipped in on 16 to cap a 4-under round. Springer played well, but he ran into a guy on a hot streak.

 

[JogginFrog]

Here's the putt Mazzoli made to square his match on 18:


Only thing that would have made it better is if he'd done the Payne Stewart leg kick.

Number 64 knocks off Number 1, so Mazzoli gets Austin Squires tomorrow; he's a 2019 U of Cincinnati grad.

 

[JogginFrog]

Mazzoli is on the course at Pinehurst, 1 down early to Squires. Follow progress here:
https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2019/u-s--amateur.html#!scoring

Update: Mazzoli now 1 up through 6.

Nearly a quarter of the round-of-64 players had Texas or Big 12 ties. Two matchups yesterday were all-Big 12.

Winners
Stefano Mazzoli (TCU)
Parker Coody (UT)
Pierceson Coody (UT)
Cooper Dossey (Baylor) -- over teammate McInroe
Brad Dalke (OU) – over Tech’s Scott
Ludvig Aberg (Tech)
William Holcomb (SHSU)

Losers
Travis McInroe (Baylor)
Chandler Phillips (A&M)
Travis Vick (UT)
Sandy Scott (Tech)
Jansen Smith (Tech)
Chad Sewell (UTSA)
Hayden Springer (TCU)
Austin Eckroat (OSU)

Eckroat had a brutal loss. He missed a 3-footer on 17 to close out his match. Then on 18, he hit it in tight, but Arkansas State's Julien Sale sunk a 40-foot bomb, and naturally, Eckroat choked his 5-footer. Sale won with a par on the first extra hole.

 

[Purp]

Looks like Mazzoli lost in 19 holes. Bummer.