Web.com Recap – DAP Championship – by Keagan Scott

After a week off, the Web.com Tour Finals got underway at The DAP Championship in Beachwood, Ohio. The Web.com Tour finals have a lot of interesting names involved since a lot of the PGA Tour players who didn’t qualify inside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup point list are here to earn their tour card. The first of four tournaments will determine the next 25 players to earn their tour cards and it came down to a 4 man playoff, with the winner claiming his PGA Tour card for next season. It’s a name we all know: Bryson DeChambeau.

He beat out Andres Gonzalez, Nicholas Lindheim and Julian Etulain. Nicholas and Julian already have their PGA Tour cards as they both finished inside the top 25 in the regular season money list. Their high finishes here will help them in the priority rankings next season. The four players went to the 18th hole for the playoff and on the first playoff hole, Andres drilled a 30 foot bender for birdie forcing DeChambeau to make his 12 footer to move on and he did just that. On the second, DeChambeau made a four foot par putt for the win as Andres made bogey. The win meant a $180,000 check for DeChambeau, which essentially ensures a tour card since that will be enough money to remain in the next 25. Gonzalez took home $74,667, which will also be good enough to secure a PGA Tour card next season, as well as fifth place finish Zach Sucher who took home $40,000. Those are your big winners of the week. Let’s take a look at some other notable players (yes, Andrew “BEEF” Johnston is certainly included).

1. Bryson DeChambeau – 1: $180,000 check
The former NCAA and U.S. Amatuer champ attempted to go with the Jordan Spieth route to the PGA Tour using sponsor exemptions and gaining enough FedEx Cup points to qualify for the tour. It looked to be off to a great start when he finished fourth at the RBC Heritage in April in his pro debut, a week after being the low amatuer at The Masters. The problem was when he missed four straight cuts after that and only finished inside the top 15 one other time. Bryson put all of that behind him and now has his tour card in hand with this first place finish. Mr. Unorthodox hit 75% of his fairways and 68% of the greens in regulation. It will be interesting to see how he performs over the next three weeks as he tries to improve his priority ranking and gain some momentum going into the fall season. Many people have written him off with his poor finishes this season, but if he can keep up this momentum he could be a nice sleeper going into the fall season.

2. Andres Gonzalez – 2nd, earned tour card
Gonzalez was a member of the PGA Tour this past season, but his struggles have brought him here. He only made the cut in 12 of 28 events, but was playing some of his best golf of the season the last two months as he made five of seven cuts and finished inside the top 17 in three of those tournaments. He’ll now be heading back to the PGA Tour as he took second place this week with all four rounds in the 60’s. The only stat he’s better than most in is approaches from > than 200 yards, where he ranks 30th on tour. So if you’re into that then by all means you’re welcome. Nothing else to get too excited about though. Nonetheless, he played well this week and will be rewarded with another PGA Tour season. Also, if you haven’t seen his facial hair I’d strongly suggest taking a look. It’s quite remarkable.

3. Zach Sucher – 5th
Zach Sucher took 5th place this week taking home $40,000 which will be enough to earn him a tour card next season. He’s had a solid season on the Web.com Tour finishing 38th on the money list at the end of the regular season. He’s been fairly consistent with 14 cuts made out of 20 events, including six of his last seven. He also has three top 10’s and a second place finish in May at the BMW Charity Pro-Am.The 29 year old from UAB was a stud on the Web.com Tour in 2014, finishing 3rd on the money list, giving him his tour card for the 2015 season. Unfortunately, he didn’t do much with it as he made five of 18 cuts that year. He does have some fantasy worth stats worth mentioning, but driving distance is not one of them. Sucher isn’t a bomber averaging only 289 from the tee, but he does rank inside the top 25 in fairway percentage, greens in regulation percentage, ball striking and par 4 scoring average.

4. Rory Sabbatini – 6th
The South African is well known to most golf fans. Figured I’d throw him in here because of his sixth place finish this week. On the PGA Tour this season, he’s only made eight of 20 cuts, but did make his last two at the John Deere and Traveler’s Championship. He now is in good shape to retain his tour card with this finish. Now I’m curious as to why I put him in here. None of you will use him if he gets back on the PGA Tour and for good reason. Steer clear unless he somehow keeps this up.

5. Henrik Norlander – T13
Norlander was on the PGA Tour this season thanks to his solid 2015 season on the Web.com Tour where he finished third on the Finals money list. He had an okay year with 15 of 21 cuts made, but it wasn’t enough to secure his card. He did have a stretch from May to August where he made nine straight cuts. He was regularly priced in the $6,000 range on DraftKings so I’m sure he made some of you very happy with those cuts being made if you took him in the bargain bin. This season on the PGA Tour he finished 24th in greens in regulation percentage and seventh in par 3 scoring average. Both pretty solid stats, but he’ll need to improve around the green to become a PGA Tour regular.

6. Seamus Power – T16
One of the studs on the Web.com Tour this season, I’m including him here because he played well again and I think you’re going to want to keep him on your radar when the fall season approaches. He finished 16th this week and now has eight top 25’s in 20 starts. He’s made the cut in 15 of those events including a win at the United Leasing and Finance Championship in May. It’s also worth mentioning that he finished 15th at the Olympics and finished ninth on the Web.com Tour regular season money list.

7. Andrew “Beef” Johnston – T28
Whether it’s the crazy facial hair, the weight or the careless attitude on the golf course everyone loves them some Beef. The dude looks more like your drunk cousin the Wednesday before Thanksgiving than a PGA Tour player. Pretty sure it’s impossible to not like the guy when he’s competing with the uptight golfers with no personality we see today. When most the tour players are being sponsored by Rolex and Mercedes, this guy is getting behind an Arby’s counter and taking your order. Besides all that, the guy can play some good golf and finished in a tie for 28th this week. He made all four cuts on the PGA Tour this year including that memorable eighth place finish in The Open Championship. With a few more solid finishes the next three weeks, Beef should be on his way to full member status next season.

Notable Players Cut
a. Camilo Villegas
b. Wes Bryan
c. C.T. Pan
d. Ollie Schneiderjans

That’s it for this week. Congrats to Bryson on a fantastic week and he’ll look to follow it with a few more good outings. The first of four events is over in the Web.Com Tour Finals and I’m definitely excited to see which guys grab the remaining 25 cards. Again, those will be determined by a new money list on the final four tournaments. Several players, including Beef, have put themselves in solid positions to grab one of those remaining cards. It’s going to be a big advantage if you continue to read these articles and become more familiar with the next generation of young golfers. Next week the Web.com Tour heads to Boise, Idaho for the Albertson’s Boise Open and another $1,000,000 purse. Thanks again and follow me on Twitter: @Keagan28.