Web.com Recap – Price Cutter Charity Championship – By Keagan Scott

This week the Web.com Tour traveled to Springfield, Missouri for the Price Cutter Charity Championship. This was the 3rd to last tournament to qualify for the top 25 spots on the money list, which means there are only two tournaments left for these players to feel secure. For clarification, the top 25 on the money list after the next two tournaments have earned their PGA Tour card. After that, there are 25 more cards remaining. For the final four events, concluding with the Web.com Tour Championship, a new money list will start from scratch and the top 25 after the four events earn those remaining 25 cards. Quite confusing, but I promise we’ll get through it. Basically, there is little time for players to make a move to get their PGA Tour card, making the next 6 tournaments extremely interesting for the upcoming fall season.

This year’s Price Cutter Charity Championship came down to a guy needing a birdie on the final hole (after Richy Werenski eagled the 18th to tie him) to get the win, knowing exactly what it meant for his career. He was 88th on the money list and a win would vault him inside the top 15, basically guaranteeing a PGA Tour card for next season. He proceeded to hit it inside three feet from 107 yards and knock it in for a gutsy performance that only included two bogeys through the four rounds. That man was Mackenzie Hughes, a relatively unknown player that now can relax the final few weeks after this fantastic win.

1. Mackenzie Hughes: 88th – 14th
From Ontario, Canada, Mackenzie Hughes had a dream week that concluded with the final birdie on 18 to win. He hasn’t taken an easy road until this point to say the least. He turned pro in 2013, but lost his Web.com Tour status after only making 7 cuts in his opening season. He then regained status on by playing well in the Web.com qualifying school this past year. He’s had a better year this year and this win is certainly going to give him the security he’s never had. He’s made 10 of 19 cuts so far this season with only three top 25’s. His $121,500 check for first place vaulted him from 88th to 14th on the money list basically guaranteeing him to be inside the top 25 at season’s end in two weeks. He’s an all-around player that doesn’t particularly specialize in any key stats. The only statistic he’s inside the top 20 is putting which he’s 18th. We’ll see if he can make some noise the last month of the season to continue moving up the money list.

2. Richy Werenski: 3rd – 2nd
Richy took second this week, which has been a common theme of his season. This is his third, 2nd place finish and he also has one win in May at the BMW Charity Pro-Am. From the great golf school of Georgia Tech, he turned pro in 2014 and he’s made 10 for 18 cuts this year with six top 25’s. Coming into this tournament he had been playing the worst golf of his season with five straight missed cuts. His second place check this week of $72,900 moved him from 3rd to 2nd, passing Ollie Schniederjans on the money list. Richy isn’t a long hitter, only averaging 292 from tee, but ranks inside top 30 in driving accuracy, birdie average, total driving and 13th in scrambling. He’s inside the top 50 in almost every statistic indicating he’s a very well rounded player.

3. Kevin Tway: 46th – 27th
The 6’3” bomber took third this week making a huge leap near the top 25. He now sits in 27th place with two weeks left to crack the top 25. From Oklahoma State University, Kevin has made 12 for 18 cuts this season including seven top 25’s and two top 10’s. He turned pro in 2011 and has had an up and down career to this point. In 2013, he finished fifth on the Web.com Tour money list, sending him to the PGA Tour. In 2014, he struggled on the PGA Tour only making 8 cuts out of his 23 starts, which sent him back down to the Web.com Tour. Last season, he finished 28th on the money list just missing his PGA Tour card, but it did give him another season on the Web.com Tour and he now is in good shape to crack the top 25 once again. Kevin is a bomber and there’s no arguing that. He ranks 9th in driving distance at 311.8 yards and 12th in par 5 scoring average. The only issue is he ranks outside the top 100 in putting and driving accuracy. If he does make the top 25 at season’s end, look to roster him when par 5 scoring and driving distance are key stats for the course.

4. Xander Schaufelle: 34th – 23rd
Xander has done it again. I’ve wrote about him a few weeks in a row now and for good reason. He took 4th place this week and jumped inside the top 25 on the money list. It was only 5 weeks ago when he sat in 83rd place on the money list, but his last four tournaments he’s finished 3rd, T3, cut, T4th skyrocketing up the leaderboard. This season he has made just nine of 18 cuts, but he’s now made five of his last six. He’s a finesse type of player ranking inside the top 10 in scrambling and par 3 scoring and also ranks 19th in putting.

5. Matt Atkins: 23rd – 26th
It was another dreadful week for Atkins after the good start to the season, missing the cut by five shots. He was one of two guys to drop outside the top 25 this week (the other being Bhavik Patel). From the University of South Carolina – Aiken, Atkins turned pro in 2013. He’s made the cut 11 of his 19 starts with two top 10’s, but has only made the weekend three of his last 10 starts. He currently stands 26th after being 23rd last week meaning he’s now on the outside looking in. He’s going to have to find his form once again the last few weeks if he wants to play on the PGA Tour next season. Atkins ranks 24th in driving distance at 305 yards, but ranks outside top 100 in driving accuracy, GIR % and par 5 scoring average.

6. Web.com Tour Players elsewhere

a. Wesley Bryan
By far the best Web.com Tour player this season, Wesley made his first fully exempt PGA Tour start last week and proved he belonged. He finished in 8th place, but was tied for the lead after a 66 64 start. His 8th place check of $124,800 is higher than the winner’s checks on the web.com tour so my guess is he’s extremely thrilled to be on the big stage. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if he gets his first win on tour before the year is over.

b. C.T. Pan
C.T. Pan might be unknown to most, but he’s been a stud on the Web.com Tour this season. He finished in a T30 in Olympics this week, representing Chinese Taipei. He was inside the top 10 for a while before a final round 74. On the Web.com Tour he currently sits in 12th place on the money list, meaning he’s earned his PGA Tour card for next season. Over his last six starts, he’s finished inside the top 20 each time. He’s a shorter hitter only averaging 290 off the tee, but makes up for it with everything else. He ranks 15th in accuracy, 9th in GIR %, 5th in putting, 11th in birdie average, and 1st in par 4 scoring average.

c. Seamus Power
Seamus took 15th place at the Olympics this week thanks to a final round 67. He represented Ireland thanks to Rory, Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry dropping out. The 6’3” Irishman played college golf at East Tennessee State University and turned pro in 2011. He’s made 12 of 17 cuts on the season with one win and three top 10’s. His win came at the United Leasing & Finance Championship in May. He currently ranks 9th on money list earning his tour card for next season. He averages 300 off the tee and ranks 22nd in GIR % and he’s inside the top 40 in most statistics with no real weaknesses in his game.

Recapping the week, I will say that golf in the Olympics was pretty awesome to watch and congrats again to Justin Rose. I hope they come up with a better team type format in four years, but as long as golf is in the Olympics I’m sure we’ll all be happy. It would’ve been nice to see Fowler and Watson medal, but Kuchar firing that final round 63 was pretty fantastic to see as well. Just another classic Matt Kuchar backdoor top 10. Weird right? Also, congrats to Ryan Moore on a stellar performance at the John Deere Classic. Nice to see him back in the winner’s circle.
With only two weeks left on the Web.com Tour regular season schedule, I’m definitely excited to see which of the guys on the bubble can secure their spot for the 2016-17 PGA Tour wraparound schedule. Several guys made big jumps this week and it’s probably going to happen again next week. 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. Below is the Top 25 on the money list as it currently stands. Next week the Web.com Tour heads to Knoxville, Tennessee for the News Sentinel Open. Thanks again and follow me on Twitter: @Keagan28.

Standings:

1 Wesley Bryan             $449,392
2 Richy Werenski         $336,370
3 Ollie Schniederjans   $277,271
4 Martin Flores             $272,043
5 J.J. Spaun                   $236,432
6 Dominic Bozzelli       $214,307
7 Trey Mullinax            $206,859
8 Ryan Armour             $196,070
9 Seamus Power            $192,881
10 Brad Fritsch              $191,186
11 JT Poston                   $191,148
12 Cheng Tsung Pan     $176,132
13 Brian Campbell        $172,298
14 Mackenzie Hughes  $165,248
15 Brandon Hagy          $158,966
16 Julian Etulain          $158,860
17 Nicholas Lindheim  $158,654
18 Jonathan Randolph $157,848
19 Sebastian Munoz      $156,671
20 Max Homa                $155,653
21 Joel Dahmen             $150,267
22 Andrew Svoboda      $146,680
23 Xander Schauffele   $143,616
24 Stephan Jaeger        $141,494
25 Grayson Murray      $136,958

THE TOP 25 EARN A PGA TOUR CARD
26 Matt Atkins     $133,218
27 Kevin Tway      $132,796
28 Bhavik Patel    $130,572
29 Zack Sucher     $128,637
30 Josh Teater     $126,075

• Moved Inside Top 25
o Mackenzie Hughes: 88th to 14th
o Xander Schauffele: 34th to 23rd

• Moved Outside Top 25
o Matt Atkins: 23rd to 26th
o Bhavik Patel: 25th to 28th