Web.com Recap – Utah Championship – By Keagan Scott

This week, the Web.com Tour traveled to Utah to compete in the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. Past winners of this event include names like John Daly, Zach Johnson and Patton Kizzire, who took first place last season. The course this week was The Golf Club at Thanksgiving Point, which is one of the longest courses all year long at 7,714 yards. We’re in the middle of summer and the race for the Top 25 is heating up as players need to ensure they get one of those coveted PGA Tour cards for next season.

Let’s take a look at notable players and how they fared this week:

1. Nicholas Lindheim
• The 31 year old took first place this week and it was definitely unexpected. In his previous 5 starts he only made the cut once, but that didn’t stop him from shooting 4 rounds in the 60’s to win by two strokes. Although he’s a two-time winner on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, this was his first Web.com Tour victory. Last season he was only able to pull out a 51st place finish on the money list. The win catapulted him to 14th on the money list after being 83rd prior to this week. Just goes to show you how huge a win can be for these guys as he’s now securely in the top 25.

2. J.J. Spaun
• J.J. took 2nd place this week, which moved him from 15th to 6th on the money list. From San Diego State University, J.J. turned pro in 2012 playing on the PGA Tour Canada (Mackenzie Tour). In his first full season on the Web.com Tour, he has two second place finishes and five top 10’s in 16 starts.

3. Xander Schauffele
• Besides Nicholas Lindheim, Xander made the biggest move this week with his 3rd place finish. He moved from 89th to 43rd on the money list, which will obviously give him a chance to finish in the top 25 this season. It also moved him into the top 75, which is the requirement to compete in the Web.com Tour Championship in October. This is his first top 10 on the season.

4. Ollie Schniederjans
• One of the more recognizable names on the Web.com Tour, Ollie was 2 shots off the lead after 54 holes. After being tied for the lead after 8 holes on Sunday with Nicholas (a win would’ve given him the lead over Wes Bryan on the money list), Ollie struggled down the stretch and went +4 on his final 10 holes. He still finished in a tie for sixth and moved from 3rd to 2nd on the money list.

5. Ryan Blaum
• Ryan moved into the top 25 with his 13th place finish this week. After a 6th place finish last week, the Duke University alum has four top 25’s on the season and 2 wins on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2013. He now sits at 22nd place after being in 28th the prior week.

6. Sebastian Cappelen
• From the University of Arkansas, Sebastian Cappelen made a big move this week into the top 25. He moved from 35th to 25th with this week’s fifth place finish. He’s playing his best golf of late with three top 11 finishes in his last five starts and this gives him his fourth top 10 on the season.

7. Austin Cook
• I wrote about Austin last week after his third straight top 25 finish. Well he’s done it again after his fourth place finish this week. This is his third top 10 on the season and he’s quickly rising up the top 25 leaderboard. He jumped 14 more spots and now sits at 29th place. My bet is he finds a way to get into the top 25 once the season is over considering his recent place.

Rank Player                            Combined Money
1         Wesley Bryan                    $332,392
2         Ollie Schniederjans           $277,271
3         Richy Werenski                 $263,470
4         Martin Flores                    $249,431
5         Dominic Bozzelli                $214,307
6         J.J. Spaun                          $213,820
7         Trey Mullinax                   $206,859
8         Brad Fritsch                      $188,526
9         Ryan Armour                    $187,950
10       Seamus Power                  $182,681
11       Brian Campbell                  $170,138
12       Max Homa                         $155,653
13       Sebastian Munoz               $155,001
14       Nicholas Lindheim            $153,694
15       Joel Dahmen                      $145,269
16       Andrew Svoboda               $144,834
17       Julian Etulain                     $144,024
18       Jonathan Randolph           $142,896
19       Cheng Tsung Pan              $139,582
20       James Driscoll                   $122,537
21       Matt Atkins                        $121,618
22       Ryan Blaum                       $113,560
23       Jason Millard                     $112,913
24       Zack Sucher                       $111,189
25       Sebastian Cappelen           $110,249

Top 25 earn a PGA Tour card

Moved Into the Top 25
• Nicholas Lindheim: 83rd to 14th
• Ryan Blaum: 28th to 22nd
• Sebastian Cappelen: 35th to 25th
Moved Out of the Top 25
• Rick Lamb: 24th to 26th
• Bhavik Patel: 22nd to 27th
• JT Poston: 23rd to 28th

That’s it for this week. Next week, the Web.com Tour heads to California for the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae. Also, good luck to everyone on DraftKings competing in the PGA Championship this week! Follow me on Twitter: @Keagan28