Callum

Tarren

The Englishman had a colorful scorecard today, sprinkling seven birdies to erase a lone blemish. It was his iron play that got the job done as he walked off the course ranked first in strokes gained approach today. “I think my approach play. I haven’t looked at any stats, but proximity to the hole I think I’ll be up there from that round today because I seemed to have a lot of chances. I think I missed two greens all day, which is pretty good out there in the wind.” Tarren arrived off a top-30 finish in Houston while his other notable finish this season is a T13 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, missing the cut in his four other starts. He missed the cut here last year in his debut but off to a much better start this time around.

The Englishman checked in 144th in the FedExCup standings, is projected to move to 126th, and is in the published field at the upcoming Rocket Mortgage. This is his third top 10 of the season in 23 events, second in his last four (T6, John Deere), and his fourth top 25, second straight after a T22 at last week’s opposite-field Barracuda. For the festivities, the 31-year-old posted rounds of 71, week- and career-low 63, 71-69, totaled 17 birdies versus seven bogeys, five against three on Sunday, and at last glance, ranks 10th SG: Tee-to-Green (7.899) and 26th SG: Putting (2.559), losing strokes with the flat stick in Rounds 3 (-0.740) and R4 (-0.400).

The Englishman was dialed in from the start today as he pelted all 18 greens on his way around TPC Twin Cities. The putter contributed with birdie bombs from 31'4" and 27'6" at the 6th and 9th, respectively. Overall, this was a ball-striking clinic, though, as he gave himself eight scoring chances from inside of 15 feet. He gained more than two strokes off-the-tee as well as approach. This round will go in the books as his personal best on the PGA TOUR as far as rounds relative to the field go (previously +5.8 SG:Total in R2 of the 2022 U.S. Open). Today, he walked off the course gaining 8 strokes over the field average. While Tarren has flashed occasionally this season, the PGA TOUR rookie is just 144th in the FedExCup race.

The 31-year-old, who kicked off his tourney debut with 68 and matching 65s, the 65’s tying a career low (x4), began solo 5th, four back. He was bogey-free 2-under thru 10 holes (2 birdies) and right in the thick of it, but bobbed and weaved from there, overshadowing two more for the good with three squares at 11, 15 (3-putt from 51'2") and 16 (3-putt from 26'0"). The Englishman, who was also trying to nab one of three qualifying spots into The Open in two weeks, which he didn’t, gained 1.106 strokes tee-to-green but lost 1.468 on-the-green with 30 total putts. Of 23 rookies in the field, he was the only one to finish in the top 10, which is no consolation but is an accomplishment, and will head across the pond to this coming week’s Scottish Open. Despite the disappointing finish, the Radford (Va.) alum snags his second top 25 of the season in 20 events, both doubling as top 10s, and first since a career-best T5 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open 10 starts ago. In all, he totaled one eagle and 20 birdies against six bogeys, and ranked 15th SG: Tee-to-Green (6.365) and 15th SG: Putting (4.300), and is projected to climb 31 spots to 141st in the FedExCup standings.

After opening with 68, the Englishman styled a second straight 65, matching his career low (x4), and will be in the third-to-last pairing in R4 with Bo Hoag. His career best on TOUR in 20 events, and lone top 10, is a T5 at this season’s opposite-field Puerto Rico Open 10 starts ago, where he was T5 thru 54 holes (70-65-71-70), and is vying for one of three spots available this week to the 150th Open (St. Andrews) in two weeks. After today’s six-birdie showing on 15 greens in regulation (link below): “To play in the 150th Open would be a dream come true. Yeah, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. Obviously there is still plenty of golf to go...so I’ve just got to keep my foot to the floor...” The Radford (Va.) alum, who’s on 15-under 198 at the three-quarter pole, has totaled one eagle and 16 birdies versus three bogeys, two in R1, one in R2, and none today, and ranks 15th SG: Tee-to-Green (5.258) and 7th SG: Putting (5.770), including a 2.116 SGP in R3.

The Radford product isn’t splitting many fairways (T86) but is still finding the green (T43 in GIR). His scoring was a bit backwards today as he missed three of his scoring chances from inside of eight feet but made up for it with a pair of birdie bombs from outside of 21 feet. Tarren was T16 at the halfway mark of the U.S. Open, two starts ago. He was also T15 after day one last week at the Travelers Championship before missing the cut. Despite the strong starts, he’s gone nine straight starts without a top-30 finish. The PGA TOUR rookie arrived at just 172nd in the FedExCup race.

The Englishman started on the 10th tee and bogeyed his opening hole. He didn’t let that sour his round and knocked home two par-savers from outside of 15 feet before making the turn. The fireworks started from there with three birdies and an eagle on his homeward nine. That included a 26'4" birdie bomb at the 7th and a 4'9" eagle at the par-5 17th, set up by a stellar 200-yard approach. " I started off a little bit shaky. I won’t lie, I was nervous.” Tarren missed the cut in his 2019 U.S. Open debut but is playing in his first major since becoming a PGA TOUR member. If this co-lead holds then it’d go in the books as his first time leading or co-leading after any round on the PGATOUR.

If this co-lead holds up, it would be the Radford (VA) alum’s first lead/co-lead after any round in 36 rounds played. His career best -- and lone top 25 -- thus far in 15 events is a T5 at this season’s opposite-field Puerto Rico Open five starts ago, where he was T26 after 18 holes (70-65-71-70). After R1 today (link below): “Yeah, I played at Radford, which is about four hours south of here. Yeah, so a lot of them (former teammates) live up here now. I think there was six or seven guys out from the team I played with in between 2010 and 2014, so it was good to see them. I haven’t seen them for a while, so it’s nice to see some familiar faces...” Beginning on 10 tee, the Englishman began with bogey-6 but rebounded with six birdies at 14-16, 3, 4, and 9, two from between 14 and 24 feet, posting 4.080 SG: Tee-to-Green and 0.934 SG: Putting on nine (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation.

The PGA TOUR rookie arrived on the heels of a T30 at The Honda Classic. It may not sound like much but it was actually his first cut made on the PGA TOUR, in his 10th career start. Tarren kept that momentum rolling this week at Grand Reserve Golf Club. Strong short game was the recipe for success for the big hitter as Tarren ranked just T80 in fairways hit and T48 in GIR this week. With back-to-back career-best finishes, gamers should keep an eye on the 31-year-old from England to see if he can keep this momentum rolling for a bit longer.