Chase

Seiffert

Also advancing Monday in Roswell, where 68 players competed for four spots in next week’s championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., were Erik Barnes (70-68) from Marion, Ind., and Korn Ferry Tour rookie Matt McCarty (71-67) from Scottsdale, Ariz., who both finished at 6-under 138. Patton Kizzire (68-70) finished at first alternate after losing in a 3-for-2 playoff, with Jake Staiano (69-70) as second alternate. The 30-year-old Seiffert, who playing the PGA Tour this season on conditional status, has posted four top-25 finishes in 11 starts this season. The 24-year-old Hall continues to ride momentum following his second career KFT win the two weeks ago. Barnes earned his spot in his first U.S. Open just one day after crossing the KFT fail-safe threshold of 875 points to secure his first PGA Tour card for next season.

The 35-year-old Harman is coming off a T-9 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship, marking his third top 10 of the season to go along with a T-3 at the American Express and a T-5 at the Valspar Championship. Harmon also finished T-10 in the unofficial QBE Shootout in December. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Seiffert recently was T-46 at the Wells Fargo, and he’s made seven cuts in 10 starts this season. This will mark his first appearance at TPC Craig Ranch.

The Florida State product got off to a fast start at The Honda Classic last week (69-66) but faded over the weekend (75-71) to settle for a T25 finish. He’s back in the mix this week after trading eight birdies with one bogey on day one. Seiffert split just 5-of-14 fairways and settled for 11 GIR but got the job done with a 6-for-7 scrambling effort. This 65 matches his low opening round on the PGA TOUR with the previous two also coming on coastal courses (2020 Bermuda Championship, 2021 Sony Open). Unfortunately, he went on to miss the cut in both of those events so he’ll try to avoid that same fate tomorrow. This will be his first time leading or co-leading after any round on the PGA TOUR.

The Florida State product piped 9-of-14 fairways today en route to landing 12 greens in regulation. Greens were not required, though, as Seiffert holed out twice today for birdie. The first time was a birdie putt from the fringe (13'7") at the 15th and then he chipped in for birdie at the fourth, shortly after the turn. At press time, his score of 66 is 5.3 shots better than the field average today. It’s a much-needed spark of a round for Seiffert who arrived with just one top 50 in eight events played. This isn’t his first taste of success at PGA National, though, as his career-best finish is a T3 which took place at the 2021 Honda Classic.

The tweet released by PGA TOUR Communications read, “Tyler Duncan is a WD from The Honda Classic and replaced in the field by Chase Seiffert. Seiffert, who participated in the Open Qualifier this week and failed to advance from the 16-for-1 playoff for the last spot, finished T3 at the 2021 Honda Classic.” This will be Seiffert’s fifth start of the 2021-22 season. Making his first two cuts at the Fortinet Championship and the Bermuda Championship, the 30-year-old has since struggled after the turn of the calendar. With previous success at PGA National, perhaps this will be the week Seiffert turns his game around after back-to-back missed cuts to begin 2022.

Coming off a made cut at the Fortinet Championship, Seiffert eventually finished just outside the top-50 in a tie for 51st. On the shoulder of strong approach play – posting +3.7 Strokes Gained: Approach in Napa – the former Florida State Seminole will hope to carry the momentum with his irons to Bermuda. With finishes of 62-MC in his two outings at Port Royal GC, perhaps Seiffert can take solace in his run of form this past spring. With quality outings at the Puerto Rico Open, Honda Classic, and the Corales Punta Cana Resort and Club Championship over the course of a month, the skillset that served the 30-year-old well then has the potential to do the same again. Comfortable in windy, difficult conditions, Seiffert may be one of the few players excited for the possibility of 30 mph winds this week in Bermuda.

The 29-year-old’s lone bogey was a 5 at 18 as he made the turn, but otherwise rang up seven birdies and an eagle-3 (from 36'9") for a new career low in 137 rounds, previously 64 (x3). One of those 64’s came in R4 at this season’s Honda, which propelled him to a career-best T3, his lone podium to date in 47 events. The FSU alum, one of 29 tourney debutants and the only one currently in the top 10, opened with a five-birdie two-bogey 68. At the midpoint, he’s tallied one eagle and 12 birdies against three bogeys, and currently ranks 5th in SG: Off-the-Tee (2.959), 54th in SG: Approach (1.047), and 10th in SG: Putting (3.779). This is the Floridian’s first time in the halfway top 10 since last season’s one-time Workday Charity Open, where he was T7 before finishing solo 4th (68-69-70-67).

Chase Seiffert will be hoping that last week at the Valspar Championship was an aberration. Seiffert had the worst iron performance of his career in Tampa, losing 5.3 strokes on approach. The last time Seiffert missed a cut on the PGA Tour was the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in mid-February. He rebounded quickly and finished inside the top-15 the next week in Puerto Rico. He followed that up with a career-best T-3 finish at the Honda Classic and continued to gain momentum in Corales where he finished inside the top-20. He will hope for a similar rebound this week at Quail Hollow, where Seiffert will be making his Wells Fargo Championship debut. He is set to get things going tomorrow at 12:10 p.m. EST alongside Hunter Mahan and David Hearn.

The 29-year-old’s 64 matches a career low in 109 rounds, joining a 64 (-6) in R4 of the 2018 Travelers as an open-qualifier (finished T9). He improves to 7-for-13 on the season with four top 25s, two straight after T15 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open three weeks ago, and records his third top-10 finish in 37 career events, bettering a solo 4th at last season’s inaugural Workday Charity Open as an alternate. This was the Florida State alum’s second Honda after a missed cut by three last year (74-72). After opening with 67-74-69, he began T41 on even-par, five shy of the overnight top 10 and landed nine (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation. The Floridian lost 0.094 strokes around-the-green but gained 0.376 off-the-tee and 2.415 on approach. He ticked six circles at holes 3, 4, 8, 9, 13 and 18, five from between 10 and 24 feet, registering a sterling 1.647 putts per GIR and 4.170 SG: Putting. For the week, Seiffert tallied 18 birdies versus 10 bogeys and one double, and ranked 2nd in SG: Approach (7.878), 27th in SGP (1.840), and 52nd in SG: Off-the-Tee (-0.928).

This is the 29-year-old’s second AmEx after T21 last year where he was T4 after 54 holes (66-67-67-73). He arrived this week 3-for-8 on the season with one top 25, a T17 at the Sanderson Farms six starts ago, and off a missed cut by one at last week’s Sony on 3-under 137 (65-72). The FSU alum’s career best among two top 10s in 32 prior events is solo 4th at last season’s inaugural Workday Charity Open as an alternate in his course debut. After opening with 72-67 (SC-NT), he began T37 on 5-under, one inside the cut line and three shy of the overnight top 10. On eight (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, the Floridian outflanked one bogey-6 at 11 (watered second shot), with eight circles at 12-16, 1 (hole-out from 14'2" away), 8 and 9, two conventionally from between 12 and 16 feet. He’ll play out of the fourth-to-last threesome on Sunday with Francesco Molinari and Doug Ghim.