Hank

Lebioda

Gay is a five-time PGA TOUR winner but spends most of his time on the Champions circuit now. The 51-year-old has made five starts on the main stage this season, missing the cut or WD’ing in four of them with a T11 at the Bermuda Championship in the fall. He’s gone 47 straight PGA TOUR starts without a top-10 finish so gamers can safely remove him from their radar.

The Florida State product had it on a string today with 10-of-13 fairways hit and 17 GIR. From there, his putter also contributed more than its fair share. “The last couple weeks or so I felt like my putting had really turned a corner. Even though I may not have shown the results. But I felt more confident standing over the ball. I liked what I was looking at visually standing over it. I knew it was just a matter of time. So today fortunately it was one of the days where quite a few of ‘em did go in. Not every day is like that. I was glad I was able to take advantage of it today.” This will go in the books as his first time leading or co-leading after any round on the PGA TOUR (289 rounds).

Dahmen has been dormant since the fall, ending with three straight top 10s. He’s currently 19th in the early FedExCup race but will wait at least a week before getting his 2023 schedule started. Why the change of heart? There may be news coming in the form of his baby’s arrival as he sent out a few replies to fans on social media including one last week that said, “Depends on the baby. 50/50" which was a response to whether he’d be at the AmEx.

This is the third time this season in 27 events that the FSU alum is in the top 10 after 18 holes with none of the prior two resulting in top-10 finishes. He checked in 159th in the FedExCup standings, making 13 cuts and missing 13, and his best among two top 25s (one individually) is a T15 at the Houston Open last fall, where he was T9 after R1 (67-72-69-69). On 10 (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, the 28-year-old gained 4.753 strokes tee-to-green and eked out a 0.028 on-the-green, outpacing two bogey-5s at holes 2 and 9 (3-putt from 45'0") with five birdies at 6, 12, 13 (from 11'0"), 16 and 18. This is his fourth 3M with a best of T26 two visits ago in 2020 (69-70-65-69), withdrew last year prior to R3 (personal reasons) after beginning 69-69, and is in search of his first top 10 since T8 at the 2021 John Deere (64-69-71-65) last July, which was the start prior to the 3M WD.

This is the 28-year-old’s third Deere and second made cut after a backdoor T8 last year (64-69-71-65). Of the 69 players who made the cut this year, he’s one of only two that has a chance for consecutive top 10s in the event, joining past champ Ryan Moore, who’s currently T36 after finishing T2 in 2021. At the three-quarter mark, the FSU product has handed in rounds of 69-65-67, tallied 16 birdies against four bogeys, five versus one today, and ranks 44th SG: Tee-to-Green (2.152) and 6th SG: Putting (5.897), including a week-low +0.972 on Saturday. This is his second time this season in 24 events that he’s in the top 10 thru 54 holes, joining the Mexico Open five starts ago, where he was T8 before fading to T29 (67-67-69-73).

The Florida State product steadied 11-of-14 fairways and 15 GIR. From there, his putter ran wild with +3.4 strokes gained putting. He ranks 4th in that category on the week. Highlights today included eight putts converted from outside of nine feet. Lebioda has now positioned himself at T33 or better after seven of his last 10 rounds played, flashing a bit of form before the final summer stretch of the season. He entered the week ranked 155th in the FedExCup race, in need of a few big finishes before the season ends.

Lebioda hasn’t recorded an individual top 25 since T15 at Houston back in November, but may have gotten a bounce with a T18 last week at Zurich teamed with fellow FSU alum Chase Seiffert. His most recent top 10 is a T8 nine months ago at the 2021 John Deere, which capped off a career run of three consecutive top 10s, but it’s been tough sledding since. Thru 54 holes at Vallarta Vidanta, the 28-year-old has signed for laps of 67-67-69, totaled one eagle and 13 birdies against three bogeys and a double, the double coming today at the par-3 17th (watered tee ball), and currently ranks 3rd SG: Putting (6.754) though 53rd SG: Off-the-Tee (-0.423) and 65th SG: Approach (-1.026).

4-for-7 making the cut in 2022, Lebioda has yet to find the top-40 of any leaderboard this year. With his closest call coming at the Farmers Insurance Open, he now returns to the Tampa area after a strong showing at THE PLAYERS Championship. Posting +5.00 SG: Approach at TPC Sawgrass, the 28-year-old put together his best iron performance since the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship. Losing ground namely off-the-tee, but also on the greens, Lebioda should take solace in his performance at the Copperhead Course last season. Gaining nearly six-strokes with the putter in hand, he captured a tie for 13th-place which followed up his debut result of T-46 in 2019.

This week would have marked the tournament debut for Young, who missed the cut at Pebble Beach at the 2019 U.S. Open. The 24-year-old Young, No. 118 in the world ranking, has played seven events in the new season, making four cuts with a T-2 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Lebioda, No. 197 in the OWGR, finished T-46 last week at Torrey Pines, and he’s made three cuts in nine starts on the season with his best result being a T-15 at the Houston Open. It will be the fifth career start at the AT&T for both the 45-year-old Imada and 39-year-old Merrick.