Joel

Dahmen

Dahmen hasn’t had much luck in 2023 with seven straight finishes outside of the top 40. He flipped that script today and it started with his ball-striking. “That was the best I hit this calendar year. I just haven’t hit it that great this calendar year. I don’t know exactly what clicked. I can’t pretend I hit extra balls or did anything special, but I striped it today. I hit my driver on almost every hole. A lot of guys don’t.” After an aggressive off-the-tee approach, Dahmen used a steady stream of good iron shots to gain 4.2 strokes on approach. His previous best approach round this season was +3.7 strokes gained approach in round three of the Valspar Championship.

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.

Dahmen arrived with top-16 finishes in four of his last five starts and he kept the momentum rolling on Sea Island. A Saturday 72 was the only thing holding him back this week. Dahmen ranked T15 in fairways hit this week and T32 in GIR. He jumps from 19th to 15th in the early FedExCup standings He’s looking forward to some time off now, “We have an awesome couple weeks lined up and then with the birth of my child coming in late January, I probably won’t play till Pebble. Not going to risk being stuck in Hawaii if it comes too early. If it’s Palm Springs I can get home really quick, and then Torrey’s an off week for me. So hopefully it’s Pebble [when he’s going to play again.”

Dahmen remains on a tear this fall, with three straight finishes of T-16 or better including a T-3 result in Mayakoba and a T-9 finish last week in Houston. Now he’s one shot back at the halfway point at Sea Island thanks to an 8-under effort that included four birdies on each side of the easier Plantation layout and moved him up 25 spots in the overall standings. Dahmen is in search of his second career victory on Tour and, given the trio of co-leaders he’s chasing and two other players tied with him at 11 under have combined for one prior victory, he needs to be considered among the favorites heading into the weekend on a course where birdies should remain easily within reach.

Dahmen’s highlight of the week was a near ace at the par-4 17th in round three but there was plenty of other birdies to go around. He walked out of Mexico with 23 birdies and an eagle to erase seven bogeys. Steady striking was the recipe as he ranked T15 in fairways hit this week and T37 in GIR Percentage. He is now 6-for-6 at El Camaleon with a solo 6th at the 2019 edition being his other notable result. Dahmen now has four career podium finishes in 154 events played. He moves to 23rd in the early-season FedExCup race with a trio of top 20s already on his season resume.

Dahmen has gotten one shot better each day this week at El Camaleon GC, including a 5-under 66 in the third round that lifted him to 12 under and into a tie for 11th. The highlight of the day for Dahmen came on the par-4 17th, where his drive landed a few feet in front of the hole and nearly hopped in for what would’ve been just the second all-time ace on a par 4 in PGA Tour history. Instead he settled for a kick-in eagle to go along with five birdies. Dahmen appears poised to continue a strong fall portion of the season that has already included a T-16 finish at the Zozo Championship and T-13 at the Sanderson Farms.

The 34-year-old, who checked in off a T32 two weeks ago at the Memorial (T19 thru 54 holes), falls to 0-for-1 as a 36-hole leader/co-leader but does bag his second major top 10 in nine attempts, matching a T10 at the 2020 PGA at TPC Harding Park. This is his third top 10 of the season in 21 events, first since T6 at the AT&T Pebble Beach back in February, and more importantly, earns him a return ticket to next season’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles CC. For the week, the University of Washington product handed in laps of 67-68-74-71, traded 11 birdies with 11 bogeys, two against three in the finale, and at last check, lost strokes with the flat stick (-0.18) but gained 7.98 on approach, No. 4-ranked in the latter. See link below to post-tourney comments.

The new leaders hoisted up a 67 and 68, respectively, while Dahmen, who led/co-led at the midpoint for the first time in 144 events, carded 14 pars and four bogeys (holes 1, 4, 7 and 8). Afterwards (link below): “Yeah, if you’d told me on Thursday I’d only be three back coming into Sunday of a U.S. Open -- you don’t have to do a whole lot. My game is right there. I’ve proven I can hang with these guys. You know, if I get off to a good start tomorrow, it’s going to be really fun.” The Clarkston, Washington, native, who’s handed in laps of 67-68-74 (1-under 209), will be in the fifth-to-last pairing on Sunday with rookie Nick Hardy, chasing a second TOUR victory, first since last season’s opposite-field Corales (Mar. 2021) 33 starts ago, where he was a 54-hole co-leader.

The 34-year-old, who will be in the final pairing on Saturday with Morikawa (3:45 pm ET), owns one top 10 in eight prior majors, a T10 at the 2020 PGA at TPC Harding Park, won by Morikawa. This is his first 36-hole lead/co-lead in 144 events, has just made his first cut at the U.S. Open in his third try, and is vying for a second TOUR victory, first since last season’s opposite-field Corales (Mar. 2021) 33 starts ago, where he was T4 thru 36 holes and a 54-hole co-leader before eventually winning by one (67-71-68-70). So far this week, the University of Washington product has posted laps of 67-68, totaled nine birdies against four bogeys, four versus two today, and was asked afterwards (link below) about co-leading the U.S. Open heading into the weekend: “I don’t know. It’s kind of been a whirlwind really. I don’t know, it will be a big weekend. Yeah, we don’t tee off until 3:45 tomorrow. I typically have to be home at 5:00 for dinner, so this will be different for sure.”