Jonathan

Byrd

At 76th in the FedExCup race, Dahmen is in no danger of losing his playing status. He was set to arrive with top 15s in two of his last three starts but won’t make the trip to Mexico. His lone PGA Tour win came at the Corales which is another coastal course with paspalum turf, which would have made him a popular fantasy option in weekly formats. Gamers should remove him from all lineups.

Bradley was drawing some eyeballs this week, largely due to his stellar first-round performances at Innisbrook. He turned one of those fast starts into a runner-up finish (2021). He was arriving off a missed cut at THE PLAYERS but did have top 20s in three of his last five starts. Gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups.

Gay made two starts in the fall, a T11 at the Bermuda Championship and a missed cut at the RSM. Splitting his time between tours now, he stayed busy with 18 starts on the PGA TOUR last season and 16 on the senior circuit. He was set to make his 21st start at the AmEx but has missed the cut in seven of his last eight tries which kicked off right after his 2013 win in the desert. Gamers should remove him from all weekly consideration this week and expect to see his 2023 schedule more heavily weighted toward the Champions circuit, most likely.

Huh went 4-for-8 during the fall with a T27 at the Mayakoba being the highlight. He also set the course record in round two of the ZOZO but faded to T45 by week’s end. Huh was set to make his 10th appearance at the Sony Open with nothing better than a T27 (2017) on his resume. He wasn’t likely to be high on the radar but gamers should remove him from all lineups.

Byrd really set the tone early with circles on six of his first nine holes and another just three holes later. He walked off the course gaining 5.29 strokes over the field and 4.84 of that came on the opening nine. It was a hot putter that got the job done as he sank four birdie putts from outside of 10 feet to go along with a chip-in birdie at the ninth. Playing on Past Champions status, starts haven’t been the easiest to coordinate and he currently sits at 153rd in the FedExCup race. He has just one top 10 since the start of 2020 (T9 at the 2022 Pebble Beach Pro-Am) but could be on his way to another.

The 30-year-old Kaufman got the start during some field reshuffling after Jonathan Byrd withdrew from Puerto Rico to play in the concurrent Arnold Palmer Invitational. Also getting into the field now is Ted Purdy, who’s in on his number. Kaufman, an LSU product who lives in Birmingham, Ala., made just three PGA Tour starts last season and missed the cut in all three – including the 2021 Puerto Rico Open. He was also an MC at the 2021 Palmetto and Barbasol Championships. Kaufman’s last made start came at the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic (he’s missed 10 since). The last few seasons have been a stark contrast to how Kaufman’s professional season began: On the Korn Ferry Tour in 2015, he had two T-4 finishes, a solo second and win to earn PGA Tour card the following season. He earned his first PGA Tour win in just his second start of the 2015-16 season, at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, and later that spring he also found himself in the final pairing on Sunday at the Masters. Kaufman notched two other top 10s and six other top 25s that season, but he’s made just 16 cuts in 44 starts over five seasons since. He’s missed the cut in two previous starts in Puerto Rico.

The 30-year-old Pan finished T-16 last week at the Honda Classic following a 69 on Sunday. His top 20 comes on the heels of a ninth-place finish at the Genesis. In five previous appearances at the Arnold Palmer, Pan has made two cuts with a best finish of T-41 in 2019. Streb finished T-72 at the Honda after missing back-to-back cuts at the Genesis and Phoenix Open. The 44-year-old Byrd missed the cut in his most recent start – at the Phoenix Open – but he was T-9 early in February at Pebble Beach. He’s 2-for-2 in four previous starts at Bay Hill with his best finish being 31st in 2003. The 29-year-old Mullinax finished T-30 last week at PGA National and he’s 5-for-11 on the season. This week will mark his tournament debut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The 26-year-old McNealy finished T-33 last week at Pebble Beach, making birdie on four of his last five holes Sunday to card a 71 in the final round. The Las Vegas resident is ride a wave of seven straight made cuts dating back to the CJ Cup @ Summit, with his best finish being a T-11 at Mayakoba. The 44-year-old Byrd recorded his first top 10 of the season last week, making his third cut in six starts of the new season. Byrd birdied three of his last four holes Sunday at Pebble Beach to finish with a 5-under 67. In 10 previous appearances at TPC Scottsdale, Byrd had made six cuts with his best finish being a seventh place in 2006. However, he hasn’t played in Phoenix since 2014, when he was T-61.

This was the 44-year-old’s 16th AT&T and second top 10, first since T3 11 tries ago in 2006, where he was T3 at the midpoint (69-65-74-69). It’s his second top 25 of the season in six events, joining a T20 at the stand-alone Bermuda four starts and 14 weeks ago, and his first top 10 since solo 4th at the opposite-field Corales in March, 2019 (42 starts ago). The Clemson alum, who arrived off consecutive missed cuts at the AmEx (sponsor invite) and the Farmers as an open-qualifier, could possibly crack the field at next week’s 132-man WM Phoenix Open with this top-10 finish, so he’ll be watching that carefully. For the week, he carded laps of 66-72-69-67 (MP-SH-PB), the 67 currently tied for the low lap of the day, totaled 19 birdies versus six bogeys, and in the two lasered rounds on PBGL, he currently ranks No. 1 in SG: Around (3.072) and 6th SG: Tee-to-Green (5.179). UPDATE: With the tournament complete, Byrd finished T9, and at press time, is 1st alternate at the WMPO per the PGA TOUR’s Rob Bolton (link below).

The 44-year-old is a five-time winner on TOUR in 438 events, most recently a playoff version at the 2011 Hyundai TOC 196 starts ago as an 18-hole and 54-hole co-leader (66-68-67-67). This is his 16th AT&T Pro-Am and today’s 66 is his second-best score in the event in 51 rounds, joining a 65/R2 back in 2006 eleven visits ago, which he rode to his only top 10 thus far (T3). The Clemson alum checked in off a missed cut by five at the 3-course AmEx (69-73-72) two weeks ago on a sponsor exemption, and a missed cut by one at last week’s 2-course Farmers as an open-qualifier (69-73). Today, he found 10 (of 13) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, posting 1.643 putts per GIR and penciling five birdies at 10, 11, 16, 18 and 9. The Georgia resident will head over to Pebble Beach GL for R2.