Kevin

Tway

Finishing in third-place the first year of the team format, Tway and Kraft came in at 23-under and four-strokes off the winning pace. They excelled once again two years later when they finished in a tie for 13th-place in 2019. Signing for rounds of 70-70 last season, the team missed the cut by a single-stroke with the blame solely on their Best-Ball performance as it ranked near the bottom of the field in the first round. Kraft arrives this season in the midst of a cold streak, connecting on 2-of-8 cuts in 2022 with his best finish coming back in early February at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Tway is not much better as he is 4-for-10 collecting a paycheck in addition to a WD at the Valero Texas Open in early April. Without any recent form to speak of, this team is likely to be packing their bags come Friday evening.

Tway opened his week with a 4-over 76 to find himself in 129th place. He hit just one (of 14) fairways and landed nine GIR. Tway cited a wrist injury when he withdrew ahead of round two. This will be his first career mid-tournament WD, in 175 starts on the PGA TOUR.

The big hitter pelted 16 greens in regulation today, after splitting seven (of 14) fairways. As you might expect, he took advantage of the par 5s with birdies on three of the four today. His lone blemish was a bogey at the opening, par-4 first hole. Playing his 23rd career round at the Farmers Insurance Open, this eclipses his previous low round at the event by two shots (R1/2020). Tway entered the week with a steady stream of paydays at the Farmers (5-for-6) but nothing better than a T30, which came during the 2020 edition. The Oklahoma State product finds himself just two shots off the torrid pace set by Billy Horschel and will now turn his attention toward the South Course for the remainder of the week.

The Oklahoma State product, who began T2, one back of leader Scottie Scheffler, bags his ninth career top 10 in 164 events, first since T5 at the 2019 Travelers 54 starts ago. It’s also his fourth career top-3 finish, first since his lone TOUR win at the 2018-19 Safeway Open 3 years, 1 month and 73 starts ago, and first runner-up. For the week, the South Florida resident carded laps of 67-64-73-68, totaled two eagles, T1 in that stat, and 13 birdies versus nine bogeys, and ranked 3rd SG: Off-the-Tee (3.898) and 2nd SG: Putting (8.751), but 51st in SG: Approach (-0.693) and 43rd in SG: Around (-0.567). On Sunday, he outpaced three squares with five circles on nine (of 13) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, gaining 1.237 strokes off-the-tee and 2.084 on-the-green, including a walk-off birdie-3 from 16'0" to secure the T2. See link below to post-round comments.

The Oklahoma State product began solo 2nd, one back of leader Martin Trainer (74), and three clear of Scheffler, who began T4. Despite being 1-over thru 16 holes (2 birdies, 3 bogeys), he held the lead on 8-under total before squaring back-to-backs at 17 and 18, the former after going for the green at the drivable par 4 and then pitching over the green and into the water, and the latter with a missed par-saver from 10'8". The 33-year-old, who will play out of the penultimate group in R4 with Kramer Hickok and Trainer, is eyeing his second TOUR title in 164 events, joining the 2019 Safeway Open 73 starts ago, where he came from three back (2nd) with 1-under 71 before outlasting Ryan Moore and Brandt Snedeker in extra time. This is his first time in the top 10 thru 54 holes since the 2019 Travelers, where he was T6 before finishing T5 (68-68-66-67).

Tway, who’s had prior success in Texas, is chasing his second TOUR win in 164 events, first since a P1 at the 2019 Safeway Open 73 starts ago, where he was T5, four back, at the halfway pole (68-67-68-71). Yesterday, Thursday, he was one of 66 players stranded due to darkness, and returned today to 28 holes of golf, playing 27 of them error-free. On eight (of 13) fairways and 10 greens in regulation, the Oklahoma native squared a lone bogey-5 at 17 (missed par-saver from 4'11"), smothered by two hole-out eagles and three birdies, highlighted by a 2 at the par-4 13th from 107 yards away. At last check, he eked out a 0.007 SG: Approach but had sizable gains around-the-green (2.263) and with the flat stick (3.457), including four par-savers from between eight and 18 feet. See link below to post-round comments.

Tway made it look easy in round one as he pelted 14 greens in regulation on the strength of 1.232 strokes gained approach. On top of the steady striking, he also poured home a pair of par-saving putts from outside of 11 feet to keep his card clean along the way. Tway walked off the course gaining 2.052 strokes with the flat stick. Tway missed the cut at Memorial Park GC last year (75-71) but is off to the races this week to post inside of the top 10 for the first time since the John Deere Classic in July, 28 rounds ago.

The big hitter used his distance to gain 2.87 strokes off-the-tee this morning (1st in the field). He missed just five fairways on his way toward 13 GIR. The flat stick warmed up at times, as well, as he rolled in four putts from outside of nine feet. Two of those were par-savers and another was a 9'6" eagle splash at the par-5 14th. Tway rallied after a slow start last week in Detroit, going from T88 to T14 from Friday to Sunday. He may have found something over the weekend so gamers should see if this mini-run of form continues. Tway started the week just 192nd in the FedExCup race.

Tway enters the week with just four paydays in 17 starts this season. None of those cuts made have landed as top-40 finishes. Perhaps a familiar venue will cure his woes as he arrives with a strong record at TPC River Highlands. Tway is 4-for-6 at this Pete Dye design that includes a T6 finish in 2018 and T5 finish the following year. The Oklahoma State product had this to say back in 2019, “This course kind of fits my eye so I love coming back here. Just if I hit the ball in the fairway I got a lot of wedges, so try to capitalize on those.”