Vincent

Whaley

Whaley has started the new season with two missed cuts and a T61 finish (Sanderson Farms Championship). He twirled a pair of top 15s last fall so he’ll have some work to do if he wants to keep pace with himself one year later. Gamers should remove him from all roster consideration in weekly fantasy formats.

This was the Lexington, Kentucky, native’s second Barbasol after a T21 last year (69-67-69-69) and bags his second top 10 of the season in 25 events, first since T7 at Bermuda 22 starts ago in October, where he was in the top 10 after every round. Overall, it’s his fourth top 10 in 67 events and first top 5, bettering the aforementioned T7, and got there by tossing up rounds of 70-64-67-67. For the week, the 27-year-old totaled two eagles and 24 birdies versus eight bogeys, and ranked 8th SG: Tee-to-Green (8.259) and 19th SG: Putting (3.522), losing strokes with the flat stick the first two laps, but gaining 4.382 in the final two laps. He is in the published field at this coming week’s opposite-field Barracuda in Truckee, California.

Leading the field in Driving Accuracy, Whaley has hit 26-of-28 fairways up to this point in The American Express. Despite consistently finding the short grass off-the-tee, the iron-play has lagged behind for the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket. Hitting only 11-of-18 greens in regulation in Round 2, Whaley was able to connect on one eagle and seven birdies against only one bogey. Now sitting at 10-under for the tournament, Whaley has a fantastic opportunity to make his seventh consecutive cut which will be made after tomorrow’s play. Most recently the 26-year-old finished in a tie for 17th at the Sony Open where he lost strokes off-the-tee and on approach, only to be bailed out by his short-game. It appears he has implemented the same strategy this week although it is unknown at the moment given the lack of strokes-gained data. We should have more answers over the coming days as he is set to play the Stadium Course tomorrow alongside Trey Mullinax.

After opening with 69-72, the 26-year-old was one of 18 players to make the cut T50 on the number, and takes advantage with the low lap in R3, posting an impressive 6.104 SG: Total. On eight (of 13) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, he gained 0.861 strokes off-the-tee, 1.980 on approach, 0.743 around, and 2.520 on-the-green, outflanking two squares with seven circles. The Georgia Tech alum, who ranks 3rd in GIR at 77.78 percent (42/54), owns three top 10s in 46 events, most recently a career-best T7 two starts ago at the Bermuda Championship, where he was T4 at the three-quarter mark (66-67-68-72).

After opening with 66-67-68, the 26-year-old was T4, his highest 54-hole position in 45 events. He outbalanced four birdies with five bogeys on 10 greens in regulation, but did circle the 71st and parred the 72nd hole to secure his third career top 10. The Georgia Tech alum, who supplants a prior-career-best T9 (x2), gains a top-10 exemption into this coming week’s Mayakoba, where he was 6th alternate. For the week, he totaled one eagle and 20 birdies, 6th in total birdies, versus 11 bogeys, ranked 8th in putts per GIR (1.644), and recorded a 72-hole total of 11-under 273.

With rounds of 66-67-68, the 26-year-old is in the top 10 after 54 holes for just a second time in 45 events. His first came four starts ago at last season’s opposite-field Barracuda (Modified Stableford Scoring), where he was 10th before finishing a career-tying-best T9. The Georgia Tech alum will play out of the penultimate threesome on Sunday with Patrick Rodgers and TOUR rookie Justin Lower. At the three-quarter mark, he’s totaled one eagle and 16 birdies versus six bogeys, and ranks T57 in greens in regulation at 64.81 percent (35/54) and 4th in putts per GIR (1.571). See link below to post-round comments.

They’re going to play threesomes off one tee on Saturday so the 26-year-old will be in the final group with Pendrith and Patrick Rodgers, scheduled at 12:25 pm local time (11:25 am ET). He’s vying for his first PGA TOUR win in 45 events, while his career best among two top 10s is T9 two times: at last season’s opposite-field Barracuda, where he was T22 at the halfway mark, and on debut at the 2020 opposite-field Puerto Rico Open during his rookie campaign, where he was T47 at the midpoint (70-71-69-65). The Georgia Tech alum has posted laps of 66-67, tallied one eagle and 11 birdies against four bogeys, and is not fairing well off-the-tee, ranked T115 (10/28 fairways), but is 4th-ranked in putts per GIR (1.565), which he talked about in his post-round interview (link below).

This is the 26-year-old’s highest position after 18 holes in his 45th career event, previously T10 at last season’s Valero Texas Open, where he faded to T34 (69-76-70-71). He arrived off a T65 at the Sanderson Farms four weeks ago, where he was T17 after 18 holes (68-71-73-71), and owns two career top 10s, most recently a T9 at the opposite-field Barracuda four starts ago (T27 after 18 holes), while his first, also a T9, came at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open in 2020, where he was T31 after 18 holes (70-71-69-65). On six (of 14) fairways and 12 greens in regulation, the Georgia Tech alum was 1-under thru 14 holes (3 birdies, 2 bogeys), but ended fast with a birdie-birdie-eagle run at 15-17.

Following a T-10 finish at the Albertsons Boise Open, where he carded four consecutive rounds in the 60s, the 26-year-old Georgia Tech alum earned enough points to cross the 210-point threshold the KFT is currently using as its fail-safe number for players to finish inside The Finals 25. Whaley heads into the KFT Championship at fourth on the finals 25 list, up from his T-7 position ahead of Boise. He just finished his second year on PGA Tour, where he made 17 cuts in 27 starts with one top 10 (T-9 at Barracuda Championship) and five top 25s including a T-15 at the Puerto Rico Open in February. Whaley, who works with prominent swing coach Scott Hamilton, previously earned a PGA Tour card via a 25th-place finish in the 2019 KFT regular-season points standings. He went five-for-five in KFT starts this season, finishing with par or better total in all but one.