Gators Reach Hilton Head on Different Ships

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Golfer Magazine

One of the more interesting facets surrounding the fields on the PGA Tour from week to week is just what gets players eligible for each event. The RBC Heritage begins Thursday at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, and all five former Gators are playing, each one becoming eligible from a different category.

Billy Horschel - winner of the Tour Championship in the last three years.

Matt Every - winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in the last three years.

Camilo Villegas - sponsor's exemption.

Brett Stegmaier - top 125 on FedEx Cup points list last season.

Brian Gay - major medical exemption.

Seminoles Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger aren't entered after both made the cut and a nice paycheck in the Masters. Both began slowly, and improved their scores in each round. Koepka tied for 11th after posting 74-73-71-69-287, 1 under par, and collected a juicy $233,200. Berger shot 77-73-72-69-291, 3 over, and earned $78,100 for his deadlock for 27th.

Harbour Town is a par 71, playing to 7,099 yards.

TEDDY'S BACK - Ted Potter confirmed he'll be back on the Web.com Tour trail when play resumes next week at the $600,000 United Leasing and Finance Championship in Newburgh, Indiana. Then he'll travel out of the country for the April 27, $650,000 El Bosque Mexico Championship and the May 4, $625,000 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic.

The Champions Tour also resumes this week at the $1.8 million Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia. Gators Scott Dunlap and Mark Calcavecchia are entered, along with Adena pro Marco Dawson.

RATINGS DOWN - The drawing power of certain American players was clearly evident on Sunday in Augusta. Without Mickelson and Spieth and a couple of others near the top of the leaderboard, TV viewing was down 11 percent from last year. While Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia made for a riveting finish, it's obvious that two Europeans in the spotlight on the back nine is not enough to get much of the U. S. public on board.