FedExCup Fall update: S.H. Kim, Troy Merritt the biggest movers from Fortinet Championship
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One of the biggest movers in the FedExCup Fall standings was a man who looked like he was going to miss the cut at the Fortinet Championship.
Troy Merritt shot an opening 74 Thursday that included four bogeys. With nothing to lose in Round 2, he opened with five birdies in his first six holes and suddenly found himself creeping up and closer to the cut line. The two-time TOUR winner traded birdies and bogeys twice in a six-hole span, then, on the par-5 18th hole he chipped the ball to 5 inches from 95 feet for birdie to shoot 67 and make the cut on the number.
Two days later the 37-year-old had shot 69-65 to vault up the leaderboard into a tie for seventh place. His final-round score was the best of the day and helped him improve 30 positions. The late heroics at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, came with another bonus. Merritt moved from 133rd to 118th in the FedExCup Fall standings, giving him a head start on securing exempt status for the 2024 PGA TOUR season, although six events remain before the standings are solidified. The top 125 will be finalized after The RSM Classic, Nov. 16-19, at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Merritt has come a long way in the past two months since he detailed his difficulties with the yips while playing at the Genesis Scottish Open. He played in 28 events during the 2022-23 season and missed 18 cuts.
“I hit a putt from 4 feet below the hole on 17 on Friday, and it felt like I got electrocuted,” he told PGATOUR.com from the Genesis Scottish Open, where he was one of the last to get into the field and missed the cut. “It made me jump, I missed it badly, and ever since then, every now and then, I have a real bad yip stroke. I don’t know if it’s physical or mental or both. After it happens so many times it’s hard to get it out of your head. It’s just an absolute battle.
“I’ve been on the TOUR for 12 years because I can make short putts. And when you can’t make short putts, you miss a lot of cuts, and it seeps into your long game because you’re trying harder to hit the ball close so you can two-putt with a tap-in.”
At the Fortinet Championship, Merritt was 44th in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week, boosted by the help of the Sunday 65 that included eight birdies and a lone bogey.
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S.H. Kim was two shots off the first-round leader at the Fortinet Championship after opening with a 65 that included five birdies and an eagle. He followed with 67-69-68 to finish in solo second place, two shots behind Sahith Theegala.
The 25-year-old made the biggest jump of anyone in the FedExCup Fall standings, moving up 26 spots from 83rd to 57th. Those ranked from Nos. 51-60 after The RSM Classic earn spots into two Signature Events early next year, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational. Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Hardy, Taylor Montgomery, Alex Smalley, Thomas Detry and Stephan Jaeger remained in positions 51-56.
S.H. Kim makes birdie on No. 18 at Fortinet Championship
Kim was a Korn Ferry Tour graduate a year ago and started off his 2022-23 PGA TOUR season by making his first four cuts, including a tie for fourth place at the Shriners Children’s Open. He played 32 events during the season and made 20 cuts, but missed four of his last five cuts to close the season.
After his performance at Silverado, Kim says his only game plan is to remain calm.
“I’m just going to keep playing my game, stay focused, try to play well for the remaining fall events to see what my position is,” Kim said after the final round of the Fortinet Championship.
Other movers …
Callum Tarren moved up six positions from 91 to 85. The Englishman’s best finish of the season was a second-place tie at The RSM Classic thanks to bookend 64s. He tied for seventh place at the Fortinet Championship, with a third-round 67 his best score of the week.
Greyson Sigg moved up seven positions from 106 to 99. He recorded one top-10 and six top-25 finishes during the season. The University of Georgia product shot 69-71-69-71 to tie for 25th place at the Fortinet Championship.
Carson Young moved up eight positions from 111 to 103. The 28-year-old tied for third place at the Puerto Rico Open last year and played in 30 events during the season. He shot 70-71-68-70 to tie for 19th place at the Fortinet Championship.
Peter Malnati moved up six positions from 116 to 110. The 36-year-old TOUR winner played in 29 events with two top-10 finishes but only made 10 cuts. A third-round 66 at the Fortinet Championship helped propel him up the leaderboard, ultimately finishing in an 11th-place tie.
Erik van Rooyen moved up five positions from 131 to 126. Although the TOUR winner is on the outside of the top 125 he is sneaking closer to the magic number. The South African only made 10 cuts in 25 events but a tie for 30th place in Napa is a good start to the fall.
Matthias Schwab moved up 14 positions from 148 to 134. The 28-year-old from Austria had two top-10 finishes on the season and made up a ton of ground over the weekend at Silverado by shooting 68-67 in the final two rounds to tie for 11th place.
Jason Dufner moved up 15 positions from 171 to 156. The 46-year-old major champion only made 10 of 27 cuts in the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season and was well down the FedExCup standings. A 19th-place tie at the Fortinet Championship gave him some good momentum. Those from Nos. 126-150 after the fall earn conditional status for 2024.
Jay Coffin is a freelance journalist in Orlando, Florida, who has had stints at Golfweek, GolfChannel.com and Golf Digest during his 25 years in the golf industry. He has covered more than 40 major championships and has traveled to 13 different countries Follow Jay Coffin on Twitter.