Monday qualifiers: Waste Management Phoenix Open

Here is a look at the three players who Monday qualified for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It was held at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

QUALIFIERS

Zack Sucher (66)
Age: 33
College: University of Alabama-Birmingham
Turned pro: 2009
PGA TOUR starts: 50
PGA TOUR earnings: $1.1 million
Twitter: @zacksucherpga
Notes: Had a career-best T2 at Travelers Championship in 2019 while on medical exemption following ankle surgery that sidelined him for almost two years … Drove more than six hours from Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday night to Monday qualifier … Has played seven PGA TOUR events this season, making three cuts with two top-25s and is currently 131st in FedEx Cup points … Has made 18 PGA TOUR cuts in 50 starts … Won the Midwest Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2014, then finished T2 at the Stonebrae Classic the following week. That year he finished 8th on the money list … Has played 81 Korn Ferry Tour events with 46 made cuts and 14 top-10 finishes … Currently ranked 169th in OWGR.

Patrick Flavin (67)
Age: 23
College: Miami (Ohio) University
Turned pro: 2018
PGA TOUR starts: 0
PGA TOUR earnings: 0
Twitter: @patrick_flavin
Notes: The Waste Management Phoenix Open will be his first career PGA TOUR event … Made birdie on first playoff hole Monday to get through … Made 10 of 16 cuts on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, including a win at the Bupa Match Play. He also had a runner-up and a third-place finish among six top-25s. He finished sixth on the Order of Merit … Played one Korn Ferry Tour event, the Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS in 2019, and finished T49 … Played one career PGA TOUR Canada-Mackenzie Tour event and finished T35 … Only golfer to win both the Illinois Amateur and the Illinois State Open in the same year (2017) … Is all-time career wins leader at Miami of Ohio with eight and also holds single-season wins record with four … Was ranked as high as 86th in World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) before turning pro.

Alex Smalley (67)
Age: 23
College: Duke University
Turned pro: 2019
PGA TOUR starts: 1
PGA TOUR earnings: 0
Twitter: @asmalley_golf
Notes: This will be his second career PGA TOUR start, his first as a professional. He played in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, shooting 73-74 to miss the cut … Wasn’t going to play in Waste Management Monday qualifier but was out visiting his club company and it worked with his schedule … His mom was his caddy for the Monday qualifier … Made an 18-foot putt on third playoff hole in near darkness to get through, beating PGA TOUR winner Robert Garrigus … Had a decorated amateur career, including being ranked as high as 12th in WAGR … Became first player since Rickie Fowler to win the Sunnehanna Amateur in consecutive years … was a member of the 2019 Walker Cup team, where he went 3-1 in his matches … Was a member of the Palmer Cup team, going 3-1 in those matches also … Is the all-time career scoring average leader at Duke with a 71.32 … Shot a school-record 61 as a senior.

SUCHER Q&A

A quick chat with qualifier Zack Sucher after Monday’s round:

PGATOUR.COM: Let’s talk a little bit about logistics. What time did you leave Torrey Pines after the Farmers Insurance Open to start your drive here to the Monday Qualifier in Scottsdale?

ZACK SUCHER: “We rented a car on Saturday so we could check out as soon as I finished on Sunday. I finished play about 1 o’clock on Sunday. We were on the road right after; we grabbed some food, picked up the kids and hit the road as fast as possible. We stopped for dinner along the way and got in around 9:30 last night. We got the kids in a hotel with a water park. They hopefully had as much fun today as I did.”

PGATOUR.COM: You had not played the course in a long time and your manager, who caddied for you, hadn’t been out here, so your manager met with (Korn Ferry Tour player) Dylan Wu to help with line and strategy?

SUCHER: “I had never played a practice round here; I played in this qualifier five years ago. It was the same scenario; I came straight from a tournament. So, I remember most of the holes but there was a few shots that I am glad we had some information on, because I didn’t remember a few of them. “

PGATOUR.COM: You have battled injuries in your career (ankle surgery that knocked him out for almost two years). Do you appreciate times like this more? Does it give you some perspective on being out here?

SUCHER: “Yeah for sure, the rough times make the good times better. So yeah, I’m fired up. This has always been a dream of mine to play this golf tournament. This is going to be super exciting.”

PGATOUR.COM: Even though you are probably tired with traveling and playing five days in a row, is it good to keep playing when you have things going and are playing well?

SUCHER: “Yeah, absolutely. I thought the last two weeks I played really well and didn’t get much out of it at The American Express. Last week was better -- I had a lot more good rounds and felt really good about my game. It’s kinda nice, game feels great, good time to play here.”

NOTES

NOTABLE MISSES
Robert Garrigus 67 (lost in playoff) Rhein Gibson 69 Kyle Maze 69 Wes Roach 70 Anirban Lahiri 70 Jim Carter 72 Alex Cejka 74

STRENGTH OF WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN MONDAY Q FIELD
Combined number of PGA TOUR starts: 3678
Number of players with at least 1 PGA TOUR wins: 7- Charlie Beljan, Jim Carter, Alex Cejka, Robert Garrigus, Parker McLachlin, Ted Purdy, Robert Streb
Combined number of PGA TOUR wins: 7
Combined PGA TOUR earnings: More than $102 million
Combined Korn Ferry Tour wins: 22
Player with most PGA TOUR wins in the field: All 7 have 1 win

COURSE INFO
Name of course: McCormick Ranch Golf Club (Pine Course)
Length/rating/slope: 7,039 yards/74.4 rating/135 slope

2019-2020 SEASON MONDAY QUALIFIER STATS
Average Medalist score: 65.0
Average last qualifying spot score: 66.8
Total number of cuts made: 8 of 36 (22.2%)
Money earned: $279,421
Best Finish: Garrett Osborn, T18, Sanderson Farms
Most recent results (Farmers Insurance Open): KK Limbhasut MC, Eddie Olson MC, Harry Hall MC, Jacob Bergeron MC

NEXT MONDAY QUALIFIER
Puerto Rico Open, Feb. 17