Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Ryan and Werbylo co-lead after 36 holes at The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic

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Second-Round Leaderboard

The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic

Covered Bridge Golf Club

Sellersburg, Indiana

August 11, 2021


 

Full Leaderboard

Pos.

Name

Scores

Current Points List Position

T1

Matt Ryan (U.S.)

63-65—128 (-14)

69

T1

Trevor Werbylo (U.S.)

63-65—128 (-14)

5

T3

Andrew Yun (U.S.)

63-67—130 (-12)

18

T3

Cooper Musselman (U.S.)

61-69—130 (-12)

31

5

Jordan Hahn (U.S.)

67-64—131 (-11)

T70

 

Ryan and Werbylo co-lead after 36 holes at The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic 

 

SELLERSBURG, Indiana Taking advantage of favorable scoring conditions Wednesday, Trevor Werbylo and Matt Ryan continued their strong play and co-lead The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic at Covered Bridge Golf Club, each following opening-round 63s with 65s to reach 14-under.

 

In second place two strokes behind are Andrew

Yun and opening-day leader Cooper Musselman. Yun fired a bogey-free 67, while Musselman couldn’t keep up the torrid pace that led him to break the course record Tuesday. The University of Kentucky graduate shot a 69, with five birdies and two bogeys.

 

It was good, solid, similar to [Tuesday]. So far, no bogeys for the first two rounds. That’s something I would like to continue,” said Werbylo, the only player in the field without bogeys.


The PGA TOUR University product started off with a birdie at the par-3 12th—his third hole—after a great tee shot with a 9-iron. On top of that he added an additional birdie at No. 13 before making seven consecutive pars. His next birdies came at Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 7, respectively.


Werbylo is the only player in the top five on the Points List who has yet to win this season. So far, he has made all four cuts and has achieved two top-10s. His best result was second-place finish at the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club, where he lost in a playoff to Samuel Saunders. His tie for sixth at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational three weeks ago came courtesy of four under-par rounds.


Ryan, who started his second round at No. 1, saw the best moment of his round on the front nine, where he carded five birdies. For the back nine, the 34-year-old made bogey on 10 and two more birdies, on the 12th and 18th. His bogey is the only one he has recorded in two days of play at Covered Bridge Golf Club.

 

“It got a little tougher on the back (nine). I didn’t play No. 10 very well. I was right down the middle and had a pitching wedge and ended up making bogey. I made a great par at 11 and chipped at 12 for birdie. It was a lot harder to hit it close because the wind started kicking up,” said Ryan. “Obviously, spin control and trajectory are way more important. I hit it solid, but I didn’t quite hit judge every shot that well coming down the stretch.”

 

Arguably the toughest moment of Ryan's day came on the par-3 eighth when he suffered a bloody nose. He had to wait a few minutes before the bleeding stopped, and although he didn’t hit a particularly good tee ball with his 7-iron, he was able to get the ball out of the bunker to save the par. 

 

“I tend to get bloody noses in dry weather. All of a sudden, I bent over to grab my rangefinder, and blood dripped out. It usually takes a while for it to stop,” said Ryan, who grabbed some toilet paper at the turn, just in case.


Although he had a guaranteed spots in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship and the Pinnacle Bank Championship, Ryan chose not to skip them and stay on the Forme Tour to restructure his game. This season he has played all five events on the Forme Tour schedule, making all five cuts. High finishes have been the problem. His best performance was the tie for 31st he achieved two weeks ago at the Birck Boilermaker Classic.

 

“I’m enjoying every second of it because, obviously, it’s been a hard year,” Ryan said of his Forme Tour experience. “I’m finally having so much fun on the golf course. That started a couple of weeks ago. It’s not like it just started this week.


“Greg Eason and I were up at TPC River’s Bend (outside Cincinnati) and played a bunch of games,” he continued, speaking of his resurgence in good play. “I don’t know if expect is the right word, but I’m ready if it’s there, if that makes sense.”


Jordan Hahn was one of three players to score 64 over his second 18 holes. That score allowed him to climb 17 spots to finish the round in fifth place (11-under 131). Hahn started the round in strong fashion, with four birdies on his first five holes. On the ninth hole, Hahn took advantage of the par-5 to make one more birdie. On the back nine he made three more birdies and a bogey on the 14th.

Did you know Camilo Aguado has lived in four different countries? The 27-year-old was born in Colombia but moved to Venezuela with his family in 2001. After five years he moved to Mexico where he learned to play golf and today lives in South Florida The Jacksonville (Alabama) State product just completed his season on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and has full Forme Tour due to his Qualifying Tournament win in Weston, Florida, earlier this year.


Key Information

  • The 36-hole cut came at 5-under 137, with 65 professionals advancing to the final 36 holes.
  • This week’s champion will receive 500 points. In addition, he will claim $21,000 from the $120,000 purse.
  • Besides Jordan Hahn, the other two players who shot 64s, the low scores of the day, were Jonathan Keppler and Hays Moreland. For Moreland, the late rally wasn’t enough as he missed the cut, finish at 3-under.
  • Jonathan Brightwell improved on his even-par 71 in his first round to shoot 66 on the second day. At 5-under 137, the 23-year-old PGA TOUR University product is out of Oklahoma via the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he graduated before transferring. Brightwell made it five for five in cuts made this season. He entered to this week ranked No. 53 on the Points List.
  • Canada’s Wil Bateman, Colombia’s Camilo Aguado and France’s Alexandre Fuchs are the top non-American players after 36 holes. They are tied for 25th, at 7-under.
  • Zach Cabra shot a 29 on the front nine, thanks to five birdies and an eagle (at par-5 fifth). He stumbled a bit down the stretch, posting three bogeys in his last five holes, He finished with a 67 to leave him tied for ninth through 36 holes. Last week, Cabra tied for 42nd at the Utah Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
  • Brandon Smith also shot 29 on the front-nine Wednesday. He carded seven birdies—five in a row—starting at No. 9. He shot 68 and is tied for 25th place with eight other players with 36 holes to play.
  • Of the top-five on the Points List only Trevor Werbylo made the cut. Turk Pettit (No. 1), Mac Meissner (No .2), Philip Knowles (No. 3) and Sam Saunders (No. 4) will not play the final 36 holes.
  • Third-round tee times will be from 8:30 a.m., to 10:20 a.m., with players teeing off Nos. 1 and 10—in threesomes.
  • The par-4 14th hole (501 yards) played as the hardest hole Wednesday, with a scoring average of 4.30.
  • The par-5 fifth hole (531 yards) played as the easiest hole, Its scoring average was 4.66.

 

Quotable

 

“If I’m anywhere 15 feet or in, I feel like I’m going to make every one. That doesn’t happen very often in golf, so it’s a good feeling. I’ve been working very hard on the putting, so it’s paying off.” – Matt Ryan


“I’m hitting a lot of fairways, which is exponentially better when it’s lift, clean and place. The course is in great shape, so I can’t imagine we’ll be doing that [Thursday]. I’m hitting a lot of fairways and greens, and I’m making putts.” – Matt Ryan


“Based on the heat, it would be great to have a caddie. But you could have the wrong caddie and it could mess with you. I feel like I’m an easy guy to caddie for. I would never blame a caddie. Carrying your own bag is a nice reset sometimes.” – Matt Ryan about carrying his own bag this week


“It feels good. Everything is right where I’m comfortable. Off the tee, with my irons, short game and putter. It all feels good. But one of the positives is there are things I could improve on the last couple of days, as well. If I can clean up a few missed putts here and there, a few mistakes, I can keep the momentum going into the ‘weekend.’” – Trevor Werbylo


“I’ve done a good job of eliminating [bogeys] the first two rounds. If I can keep clean cards the last two days, I’m sure I’ll be right around the lead if not having a great chance to win.” – Trevor Werbylo


“The wind really started to pick up going into, probably, our last 11 holes. We were actually talking walking up 18, as a group, chatting about how much more difficult it’s going to get this afternoon than it was this morning.”  Jordan Hahn


“It’s nice to take advantage of the good break and the tee-time wave. I’m looking forward to the ‘weekend.’”  Jordan Hahn on playing in the morning vs. the afternoon


“I have a good game plan for this golf course. There are a lot of holes that are not (for a) driver, but there are a lot of holes where you can hit driver and you can take advantage of them. All the par-5s are gettable, which is great”  Jordan Hahn



“I got off to a good start, making three birdies in the first three holes. That’s definitely a nice way to wake up and get the day going. All in all, my ball-striking was definitely something that was a strong suit for the last two days.” – Jordan Hahn


“I have my girlfriend (Elle) caddying for me. I kept telling her, let’s keep giving ourselves looks. The putts are going to fall so let’s keep hitting good golf shots because the birdies are going to come.” – Jordan Hahn


“It’s hard to back up a 61. I came out thinking I could do it. I hit some shaky shots to start the round and made some good par saves. I then made a couple of putts, on 17 and 18, but hit a bad drive on one and not a great bunker shot on two.”  Cooper Musselman about the finish to his opening nine and start of his second


“Overall, finishing at 2-under, it was pretty windy out there. I would have liked to be a few more under, but it was solid.” – Cooper Musselman


“I came in thinking 6-under a day would put me in a really good spot. I’m right at 12-under for two days, so I can’t be mad at that.” – Cooper Musselman



“I’m from Louisville, so I came over here about three weeks ago once I figured out that this course was on the schedule. I also played it a lot in junior golf when I was 12 and 13.” – Cooper Musselman


“It’s extremely hot. Luckily, we had some breeze, which made it seem a little cooler. But it’s Southern Indiana. It’s hot, it’s humid. I grew up around here, so I knew what to expect.” – Cooper Musselman


Second-Round Weather:

Warm and sunny, with a high of 94. Wind SE at 9 mph.

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