Austin Cook

The Arkansas alum, who opened 71 and day-low, bogey-free 64, began solo 7th, two back. He was 4-under today thru 15, outpacing a 3-putt bogey at seven (from 62'11") with three birdies at 4, 10 and 11, each from between 13 and 24 feet, and an eagle-3 at 9 (9'2"), before ending on a sour note with back-to-back squares at 16 (missed par-saver from 41 inches) and 17 (failed scramble). On nine (of 13) fairways and 12 greens in regulation, the 31-year-old lost strokes off-the-tee (-0.079) and on approach (-0.679), but gained 2.077 with the flat stick, No. 1 in SG: Putting with a cumulative 7.668. This is his first time in the top 10 thru 54 holes since last season's Shriners (Oct. 2020), where he was T3 before finishing T2 (63-65-67-66), and is vying for a second TOUR win in 129 events, first since the 2018 RSM Classic as a pre-tourney 80/1 outright during his rookie campaign 105 starts ago, where he was the 54-hole leader by three and won by four.

The Arkansas alum missed the cut by one in 2019 at Hamilton G&CC but recorded a T7 on debut in 2015 (Glen Abbey GC) as a non-member, in that field via a T6 as an open-qualifier the week prior at the opposite-field Barbasol. This round could not have come at a better time, arriving 192nd in the FedExCup standings with one top 25 in 17 events (T11, Fortinet) and off six missed cuts in his last seven, including five in a row. The 31-year-old puts an end to the slide after handing in rounds of 71-64, today's trot featuring six birdies on 11 (of 13) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, and thru 36 holes, currently ranks 48th SG: Tee-to-Green (2.546) and No. 1 SG: Putting (5.589), including a 2.194 SGP today.  

The Arkansas alum, fourth alternate into the field, records one of just two error-free laps from the late starters at the CC of Jackson, along with defender Sergio Garcia (70). Dating to a T11 at the Fortinet two weeks ago at the season lid-lifter, where he wrapped with bogey-free 69, he's now bogey-free (12-under) for his last 52 holes played, last dropping a shot at hole 2/R3 in Napa. The 30-year-old ticked four birdies on 10 (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, two from between 21 and 29 feet, gaining 1.066 strokes with the flat stick and 1.538 tee-to-green. Besides the aforementioned T11, he also posted a T11 at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in the KFT Finals the start prior, which got him his full-playing privileges back at 46th in the KFT grad Priority Rankings (subject to the reshuffle), this after finishing 136th (conditional status) in last season's FedExCup standings. 

The Arkansas product lost nearly a stroke off-the-tee today (-0.837) but he made up for it with the rest of his game. He landed 14 greens in regulation, gaining 2.4 strokes on approach along the way. All of his scoring took place early in the morning before the winds picked up, rolling home five birdies on the outward nine, including a 20'4" bomb at the 4th. He eased his way home with eight pars and a bogey. Currently T7 on the live leaderboard, this will be his first time posting inside of the top 15 since round one of The American Express in January (eight starts ago). Since that event in the desert, he's lost strokes to the field in 11-of-14 rounds played so gamers should watch closely the rest of the week to find out if today's round was the outlier or if he's found something in his game and ready to return to form.