Current Hero of the week: the OG, James Hahn, class of 2003. He is currently tied for first at the 2020-21 Season's First Tournament of the year, the Safeway Open at Silverado in Napa. We'll get back to James in a second, but wanted to make sure the lede did not get buried.
Season Recap: Last year was the Tour's final event of the season, the Tour Championship held at Eastlake Golf Club in Atlanta. Only those in the top 30 FedEx Cup Standings qualified, and the payouts are massively inflated, as they represented bonus money for an entire season's worth of results. Going into the previous week's tournament (BMW Championship), Homa needed a miracle to qualify, An needed a big week, and Morikawa was a lock to qualify. Homa did not get his miracle, and while An played a good tournament, he fell just short. Collin played well at the BMW, and entered into the Tour Championship at 5th in the standings. Collin ended up playing very solid golf for four days, and ended up sixth place overall at the Tour Championship, which locked up a $1.9 MILLION season ending bonus. That brings him to $7mm for the year in PGA earnings, and over $9mm or so since he graduated in May 2019 (not including endorsements). Just an absolutely studly start to his career, and if he keeps this up, it probably won't be too long until Walter Chun starts hitting the man up to build the "Collin Morikawa Men's Golf Locker Room". Collin loves Cal and never misses an opportunity to plug the school.
Now, to this week's action, the Safeway Open in Napa. Given the US Open at Winged Foot next week, and the season-ending stretch that just ended at the Tour Championship, all the big names are sitting out, including the Big 3 for Cal. That leaves three Cal Bears in action: Brandon Hagy, Michael Kim, and oft-forgotten James Hahn. Hagy is probably the guy to keep an eye on this year, as he flirted with the Top 125 and Top 150 last year, and if he can improve his results just a little bit, he will have a good shot to retain his tour card for the following season. He made the cut this week, but after a disappointing third round, is highly unlikely to record a notable finish at Safeway. Michael Kim unfortunately continues to struggle, and true to recent form, missed the cut by a wide margin. Out of all of the golfers that have come out of the program, many thought Kim would have the highest ceiling (he is the only Jack Nicklaus award winner in school history), so here is to hoping he can somehow turn his professional career around.
The story of the week though is James Hahn, who has played lights out through three rounds and is tied for first going into tomorrow's final round. Hahn has only played a small handful of tournaments each of the last two years, and none of the larger tournaments, so his profile has been pretty low since becoming the first Cal Alum to win on the PGA Tour in 2015 and 2016. Candidly, at his age and current activity level, I had kind of written him off as an Alum who would make noise on the Tour. That has proven to be a big mistake. He has looked unshakeable over the last three days, and is a proven winner on the PGA Tour. He looked very loose and comfortable out there on the course today, so if I had to make a bet, I'd say he has as good or better odds as anyone else in the field to take the title home tomorrow. Hahn is not a likely PGA Tour star, having actually quit the Cal golf team as a junior and senior in order to focus on school, and having pursued a non-golf career after graduation before taking golf back up again. He was teammates with current Cal coach Walter Chun back in the early 2000s. But he was the one that got it started, and here is to hoping he can take down his third title tomorrow. If he does, it will be the eighth (!!) PGA Tour Championship won by a Cal Alum since Hahn started it all just five years ago (Hahn's third, plus 3 for Morikawa and 1 each for Kim and Homa). GO BEARS!
Next week preview: US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in NY. Second major in calendar year 2020, after being postponed in June. Morikawa, An and Homa will be playing.
Season Recap: Last year was the Tour's final event of the season, the Tour Championship held at Eastlake Golf Club in Atlanta. Only those in the top 30 FedEx Cup Standings qualified, and the payouts are massively inflated, as they represented bonus money for an entire season's worth of results. Going into the previous week's tournament (BMW Championship), Homa needed a miracle to qualify, An needed a big week, and Morikawa was a lock to qualify. Homa did not get his miracle, and while An played a good tournament, he fell just short. Collin played well at the BMW, and entered into the Tour Championship at 5th in the standings. Collin ended up playing very solid golf for four days, and ended up sixth place overall at the Tour Championship, which locked up a $1.9 MILLION season ending bonus. That brings him to $7mm for the year in PGA earnings, and over $9mm or so since he graduated in May 2019 (not including endorsements). Just an absolutely studly start to his career, and if he keeps this up, it probably won't be too long until Walter Chun starts hitting the man up to build the "Collin Morikawa Men's Golf Locker Room". Collin loves Cal and never misses an opportunity to plug the school.
Now, to this week's action, the Safeway Open in Napa. Given the US Open at Winged Foot next week, and the season-ending stretch that just ended at the Tour Championship, all the big names are sitting out, including the Big 3 for Cal. That leaves three Cal Bears in action: Brandon Hagy, Michael Kim, and oft-forgotten James Hahn. Hagy is probably the guy to keep an eye on this year, as he flirted with the Top 125 and Top 150 last year, and if he can improve his results just a little bit, he will have a good shot to retain his tour card for the following season. He made the cut this week, but after a disappointing third round, is highly unlikely to record a notable finish at Safeway. Michael Kim unfortunately continues to struggle, and true to recent form, missed the cut by a wide margin. Out of all of the golfers that have come out of the program, many thought Kim would have the highest ceiling (he is the only Jack Nicklaus award winner in school history), so here is to hoping he can somehow turn his professional career around.
The story of the week though is James Hahn, who has played lights out through three rounds and is tied for first going into tomorrow's final round. Hahn has only played a small handful of tournaments each of the last two years, and none of the larger tournaments, so his profile has been pretty low since becoming the first Cal Alum to win on the PGA Tour in 2015 and 2016. Candidly, at his age and current activity level, I had kind of written him off as an Alum who would make noise on the Tour. That has proven to be a big mistake. He has looked unshakeable over the last three days, and is a proven winner on the PGA Tour. He looked very loose and comfortable out there on the course today, so if I had to make a bet, I'd say he has as good or better odds as anyone else in the field to take the title home tomorrow. Hahn is not a likely PGA Tour star, having actually quit the Cal golf team as a junior and senior in order to focus on school, and having pursued a non-golf career after graduation before taking golf back up again. He was teammates with current Cal coach Walter Chun back in the early 2000s. But he was the one that got it started, and here is to hoping he can take down his third title tomorrow. If he does, it will be the eighth (!!) PGA Tour Championship won by a Cal Alum since Hahn started it all just five years ago (Hahn's third, plus 3 for Morikawa and 1 each for Kim and Homa). GO BEARS!
Next week preview: US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in NY. Second major in calendar year 2020, after being postponed in June. Morikawa, An and Homa will be playing.
