Sunday Showdown with Splits: Fortinet Championship
As the first PGA Tour event of the 2022 season heads into the final round, we have a wide-open Sunday on tap as 18 players sit within four shots of the lead. 2nd round leader, Maverick McNealy birdied his final three holes to forge a tie at 14-under par with journeyman Jim Knous. Five players sit two shots back including the streaky Max Homa and rising star Mito Pereira. Among those hanging around at four shots back are the talented Will Zalatoris, Webb Simpson, Si Woo Kim, Harold Varner, Patton Kizzire, and 51-year old Phil Mickelson. With winds forecasted to die down to under 10 mph, scoring should be more consistent as we look forward to another potential tremendous finish. If you are new to this article, here is the link from a couple of weeks ago where I explain the data, including the SG RTG (Strokes Gained Rating), and how its objective is to show how players are performing at the moment related mainly to their ball-striking and putting metrics at the current event. That being said, we should not always be a slave to the data, especially on a Sunday where we have so many inexperienced players participating. I will definitely be siding with those who have “Sunday pressure” experience combined with a high-scoring ceiling.