In “Hot & Cold,” we’ll be focusing each week on what specific areas of the game players excelled and disappointed in throughout the previous tournament. On Sunday, Kevin Na grabbed his third win on the PGA Tour, and here’s a look at where some of the most notable players gained and lost strokes over the four days of action at Colonial CC.
Hot
Kevin Na held off the chasing pack on Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and it was his work with the irons all week that paved the way for his third win on the PGA Tour. Na led the field for strokes gained: approaching the green in Texas, gaining 8.3 strokes over the field in this department. Check out the clubs Kevin Na used to win the Charles Schwab Challenge in our WITB piece here.
Nick Watney has been in the wilderness for quite some time, but last week at Colonial CC gave the biggest indication in recent times that the 38-year-old isn’t done just yet. Watney not only led the field last week for strokes gained: tee to green, but he did so by some margin. Watney gained 12.4 strokes tee to green in Texas, three more than Na who was second best in this area. That number represents Watney’s career-best performance tee to green; unfortunately, a miserable week on the greens where he lost four strokes prevented the American from getting into the thick of things on Sunday.
Jordan Spieth was at it again on the greens at Colonial CC, leading the field strokes gained putting for the second successive week. The 25-year-old gained 7.5 strokes over the field with the flat-stick, and he unsurprisingly heads to the Memorial this week as the best putter in the field over the last 24 rounds.
Cold
Francesco Molinari endured a frustrating week at Colonial CC finishing T53, and it was with his irons that the Italian struggled the most. Molinari lost 4.2 strokes for his approach play, which is surprising considering that he had come into the event with positive numbers in this area in four of his last five tournaments.
Bryson DeChambeau suffered an early exit at the Charles Schwab Challenge, with his play off the tee proving very costly. DeChambeau lost 4.2 strokes off the tee at Colonial CC, which is comfortably his worst performance of his career thus far in this department. The 25-year-old had entered the event having gained strokes off the tee in 14 of his last 15 events.
Rickie Fowler missed the cut for the first time this year, with his trusty putter letting him down at Colonial CC. For the first time since January, Fowler lost strokes on the greens, dropping 2.5 strokes to the field with the flat-stick in Texas. Those poor two days with the putter meant it was the first early exit at a tournament on the PGA Tour for the 30-year-old since the Players in 2018.