Dean & Deluca Invitational 2017: 5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 & 2
By Luke Norris
4. Wesley Bryan, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson
Round 1: 10th tee, 8:06 a.m.
Round 2: 1st tee, 1:06 p.m.
Now that we’ve had a little fun, let’s get down to business. Two-time Dean & DeLuca winner Phil Mickelson leads this trio off the 10th tee on Thursday morning and there’s no doubt Lefty is looking for some momentum as we inch closer to the U.S. Open. Mickelson hasn’t won an event in nearly four years, his last victory coming at The Open Championship in 2013, but he does know his way around Colonial, winning here in 2000 and 2008. The problem, however, is that he’s played here only once since that win. He’s skipped the event the last six seasons and missed the cut the last time he teed it up at Colonial in 2010. So we’ll just have to wait and see how that plays out.
Joining Mickelson is his Ryder Cup teammate Matt Kuchar, who played well at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week, finishing in a tie for ninth, his third top-10 of 2017. He also tied for ninth in Phoenix and tied for fourth at The Masters. He’s had some success at Colonial, finishing in solo second back in 2013 and after missing the cut in 2014 and skipping the event in 2015, he returned to the Dean & Deluca last year and finished tied for 6th.
Wesley Bryan, the third member of this group, has had a very up-and-down season. After missing four consecutive cuts early in the year, he finished in the top seven in three consecutive tournaments and just a few weeks later won the RBC Heritage. He missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship and THE PLAYERS but will be looking to come back strong this week. This is the 27-year-old’s debut at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.