Quicken Loans National 2017: 5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 & 2
By Luke Norris
5. Kevin Chappell, Wesley Bryan, Justin Thomas
Round 1: 1st tee, 1:21 p.m.
Round 2: 10th tee, 8:21 a.m.
Featuring three of the top 50 players in the world, the trio of Kevin Chappell, Wesley Bryan and Justin Thomas should be fun to watch at the Quicken Loans National.
World No. 12 Justin Thomas, the highest-ranked player of the threesome, didn’t quite have the follow-up he was expecting following his incredible performance at the U.S. Open, missing the cut at the Travelers Championship by five shots after rounds of 73 and 72. It’s not that he played poorly but everyone else was just playing that much better. However, the three-time winner on the PGA TOUR should not be overlooked this week. He tied for 12th here at Congressional a year ago.
Kevin Chappell, who dropped one spot in the world rankings to No. 26 after skipping the Travelers Championship, is making his first appearance since the U.S. Open, where he had a very respectable performance, finishing tied for 23rd at 3-under. He tied for 4th in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, tied for 7th at this year’s Masters and also has a win at the Valero Texas Open under his belt. He’s quietly jumped more than 100 spots in the world rankings in the last 15 months and is becoming a real force on the PGA TOUR. He tied for 44th at the Quicken Loans National last year.
Rounding out the group is world No. 42 Wesley Bryan, who hasn’t been playing his best golf as of late. After winning the RBC Heritage back in April, the 27-year-old missed the cut at the Wells Fargo and THE PLAYERS, tied for 48th at the Dean & Deluca Invitational, missed the cut at Erin Hills and finished 74th last week at the Travelers, not exactly the stretch one would like after a victory. He did tie for 29th here a season ago but with the new golf course coming into play, it’s hard to say which Wesley Bryan we’ll get this week.