PGA TOUR: Cameron Champ leads Fall Swing’s most dominant players
By Bill Felber
Kevin Tway won the PGA TOUR’s fall-opening event, the Safeway Open, in a three-way playoff with Ryan Moore and Brandt Snedeker. As a stand-alone event, his aggregate 274 translated to 1.96 standard deviations better than the 282.26 field average, giving him an immediate leg up on the field.
But the hallmark of Tway’s fall swing performance, and the thing giving his fans real hope, has been his consistency. He followed that victory with top 30 placings in the CIMB Classic, the CJ Cup and the Shriners Open, beating the field average every time.
That’s the kind of paycheck-producing steadiness Tway has been seeking since arriving on Tour for the 2014 season. A 30-year-old product of the golf program at Oklahoma State and the son of former Tour player Bob Tway, his Safeway win was a first for him in 91 Tour starts.
As a result, he has won $1.28 million, already nearly matching the $1.38 million he took home all of last season and pushing his career best of $1.47 million in 2017. He stands third in FedEx Cup points for the season.
Tway’s challenge will be to demonstrate that his fall showing represents a breakthrough and not an anomaly. Last year he made nine starts in tournaments leading up to the Masters, but missed the cut in three and managed nothing better than a tie for 28th in the others.