The Barracuda Championship qualifier at Hidden Valley Country Club ended in a two-person playoff that saw 37-year-old Mark Baldwin qualify for the final spot defeating Justin Warren.
Warren missed a 4-foot birdie putt on 18 for a 64 that would have given him the final qualifying spot outright, the only putt he missed inside 10 feet all day. He also uncharacteristically miss a short putt on the first playoff hole that gave the final entry in the Barracuda Championship to Baldwin.
“As brutal as it was to finish the way it did, it’s golf,” Warren told PGATOUR.COM.
After the round, he noted on Twitter that his routine “flew straight out of the window” over the 18-inch putt he missed on the first playoff hole.
“It sucks, and it makes me want to punch a wall, but that doesn’t help anyone. I just have to recognize that I made an error that cost me dearly, and it’s a tough one to swallow, but I just have to keep on keeping on,” Warren concluded.
Akshay Bhatia took the third qualifying spot after posting a bogey-free 64 (-8). It will mark the 19-year-old phenom’s 17th PGA TOUR start.
Justin Suh and John Greco tied for medalist after firing 63 (-8), respectively. Suh posted a bogey-free round while Greco made eight birdies and one eagle.
Suh’s bogey-free round marks his second successful Monday qualifier in his last four attempts. A 5 hole birdie stretch between 11 and 15 played a crucial role in his round.
“My caddy and I just did our best to dial in the number we wanted. We had to deal with elevation and some inconsistency in the firmness of the greens, so we just did our best to figure out our best landing spot,” Suh told PGATOUR.COM.
Suh has been working on club face control through the impact zone of his swing during his fantastic stretch of golf over the last four qualifiers.
“That is definitely still a big factor in my game, but over the course of the last several weeks, it has been more about practicing our numbers (distances) and visualizing shots.”
Justin Suh (63)
Age: 24
College: USC
Turned pro: 2019
PGA TOUR starts: 22
Cuts made: 8
PGA TOUR earnings: $440,283
Notes: Will be Suh’s 11th start of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR season. Last start came at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where he missed the cut. He has three Top-15s this season: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (T14), Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (T8), and Zurich Classic of New Orleans (T11). Earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors as a junior, besting Jamie Lovemark's school record scoring average in a season. Represented the U.S. as an amateur at the 2018 Palmer Cup. Went 3-1-0 in his four matches at Evian GC in Évian-les-Bains, France. He is No.477 in the Official World Golf Rankings.