PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA (AP) – Wesley Bryan failed to score a single birdie on a day when he needed to go low.
Bryan shot 2-over 73 and a 72-hole total of 2-under 282 at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course, making his final of 21 starts on a medical extension after surgery on his left wrist last year. At the Valspar Championship, he is ranked T-62.
Bryan, naturally unhappy after the round, remarked, “I’m just not good enough right now.”
Bryan, 31, needs a sixth-place performance or higher this week to fulfill his medical extension and restore his exempt Tour status for the rest of the 2021-22 season. After scoring birdie on his final hole on Friday, Bryan made the cut on the number. Bryan would have needed to shoot one of the lowest rounds of the week to make up ground after starting the final round T-49. (To make the final group on Sunday, Matthew NeSmith shot 61 on Friday and Davis Riley shot 62 on Saturday.) Bryan, on the other hand, might have kept his conditional status in the Nos. 126-150 category if he had finished 51st or better. “No chance,” Bryan responded when asked if the windy conditions would help him improve his position on the leaderboard.
Bryan will begin his mental playback of what went wrong with his driving. Of the 72 players that made the cut this week, he was lowest in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (-3.829). “You could feel the pressure growing on every hole,” Bryan said of his final round pairing with Tour rookie Austin Smotherman. He needed every putt to go in the end.”
Bryan’s chances of continuing to play on the PGA Tour aren’t completely bleak. He still maintains previous champion status as the winner of the 2017 RBC Heritage.
Bryan should earn a few starts, including at next week’s opposite field tournament in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, before the FedEx Cup playoffs in August, despite being lower in the pecking order behind the 126-150 category.
Bryan remarked on Saturday that he’s healthy enough and ready to play as much as he can till the season’s finale. On Sunday, he reinforced that attitude on Twitter.
Been a long few years, spent most of it rehabbing shoulder and wrist. Thank you to everyone for the support this week….definitely felt the love out there. I tried my hardest….came up short. It stings, but I’m not done trying ✌🏽 https://t.co/g3tRcIrar1
— Wesley Bryan (@wesleybryangolf) March 20, 2022
