Bryan Notches Second Straight Top-Five Finish On PGA Tour

Feb. 26, 2017

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Former South Carolina men’s golfer Wesley Bryan notched his second straight top-five finish in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, as he tied for fourth at the 2017 Honda Classic. He shot even par (70) in the final round Sunday to finish 7-under for the tournament. Rickie Fowler won with a final score of 12-under.

“Just any time you have that experience in contention, whether it’s on the Web.com Tour or PGA TOUR, you just keep building on it,” Bryan said. “The more times you get in contention with a chance to win, the better off you are in the future. Luckily I was able to knock it out three times last year, and I found that under pressure, I can still hit the shots. Hopefully (I can) draw on that. Really what I learned is that everybody is really good out here, and there’s going to be somebody out there making a lot of birdies, and you’ve just got to keep your foot on the gas pedal.”

Last week, Bryan had a career-best tied for fourth finish at the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club. A 63 in third round propelled him near the top of the leaderboard, as he finished 11-under par for the tournament. No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, Dustin Johnson, a fellow Dutch Fork High School alum like Bryan, won the event at 17-under.

Bryan now has three top-10 finishes in 14 career starts on the PGA Tour. He came into the week ranked 96th in the world and 88th in the FedEx Cup standings. His top-five finish Sunday will give the rookie an added boost in his quest to qualify for the WGC-Dell Match Play and the Masters. The top 64 golfers in the world rankings on March 13 qualify for the Match Play, and beyond that the top 50 in the world after the Match Play earn a spot at the Masters.

In 15 starts on the Web.com Tour in 2016, Bryan won three times in his first season and was voted 2016 Web.com Tour Player of the Year. As the combined money winner from both the Web.com Tour Regular Season and Finals, he earned fully exempt status on the PGA TOUR in 2016-17 and secured a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship in May.

Bryan played four seasons for the Gamecocks from 2008-12. The Chapin, S.C., native, was All-SEC twice and earned PING All-Southeast Region honors twice. He tallied two wins in his career and ranks 10th all-time in program history with a 73.23 career scoring average. His 72.12 scoring average in 2009-10 is the ninth best single-season scoring average all-time at South Carolina. His 12 career top-10 finishes are tied for ninth all-time.