Duffy Waldorf hoping comfort at Sherwood leads to spot in finale

Duffy Waldorf knows he’s on the bubble for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season finale in the race for the Schwab Cup.

He stands in 35th place, with the top 36 advancing to Phoenix Country Club for the last event. Waldorf has reached the PGA TOUR Champions finale each year since it became a three-event playoff in 2016, and he’d love nothing more than for the streak to continue.

“I know I’m one of the bubble guys,” Waldorf said Tuesday. “My year has been kinda almost. Pretty consistent as shown by top 25s, but not enough top 10s. Tend to have one bad round in there.”

Waldorf, 57, hit the ball square on the clubface with that statement. He has posted 13 top 25s in 23 events, but he has only three top 10s, the fewest of his PGA TOUR Champions career. The last, a T9, came at the DICK’S Sporting Goods Open in August.

He hasn’t been trending well since, with a best finish of T20 over the past seven events.

But the Invesco QQQ Championship at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, is close to home for Waldorf, who turned pro in 1985. He was born just 45 miles up the road in Los Angeles, and he said he has played at Sherwood ever since it opened in 1989.

“This is a course where if you play well you can make birdies, but if you get in trouble you can make bogey or higher,” Waldorf said. “At least half the holes are like that. It’s a good challenge in regards to course management.

“I’m definitely familiar with the course. I’ve played here quite a bit. It’s still a beautiful place, and I have a comfort level here that I don’t have at a lot of other courses. Hopefully I can use that. If I execute my shots I have an excellent chance to have a high finish.”

The Invesco QQQ might be just what the doctor ordered for Waldorf. He posted a T10 there last year to secure his spot in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and he had a T29 in 2017, which also would be good enough this week to propel him to Phoenix.

Waldorf ranks 39th in total driving in 2019, combining 28th in distance and 44th in accuracy. He said he feels like his driving has been good enough this season. He also has putted reasonably well, sitting at T24 in putting average.

The part of his game that he says hasn’t been up to par is his irons. Waldorf ranks just 50th in greens in regulation, and he says Sherwood CC puts a premium on approach shots. So he knows what he feels is his weakness at the moment will be tested the most this weekend.

“Honestly, like most Nicklaus courses, the fairways aren’t ridiculously tight,” Waldorf said. “If you hit it off line and you can get in some pretty bad places. But the approaches are much more precise. You have to hit the right part of the green, and that can be hard. But if you don’t you’re in a deep bunker or have a tough chip or a long putt. He channels a lot of Augusta National in his courses. If you hit it in the right place on the green you have a good chance at birdie. Otherwise, it’s going to be hard to make par.

“So I have to approach well. I’ve been missing too many greens. This course will really test your short game. If you’re in the fairway from 150 yards, how much are you gonna challenge that hole? It’s 54 holes like that, and that’s course management. Sometimes 20 feet is good, sometimes just hitting the green is good.”

Waldorf said he feels good for his age and hopes he can continue to play well on PGA TOUR Champions beyond 2019.

“You kinda look forward to 50 as your PGA TOUR career winds down, and you whack away at it and all of a sudden you’re 57,” Waldorf said. “There’s always a question of age (on the PGA TOUR Champions), and how well you can do depends on how you feel. If you feel good … there’s scar tissue of the body and of the mind. The hard part of being an old golfer is you have a lot of memories and they’re not all good.”