Power Rankings: Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation
3 Min Read
HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA - APRIL 30: Erik Barnes of the United States waves to the crowd on the first hole during the third round of the Huntsville Championship at The Ledges on April 30, 2022 in Huntsville, Alabama. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Written by Mike Glasscott
The first of two events in two consecutive weeks in the state of Tennessee The Grove returns for year two as host for the Simmons Bank Open benefitting the Snedeker Foundation.
Although the event debuted in 2016 this is just the second edition at The Grove. Current PGATOUR player Austin Smotherman posted 16-under to win by three shots but will not defend this season.
Greg Norman's design ranked as the ninth most difficult course on TOUR during its debut in the 2020-21 season (72.239).
The field of 156 is chasing a prize pool of $735,000 with the winner enjoying $135,000.
| Yards (per official scorecard) | 7,368 |
| Par | 72 (36-36) |
| Green | Mini Verde Ultradwarf Bermuda |
| Stimpmeter | 12 feet |
| Rough | Bermuda at 2 inches |
| Bunkers/Water Penalty Areas | 53/12 (in play on 10 holes) |
| Defending champion | Austin Smotherman (not entered) |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record (course) | 272; Austin Smotherman, 2021 (-16) |
| Course record | 64; Brent Grant (Round 3, 2021) |
| RANK | PLAYER | COMMENT | ||
Others
Carl Yuan, Robby Shelton, Eric Cole, Ben Griffin, Nick Voke, Quade Cummins
It's never easy to get a complete handle on new tracks after just one edition. Mother Nature's involvement in the 2021 edition added another layer of intrigue as lightning, rain and cool temperatures featured throughout different parts of the weekend.
Champion Austin Smotherman painted a relatively simple picture: Just hit the most GIR after striping the second most fairways.
His recipe saw only two players make more than his 22 birdies. Only one player made less than his six bogeys. He also led the field in Par-4 scoring (-7) and was just one back of the leaders (-9) on the four Par-5 holes. He was the only player to post all four rounds in the 70s in a command performance.
Just eight players posted 10-under or better but none besides the winner went deeper than 13-under. With 35 acres of fairway there's room to swing driver. Water is in play on 10 holes and two inches of Bermuda rough will provide ammunition for committing to shots. It's back to Bermuda this week on the greens after navigating Bentgrass in Alabama.
Thunderstorms will greet the afternoon wave on Thursday and will disrupt play on Friday. A cool Saturday forecast will be welcome if Friday doesn't go according to script. A long, wet course with cool temperatures won't favor the shorter hitter but Sunday will push 80 degrees.
Last Week - Huntsville Championship
No. 10 - Harry Hall - T42
Entered the weekend T15 but signed for three doubles in the final two rounds.
No. 9 - Joey Garber - MC
Never found the 2021 magic.
No. 8 - Pontus Nyholm - T42
Top 15 in both Fairways and GIR but struggled with the flat stick.
No. 7 - Anders Albertson - T53
13 birdies were offset by 14 bogeys.
No. 6 - Seonghyeon Kim - T6
No. 5 - Augusto Nunez - MC
Round 1 scorecard featured four doubles, an eagle and five birdies. Exhausted typing that!
No. 4 - Erik Barnes - 3rd
No. 3 - Carl Yuan - MC
No. 2 - Justin Suh - T13
No. 1 - Ben An - MC
Others
Rob Oppenheim - MC, Michael Johnson - T35, Alex Weiss - T53, TJ Vogel - DNS
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out through Twitter or email me mikeglasscott@gmail.com.
