Chatfield Uses Back 9 Rally to Make First PGA Tour Cut
Former Rhode Island Amateur champ Davis Chatfield rolled in four birdies on the back nine to make his first PGA Tour cut on Saturday at the American Express in California.
Chatfield fired a three-under 69 at La Quinta Country Club and sits at 12-under for the tournament and in a tie for 50th.
The cut is projected to be 11-under par with players still on the course.
All players will take on the Pete Dye Stadium Course on Sunday.
Chatfield carded a two-under 70 there earlier this week.
He begins his fourth round at 12:18 p.m. eastern time alongside Daniel Berger.
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Making the Cut
Chatfield entered the third round at nine-under par for the tournament and well within striking distance of his first PGA Tour cut.
The former Notre Dame star teed off on the 10th hole at La Quinta CC, and things got tricky early.
Chatfield had to take a penalty stroke after his tee shot went out of bounds, then had to re-tee.
He ended up making a double-bogey on the hole to drop down the leaderboard.
Following pars on 11 and 12, Chatfield got one shot back with a birdie on the par-5 13th hole.
He added another birdie on the par-4 16th hole to get it back to even, before another penalty stroke on 18 led him to make a bogey.
Chatfield turned at one-over for the day and just outside the cut line.
Then the rally began.
On the first hole, Chatfield rolled in about a four-footer for birdie to get back to even par.
Moving to the par-3 third hole, Chatfield rolled in a long birdie putt to get under par for the day.
The fourth hole proved to be a crucial par as Chatfield put his tee shot in the bunker, then his second shot in the green side bunker.
The par was especially crucial as next up came back-to-back par-5s, which Chatfield birdied both of them.
On the par-5 fifth hole, Chatfield stuck it close to the flag and had a little more than a tap in for birdie.
Onto the par-5 sixth hole, Chatfield left his third shot just below the flag and rolled in a birdie from a few feet away.
Those birdies put him a 12-under for the tournament and inside the cut line.
To close the round, Chatfield made a two-putt par on the par-3 seventh hole, a clutch one-putt par on the eighth hole and a two-putt par on nine to post 69.
Round 3 By the Numbers
In the round, Chatfield hit just 50% of fairways with an average driving distance of 285 yards.
Against the rest of the field, Chatfield ranked 122nd and 138th in those respective categories.
He hit 72% of greens in regulation and was 60% scrambling.