US PGA TOUR REPORT
Rocket man Stricker zooms into second
place at John Deere Classic
Look out! Here comes Steve Stricker! He rocketed into second place at the US PGA Tour's John Deere Classic at Silvis, Illinois with a 10-under-par round of 61, equalling the course record and matching the lowest score of his career. He had only 22 putts in his memorable round.
But Steve is still three shots behind leader Darron Stiles with Sunday's decisive 18 holes to come.
Joint first-round leader with Lee Janzen, Stiles had a 65 to stay on top of the heap at 13-under-par 129.
But it was Stricker who hogged the limelight on a sunny day at TPC Deere Run. The Wisconsin native and Illinois alum had plenty of support from the crowd as he assaulted a course that was battered the previous day by the second big rain storm of the week, causing the second round to be pushed back.
By the time he was through, he was at 10-under for the tournament after matching a record set by 2002 champion J.P. Hayes. That put him in contention for his sixth US PGA Tour victory and second this year heading into the final two rounds on Sunday.
“I have to admit I didn’t see it coming,” Stricker said. “I warmed up very poorly on the range this morning. I spent some time out here yesterday later in the day and putted a lot and found a little catch there in my putting.
"I made a lot of great putts today. I wasn’t very aggressive at times, but I hit the ball well and gave myself some opportunities.”
Tim Petrovic (67) and Jerry Kelly (64) are on Stricker's tail at 9-under, and two-time U.S. Open champion Janzen (70) is in a pack at 8-under.
With 36 holes scheduled for catch-up Sunday, the players are staring at a long day and a short break between rounds — if they get one at all — because they won’t be re-grouped.
“You may not be playing with the leader at all,” Stricker said. “The leader could be behind us, in front of us. You don’t know where they can come from.”
Stricker seemed to come out of nowhere after an even first round. He teed off on No. 10 in the morning and set the tone with birdies on four of his first six holes. The assault continued on No. 17, when he holed out with a wedge from 93yds for an eagle on the par-5 to go 6-under, and he made the turn at 7-under after draining a 17ft birdie putt on 18.
Two more on the first and second holes dropped him to 9-under, and that’s when thoughts of the Tour-record 59 started creeping into Stricker’s head. The momentum momentarily came to a stop when he bogeyed the par-3 No. 4, but that vision came back on the par-4 sixth when his 130yd approach settled 8 feet from the cup to set up a birdie to go 10 under with three holes remaining.
“It entered my mind, but yet, I tried to play smart, too, and not get crazy and do anything out of my norm,” Stricker said.
So he settled for a course record, instead of a Tour record. He delivered one of his best performances, instead of a historic performance. Overall, quite a day.He needed just nine putts on his first nine holes and 22 in all, matching a career-best.The 61 tied the career low he set in January in the third round at the Bob Hope Classic. He followed that with a 62 but wound up in a tie for third after a collapse on the fifth day.
“I feel comfortable going low and I don’t get spooked,” said Stricker, who won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May.
As low as he went on Saturday, he still has some more work ahead of him to finish the job. Standing in Stricker’s way is Stiles, a 36-year-old who has never finished higher than ninth on the tour and had made just one of 11 cuts this year. Now, he has the lead heading into Sunday.
“I’ve done it before,” said Stiles, a four-time winner on the Nationwide Tour. “Maybe not on the big tour, but I’ve done it."
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
129 Darron Stiles 64 65
132 Steve Stricker 71 61
133 Jerry Kelly 69 64, Tim Petrovic 66 67
134 Scott McCarron 68 66, Kirk Triplett 67 67, Lee Janzen 64 70, Greg Owen (Eng) 67 67, Jason Day (Aus) 66 68, J J Henry 65 69, Ryan Palmer 70 64, Brandt Snedeker 67 67, Scott Verplank 70 64
135 Chris Stroud 67 68, Chad Campbell 68 67, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 67 68, Dean Wilson 65 70, Jimmy Walker 71 64, Matt Bettencourt 65 70, Frank Lickliter II 69 66
136 Kenny Perry 68 68, Spencer Levin 67 69, Charley Hoffman 71 65, Ken Duke 71 65, Todd Hamilton 68 68, Heath Slocum 69 67, Tommy Gainey 69 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 69, Matthew Jones (Aus) 68 68
137 Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 67 70, Webb Simpson 68 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 70, Jason Bohn 67 70, Brian Davis (Eng) 67 70, Pat Perez 69 68, Kyle Stanley 71 66, Zach Johnson 69 68, Jason Dufner 71 66, Mark Brooks 69 68, Garrett Willis 69 68, Kevin Streelman 70 67, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 69, Mark Calcavecchia 68 69, Cameron Beckman 71 66, Johnson Wagner 70 67, D.J. Trahan 71 66
138 Chris Riley 71 67, Bart Bryant 69 69, Robert Garrigus 68 70, Charles Howell III 69 69, Brett Quigley 69 69, Roland Thatcher 70 68, Marc Leishman (Aus) 68 70, David Mathis 69 69, Bryce Molder 69 69, Casey Wittenberg 72 66, Davis Love III 70 68, Ted Purdy 68 70, Matthew Borchert 66 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 69, Jack Newman 71 67, George McNeill 67 71, Jay Williamson 70 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 68, Ryan Moore 71 67
139 Charles Warren 72 67, Michael Bradley 72 67, Andrew Ruthkoski 68 71, Eric Axley 73 66, Lucas Glover 69 70, John Senden (Aus) 70 69, Matt Kuchar 71 68, Harrison Frazar 71 68, Scott Piercy 72 67, Steve Marino 71 68, Derek Fathauer 72 67, Bob Estes 70 69, Rich Beem 70 69, Bo Van Pelt 69 70, Dicky Pride 66 73
MISSED THE CUT
140 Kris Blanks 70 70, Vaughn Taylor 71 69, Bill Lunde 72 68, Jeff Quinney 68 72, Joe Ogilvie 71 69, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 72 68, David Berganio jun 68 72, Tom Lehman 72 68, Kevin Sutherland 69 71, Bob Tway 68 72, Danny Lee (Nzl) 70 70, Ricky Barnes 69 71, Marc Turnesa 70 70
141 Mark Hensby (Aus) 72 69, David Duval 75 66, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 72 69, Mike Van sickle 70 71, Cliff Kresge 67 74, Brian Bateman 72 69, Jeff Klauk 68 73, Brian Vranesh 70 71, Scott Sterling 73 68, Leif Olson 74 67, Briny Baird 68 73, Jason Gore 75 66
142 Brad Adamonis 71 71, Patrick Sheehan 68 74, Tag Ridings 73 69, David Toms 71 71, Gary Woodland 72 70, Charlie Wi (Kor) 73 69, Jeff Maggert 72 70, Bill Haas 75 67, Guy Boros 71 71, Glen Day 72 70, Bob Heintz 71 71, Troy Matteson 74 68, Matt Weibring 73 69
143 Scott Gutschewski 73 70, J.L. Lewis 67 76, Chez Reavie 74 69
144 Brendon De Jonge 76 68, Peter Tomasulo 70 74, Zack Sucher 73 71, Wil Collins 72 72, Woody Austin 73 71, James Driscoll 75 69, Philip Francis 73 71, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 74, Kevin Stadler 72 72, Troy Kelly 75 69
145 Jonathan Kaye 76 69, Colt Knost 71 74, J.P. Hayes 74 71, Brady Schnell 70 75, Mark Wilson 75 70, Joel Kribel 74 71, Steve Allan (Aus) 70 75, Rick Price 77 68
146 D A Points 71 75, Brandt Jobe 73 73
147 Joe Durant 76 71, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73 74
148 Brad Faxon 77 71, Shaun Micheel 75 73, Notah Begay III 73 75
149 Robert Gamez 74 75, Brendon Todd 77 72, Nicholas Thompson 74 75, Tyler Aldridge 73 76
150 Kent Jones 76 74
153 Aaron Krueger 75 78
place at John Deere Classic
Look out! Here comes Steve Stricker! He rocketed into second place at the US PGA Tour's John Deere Classic at Silvis, Illinois with a 10-under-par round of 61, equalling the course record and matching the lowest score of his career. He had only 22 putts in his memorable round.
But Steve is still three shots behind leader Darron Stiles with Sunday's decisive 18 holes to come.
Joint first-round leader with Lee Janzen, Stiles had a 65 to stay on top of the heap at 13-under-par 129.
But it was Stricker who hogged the limelight on a sunny day at TPC Deere Run. The Wisconsin native and Illinois alum had plenty of support from the crowd as he assaulted a course that was battered the previous day by the second big rain storm of the week, causing the second round to be pushed back.
By the time he was through, he was at 10-under for the tournament after matching a record set by 2002 champion J.P. Hayes. That put him in contention for his sixth US PGA Tour victory and second this year heading into the final two rounds on Sunday.
“I have to admit I didn’t see it coming,” Stricker said. “I warmed up very poorly on the range this morning. I spent some time out here yesterday later in the day and putted a lot and found a little catch there in my putting.
"I made a lot of great putts today. I wasn’t very aggressive at times, but I hit the ball well and gave myself some opportunities.”
Tim Petrovic (67) and Jerry Kelly (64) are on Stricker's tail at 9-under, and two-time U.S. Open champion Janzen (70) is in a pack at 8-under.
With 36 holes scheduled for catch-up Sunday, the players are staring at a long day and a short break between rounds — if they get one at all — because they won’t be re-grouped.
“You may not be playing with the leader at all,” Stricker said. “The leader could be behind us, in front of us. You don’t know where they can come from.”
Stricker seemed to come out of nowhere after an even first round. He teed off on No. 10 in the morning and set the tone with birdies on four of his first six holes. The assault continued on No. 17, when he holed out with a wedge from 93yds for an eagle on the par-5 to go 6-under, and he made the turn at 7-under after draining a 17ft birdie putt on 18.
Two more on the first and second holes dropped him to 9-under, and that’s when thoughts of the Tour-record 59 started creeping into Stricker’s head. The momentum momentarily came to a stop when he bogeyed the par-3 No. 4, but that vision came back on the par-4 sixth when his 130yd approach settled 8 feet from the cup to set up a birdie to go 10 under with three holes remaining.
“It entered my mind, but yet, I tried to play smart, too, and not get crazy and do anything out of my norm,” Stricker said.
So he settled for a course record, instead of a Tour record. He delivered one of his best performances, instead of a historic performance. Overall, quite a day.He needed just nine putts on his first nine holes and 22 in all, matching a career-best.The 61 tied the career low he set in January in the third round at the Bob Hope Classic. He followed that with a 62 but wound up in a tie for third after a collapse on the fifth day.
“I feel comfortable going low and I don’t get spooked,” said Stricker, who won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May.
As low as he went on Saturday, he still has some more work ahead of him to finish the job. Standing in Stricker’s way is Stiles, a 36-year-old who has never finished higher than ninth on the tour and had made just one of 11 cuts this year. Now, he has the lead heading into Sunday.
“I’ve done it before,” said Stiles, a four-time winner on the Nationwide Tour. “Maybe not on the big tour, but I’ve done it."
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
129 Darron Stiles 64 65
132 Steve Stricker 71 61
133 Jerry Kelly 69 64, Tim Petrovic 66 67
134 Scott McCarron 68 66, Kirk Triplett 67 67, Lee Janzen 64 70, Greg Owen (Eng) 67 67, Jason Day (Aus) 66 68, J J Henry 65 69, Ryan Palmer 70 64, Brandt Snedeker 67 67, Scott Verplank 70 64
135 Chris Stroud 67 68, Chad Campbell 68 67, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 67 68, Dean Wilson 65 70, Jimmy Walker 71 64, Matt Bettencourt 65 70, Frank Lickliter II 69 66
136 Kenny Perry 68 68, Spencer Levin 67 69, Charley Hoffman 71 65, Ken Duke 71 65, Todd Hamilton 68 68, Heath Slocum 69 67, Tommy Gainey 69 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 69, Matthew Jones (Aus) 68 68
137 Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 67 70, Webb Simpson 68 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 70, Jason Bohn 67 70, Brian Davis (Eng) 67 70, Pat Perez 69 68, Kyle Stanley 71 66, Zach Johnson 69 68, Jason Dufner 71 66, Mark Brooks 69 68, Garrett Willis 69 68, Kevin Streelman 70 67, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 69, Mark Calcavecchia 68 69, Cameron Beckman 71 66, Johnson Wagner 70 67, D.J. Trahan 71 66
138 Chris Riley 71 67, Bart Bryant 69 69, Robert Garrigus 68 70, Charles Howell III 69 69, Brett Quigley 69 69, Roland Thatcher 70 68, Marc Leishman (Aus) 68 70, David Mathis 69 69, Bryce Molder 69 69, Casey Wittenberg 72 66, Davis Love III 70 68, Ted Purdy 68 70, Matthew Borchert 66 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 69, Jack Newman 71 67, George McNeill 67 71, Jay Williamson 70 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 68, Ryan Moore 71 67
139 Charles Warren 72 67, Michael Bradley 72 67, Andrew Ruthkoski 68 71, Eric Axley 73 66, Lucas Glover 69 70, John Senden (Aus) 70 69, Matt Kuchar 71 68, Harrison Frazar 71 68, Scott Piercy 72 67, Steve Marino 71 68, Derek Fathauer 72 67, Bob Estes 70 69, Rich Beem 70 69, Bo Van Pelt 69 70, Dicky Pride 66 73
MISSED THE CUT
140 Kris Blanks 70 70, Vaughn Taylor 71 69, Bill Lunde 72 68, Jeff Quinney 68 72, Joe Ogilvie 71 69, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 72 68, David Berganio jun 68 72, Tom Lehman 72 68, Kevin Sutherland 69 71, Bob Tway 68 72, Danny Lee (Nzl) 70 70, Ricky Barnes 69 71, Marc Turnesa 70 70
141 Mark Hensby (Aus) 72 69, David Duval 75 66, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 72 69, Mike Van sickle 70 71, Cliff Kresge 67 74, Brian Bateman 72 69, Jeff Klauk 68 73, Brian Vranesh 70 71, Scott Sterling 73 68, Leif Olson 74 67, Briny Baird 68 73, Jason Gore 75 66
142 Brad Adamonis 71 71, Patrick Sheehan 68 74, Tag Ridings 73 69, David Toms 71 71, Gary Woodland 72 70, Charlie Wi (Kor) 73 69, Jeff Maggert 72 70, Bill Haas 75 67, Guy Boros 71 71, Glen Day 72 70, Bob Heintz 71 71, Troy Matteson 74 68, Matt Weibring 73 69
143 Scott Gutschewski 73 70, J.L. Lewis 67 76, Chez Reavie 74 69
144 Brendon De Jonge 76 68, Peter Tomasulo 70 74, Zack Sucher 73 71, Wil Collins 72 72, Woody Austin 73 71, James Driscoll 75 69, Philip Francis 73 71, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 74, Kevin Stadler 72 72, Troy Kelly 75 69
145 Jonathan Kaye 76 69, Colt Knost 71 74, J.P. Hayes 74 71, Brady Schnell 70 75, Mark Wilson 75 70, Joel Kribel 74 71, Steve Allan (Aus) 70 75, Rick Price 77 68
146 D A Points 71 75, Brandt Jobe 73 73
147 Joe Durant 76 71, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73 74
148 Brad Faxon 77 71, Shaun Micheel 75 73, Notah Begay III 73 75
149 Robert Gamez 74 75, Brendon Todd 77 72, Nicholas Thompson 74 75, Tyler Aldridge 73 76
150 Kent Jones 76 74
153 Aaron Krueger 75 78
Labels: US PGA TOUR, US PRO TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Sunday, July 12, 2009
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