Steve Stricker was the leader at the Principal Charity Classic after the first round on Friday. He remained in the lead after the second, but the leaderboard had a few changes after Saturday.
Stricker couldn’t repeat his first-day success. He was at the top of PGA Tour Champions for the Charles Schwab Cup. He birdied on 2, 3, 5, and 13, but then shot par for the rest of his round.
Stricker admitted that he had let some people get away from him at times. Stricker said, “I didn’t get around the fairway very well today.” I struggled, but I am tied for the lead and have an opportunity tomorrow. “So hopefully I can become a bit sharper.”
Sticker, with his 4-under round on Sunday, had a total score of 68 for the day. This put him in third place. He will be teeing off with Stephen Ames, Tim Herron and others on Sunday.
Stricker commented, “Great guys. I’ve played with these guys a lot over the years.” It doesn’t really matter who I play against. “You’ve got to play your own game.”
Ames’s blistering performance on his front nine kept Ames atop of the leaderboard even though he struggled to keep up on the back nine. He had an eagle at the fifth hole, and three birdies in a row on 7, 8 and 9. He scored the same as Stricker, Herron and Stricker on the back nine.
Herron finished in the top 3 out of the five golfers who shot 7 under par on Saturday. He finished the front nine with two birdies, an eagle and the back nine with three birdies.
Herron was asked what winning the Principal Charity Classic would mean. “I have Steve Stricker. I mean, he’s probably in the top 10 of the world,” Herron replied. “I just hope to be in it and worry about the outcome when it occurs.”
What happened to the notable PGA winners after Saturday?
Anyone can win at golf. Just because the champion of last year is on the field does not mean that they will be able to pull off consecutive victories.
Jerry Kelly, the defending champion, had a strong first round Friday. He tied for second place with a score of 6 under, but fell in the rankings on Saturday. After only scoring 135, he is now fifth.
Kevin Sutherland who won the Principal Charity Classic 2019 finished the second round of the tournament with a score of 7-under 137. He finished 16th after shooting a Saturday score of 67, which was three shots better than the Friday total.
Tom Lehman began the weekend in the middle of pack with a score of 2-under on Friday. The 2018 winner, however, struggled to shoot a 73 on Saturday. He shot 1-over par. He fell 29 places to 54th place in the rankings.
Alyssa is the Des Moines Register’s college sports recruiting reporter. Alyssa can be reached at [email protected], or via Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
