Lashley trying to put difficult past behind him

Alternate has 6-shot lead at PGA event

DETROIT — Nate Lashley has been thinking about the deaths of his parents and girlfriend as he tries to close out the Rocket Mortgage Classic for his first PGA Tour title.

“Yeah, it definitely crosses your mind,” Lashley said Saturday after shooting a bogeyfree 9-under 63 to open a sixstroke lead at 23 under. “It came through my mind at one point today. At some points it’s not easy, but it goes through your mind and it’s something that’s always going to be there for me.”

The 353rd-ranked player is in his second season on the PGA Tour, reaching the highest level of golf after a long road that included tragedy , selling real estate and playing in the PGA Tour’s minor leagues.

After watching Lashley play in a tournament for the University of Arizona in 2004, his parents and girlfriend died in a plane crash in Wyoming. Rod and Char Lashley and Leslie Hofmeister, all of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, were missing for three days before their bodies and the wreckage were found near the 13,780-foot Gannett Peak.

Lashley meditates, but acknowledges he can’t always control where his thoughts drift even when he’s playing golf.

“You can’t prepare for what your mind’s going to go through on the golf course,” he said.

Lashley made a living as a real estate agent after graduating from college and his playing career started, stopped and resumed again. He won the Waterloo Open, a professional tournament, in Iowa in 2011 and quit competing the next year.

“When I was flipping houses, I thought I was pretty much done with golf,” Lashley recalled. “I always felt like I had the talent and ability to play out here. It was just a matter of getting out here and getting comfortable.”

Lashley gave the game another shot, playing on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica circuit in 2015 and moved up to what is now called the Korn Ferry Tour two years later.

He made his PGA Tour debut last season in his mid-30s, but he had to end his year after 17 events because of a knee injury.

The 36-year-old Lashley slipped into the field at Detroit Golf Club as an alternate. He tied for eighth in February in the Puerto Rico Open — played opposite the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship — for his only top-10 finish on the tour. If he can shoot 63 for a third time, he’ll set the PGA Tour scoring record in relation to par that Ernie Els has held since 2003 at 31 under.

Lashley, the first- and secondround leader, started Saturday with a one-shot lead and pulled away with the low round of the day.

J.T. Poston (66) was second. Cameron Tringale (65) was another stroke back as one of many players taking advantage of scoring opportunities on one of the easiest courses on the tour.

LPGA: In Rogers, Ark., Sung Hyun Park birdied the final two holes for an 8-under 63 and a share of lead with Carlota Ciganda after the second round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

Park, the second-ranked South Korean star who won the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in early March for her sixth LPGA Tour title, is coming off a second-place finish last week in Minnesota in the major KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Ciganda shot a 66 to match Park at 13-under 129 at Pinnacle Country Club. The Spanish player chipped in from 60 yards for eagle on the par-4 first hole and closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th.

First-round leader Inbee Park was tied for third at 11 under, following her opening 62 with a 69. Top-ranked Hyo Joo Kim (64) also was 11 under with Danielle Kang (63), Linnea Strom(65), Brittany Altomare (65) and Daniela Darquea (65).

U.S. SENIOR OPEN: In South Bend, Ind., Steve Stricker opened a six-stroke lead in the U.S. Senior Open at Notre Dame, shooting a 4-under 66 and extending his bogey-free run to 48 holes.

Seeking his second senior major title after winning the Regions Tradition by six strokes in May in Alabama, the 52-yearold Stricker had a tournamentrecord 18-under 192 total on the rain-softened Warren Golf Course. He opened with a 62 to tie the tournament record and share the first-round lead with David Toms, then shot a 64 on Friday to take a two-stroke advantage.

Fellow Madison, Wisconsin, player Jerry Kelly was second after a 70. Toms was third at 11 under after a 70. Bob Estes had a 68 to get to 10 under.