Consistency leads to target on O’Riley
Zack O’Riley has been consistent through two rounds of the Fourth of July Classic.
The Jonesboro native matched Thursday’s firstround 2-under-par 62 with another one Saturday in the second round to lead the tournament at War Memorial Golf Course in Little Rock by two strokes over Rodrigo Rivas and Ryan Spurlock. O’Riley had 1-under 31s on both sides of the course Saturday, which included a slam-dunk eagle putt at No. 12, the course’s only par-5 hole.
O’Riley drove his tee shot left on 12, leaving him with a lone tree partially blocking his path to the green. He rolled a 7-iron about 160 yards onto the front of the green. With the flag cut in the back left, he put so much steam on his eagle attempt that it banged off the back of the cup and fell to the bottom.
“It was a very boring round, but the eagle helped make the difference,” said O’Riley, whose best finish in seven years playing in the tournament is sixth. “It probably would have gone by about 6 or 7 feet by if it hadn’t hit the hole. I tried to get some momentum after that, but I couldn’t find any.”
The eagle left him at 5 under at the time, four shots ahead of Spurlock and five ahead of Beau Glover, his playing partners.
Glover, who has four second-place finishes in the tournament, was a stroke behind O’Riley coming into the second round, but he suffered a 1-over 65 that included several nice irons shots, including one he nearly holed out at the par-3 9th. But similar to his birdie attempt there that found a seam and drifted off line, Glover’s putter failed too many times Saturday.
“I really didn’t hit that many bad shots,” Glover said. “I hit two perfect shots on 18 [and made bogey]. I’ve got to get something to fall [Sunday] to have a chance.”
Spurlock, the tournament’s 2017 runner-up, got off to a rough start in his second round, bogeying three of his first five holes before rallying with three consecutive birdies to make the turn at even-par 32. Another birdie at No. 12 put him 1 under, where he finished over the final six holes.
Spurlock’s 63 put him at 2-under 126 along with Rivas, who shot an even-par 64 in the opening round and a 2-under 64 Saturday that included a bogey after an errant tee shot on No. 7 went out of bounds. A 2018 graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and a native of Chile, Rivas will be in today’s final grouping with O’Riley and Spurlock.
Despite the bogey on No. 7 and another on No. 5, Rivas — who finished runner-up in last year’s Fourth of July Classic to Chris Jenkins — was 3 under on the front nine with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-4, and two more on Nos. 6 and 9. Rivas went 1 over on the back nine, which included consecutive birdies on 12 and 13, consecutive bogeys on 14 and 15, and a closing bogey on the par-4 18th.
“I hit the ball great, some very good second shots, especially on the front nine,” Rivas said. “I was within 10 feet on 2; 3 feet on 3; 4 feet on 4; 5 feet on 6; then had had a very good up-and-down on 7 to save bogey.
“Where to put the ball is very important here. It’s also good to have a little dose of luck.”
Jenkins — the 10-time tournament champion, including the past five in a row — tied O’Riley, Rivas and Grayson Martin for Saturday’s low round of 62, which included a 3-under 29 on the back nine. He is tied for fourth with Glover and Martin at even-par 128.
Wes McNulty’s lone bogey came at the 18th, leaving him with a 1-under 63. A twotime tournament champion, McNulty sits five strokes behind O’Riley with a 1-over 129.