Stricker leads AmFam with 64
MADISON – Steve Stricker apparently is none the worse for wear after a long, tough week fighting for pars at Shinnecock Hills.
Stricker, who tied for 20th at the U.S. Open, shot an 8-under-par 64 at University Ridge Golf Course on Friday to take the first-round lead in the American Family Insurance Championship, the PGA Tour Champions event he hosts.
“Yeah, it is a little different, but it’s still golf,” said Stricker, who lives just a few miles from University Ridge. “Get it in the fairway and then get it on the green, give yourself an opportunity. I did that today. I took it one shot at a time.”
It added up to nine birdies and a lone bogey on the par-5 ninth hole.
Stricker, 51, takes a one-shot lead over Brad Bryant into the second round Saturday. Colin Montgomerie, John Daly and Steve Flesch shot 67s and were tied for third.
Madison’s Jerry Kelly was in a group of nine players at 68, and defending champion Fred Couples shot a 69 despite bogeys on his final two holes.
Stricker tied for third in the 2017 AmFam in his tournament debut. He has won twice this season on the Champions tour and has two runner-up finishes. He’s fourth on the money list despite playing in just five events.
“He is playing world championship golf,” Kelly said. “He could win any week out there (on the PGA Tour) that he got the putter hot because he’s hitting it long and he’s striking the irons so pure.”
Warming up: Bryant, 63, is making just his second start of the year on the tour. He said the main reason he entered was to prepare for the U.S. Senior Open next week.
“We have to walk 72 holes at 6,500 feet (at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.),” Bryant said. “So coming here is sort of a prelude to maybe getting myself in shape enough that I can finish that tournament next week. That’s really the main reason I’m here, to walk the golf course, believe it or not.”
Scrambling: Kelly said he hit the ball poorly but managed to scrape it in with a 68.
“I’ve been doing this enough this year that I don’t lose it as much mentally because I know that I can still make birdies on these golf courses,” he said. “So I stay in there, I bunt it down there, I keep it in the fairway, get it on the green and hope I can make some putts.”
Caddie shack: Mario Tiziani, Stricker’s brother-in-law, is carrying Couples’ bag this week. …2015 State Open champion Kyle Henning of Brookfield is on the bag for Fox Point native Skip Kendall, who opened with a 73. …Jordan Hahn, a member of the University of Wisconsin golf team, is looping for Gibby Gilbert III.