Summerhays takes the lead at Memorial
Daniel Summerhays tees off on the 18th hole during the second round of the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.
DUBLIN, Ohio — Daniel Summerhays managed to walk a relatively straight and narrow path at the Memorial, and it took him to an unlikely position going into the final round.
He started with a fiveshot deficit.
He ended with a threeshot lead.
All because the guy next to him Saturday, Jason Dufner, lost his way.
Summerhays dropped only one shot and rarely was out of position on his way to a 4-under 68. More than his solid round was the collapse by Dufner. One day after he set the 36-hole scoring record, Dufner shot a 77 and was four shots behind.
He made four straight bogeys on the front nine and lost his five-shot lead in five holes. He hit two balls in the water on the back nine. He missed the putts he had been making for two days.
“Today was pretty pathetic on all accounts, so have to play better tomorrow,” he said.
At least he was still in the game, along with plenty of company.
Memorial At Muirfield Village GC
Dublin, Ohio Purse: $8.7 million Yardage: 7,392; Par: 72
Third Round Daniel Summerhays 66-69-68—203 Matt Kuchar 69-70-67—206 Bubba Watson 71-68-68—207 Justin Thomas 67-71-69—207 Jason Dufner 65-65-77—207 Rickie Fowler 70-66-72—208 Jamie Lovemark 69-69-70—208 Kevin Streelman 73-69-67—209 Kevin Kisner 70-69-70—209 Jordan Spieth 66-72-71—209 Jason Kokrak 73-67-70—210 Shane Lowry 72-68-70—210 David Lingmerth 65-74-71—210 James Hahn 74-72-65—211 Jim Herman 70-74-67—211 Steve Stricker 74-68-69—211 Pat Perez 70-72-69—211 Byeong Hun An 68-72-71—211 Ross Fisher 73-69-70—212 Bud Cauley 75-67-70—212 Charl Schwartzel 70-71-71—212 Phil Mickelson 70-70-72—212 Kyle Stanley 74-67-71—212 Marc Leishman 70-70-72—212 Lucas Glover 67-73-72—212 Emiliano Grillo 71-68-73—212 Jason Day 75-71-67—213 Stewart Cink 72-73-68—213
Summerhays was at 13-under 203. Matt Kuchar, who won the Memorial four years ago, ran off three straight birdies on the back nine and shot a 67. That put him in the final group with Summerhays as Kuchar tries to end three years and 82 starts without Peter Uihlein Anirban Lahiri William McGirt Sam Saunders Bill Haas Adam Scott Brooks Koepka Brett Coletta Graham DeLaet Jonas Blixt C.T. Pan Harold Varner III Grayson Murray Padraig Harrington Martin Laird Tony Finau Brian Stuard Charley Hoffman Ricky Barnes Mackenzie Hughes Soren Kjeldsen Kevin Chappell Ben Martin Nick Taylor Zach Johnson Brendan Steele Gary Woodland Patrick Cantlay Camilo Villegas Zac Blair Sung Kang Cameron Smith Patrick Rodgers Webb Simpson 76-69-68—213 74-70-69—213 71-72-70—213 68-74-71—213 73-69-71—213 76-66-71—213 69-73-71—213 72-69-72—213 73-67-73—213 75-69-70—214 76-68-70—214 73-71-70—214 72-71-71—214 71-71-72—214 71-68-75—214 74-73-68—215 70-74-71—215 72-71-72—215 70-77-69—216 76-70-70—216 72-73-71—216 76-69-71—216 71-74-71—216 69-76-71—216 76-71-70—217 72-73-72—217 72-73-72—217 71-72-74—217 74-68-75—217 75-72-71—218 75-72-71—218 74-71-73—218 70-77-72—219 73-72-74—219
a victory on the PGA Tour.
“I’m excited to have another chance here,” Kuchar said. “It looked like after 36 holes that none of us were going to have a chance at it.”
Bubba Watson overcame a heckler on the 18th hole with one last Darron Cummings / The Associated Press birdie for a 68. He was four shots behind along with Justin Thomas (69) and Dufner. Rickie Fowler (72) salvaged an upand-down day and was five behind.
Watson turned and acknowledged the heckled after his birdie putt.
“Obviously, not a Bubba Watson fan,” he said. “It started about 50 yards short of the green. He kept going. I’m taking a guess, he wasn’t drinking water like I was all day. But it’s one of those things.”
This is a rare chance for Watson, the two-time Masters champion who hasn’t been a factor all year. He has gone 14 months without finishing in the top 10 at a PGA Tour event with a full field.
But even for Watson, it all started with Dufner’s bad day.
Dufner missed the second green to the left from the rough and made bogey.
He missed a 6-foot par putt on the third, then hit into the right bunker on the par-3 4th and made another bogey. And then he three-putted the par-5 fifth for a fourth straight bogey. — Ariya Jutanugarn took the No. 1 spot in the world ranking without hitting a shot, and Paula Creamer and In-Kyung Kim topped the ShopRite LPGA Classic leaderboard Saturday.
Taking the week off, Jutanugarn replaced Lydia Ko atop the ranking when So Yeon Ryu missed the cut. Ko, also skipping the event, was guaranteed to lose the top spot to Jutanugarn or Ryu, and Jutanugarn got the position when Ryu failed to finish solo third or better.
Creamer and Kim each shot a 4-under 67 in windy conditions to reach 9 under at Stockton Seaview, while two-time defending champion Anna Nordqvist followed her opening 64 with a 71 to drop two strokes behind along with Moriya Jutanugarn — Ariya’s older sister — and Jeong Eun Lee.
“Today was definitely different wind than yesterday,” Creamer said. “There were some good pins out there that we had to kind of think about a bit. I played solid. I hit some good putts that didn’t go in and made some good putts that went in.”
Ryu had her second straight 74 to miss the cut by three strokes.
The 30-year-old Creamer won the last of her 10 LPGA Tour victories in 2014 in Singapore when she made a 75-foot eagle putt on the second hole of a playoff with Azahara Munoz.
“I feel good. I feel prepared,” Creamer said. “I knew there was a time I was going to kind of break through. It just shows these last two days have been good golf. We’ll continue. Whatever happens tomorrow happens, but I feel like my golf game is in a good place.”
Kim won the Reignwood LPGA Classic late last year in China for her fourth tour title. She’s making only her sixth start of the season after an injury when she fell down stairs.
“This winter I didn’t have any break. I needed some time to get ready for the summer,” Kim said. “I’m really happy to get back.”
Nordqvist had two birdies and consecutive birdies on Nos. 11 and 12. She’s trying to match fellow Swede Annika Sorenstam’s record of three victories in the event.
“Overall, I feel like I Frank Franklin II / AP
Paula Creamer tees off on the fifth hole during the second round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
SATURDAY’S SCORES
LPGA Classic At Stockton Seaview Hotel GC,
Bay Course Galloway, N.J. Purse: $1.5 million Yardage: 6,217; Par 71
Second Round a-denotes amateur Paula Creamer 66-67—133 In-Kyung Kim 66-67—133 Moriya Jutanugarn 65-70—135 Jeong Eun Lee 65-70—135 Anna Nordqvist 64-71—135 Jacqui Concolino 70-66—136 Jennifer Song 65-71—136 Pernilla Lindberg 71-66—137 Azahara Munoz 70-67—137 Bronte Law 69-68—137 Brooke M. Henderson 68-69—137 Sandra Gal 68-69—137 Jenny Shin 65-72—137 Karrie Webb 70-68—138 Inbee Park 68-70—138 Mo Martin 68-70—138 Morgan Pressel 67-71—138 Simin Feng 67-71—138 Haru Nomura 72-67—139 Brittany Lang 70-69—139 Vicky Hurst 70-69—139 Gerina Piller 68-71—139 Perrine Delacour 67-72—139 Stacy Lewis 67-72—139 Pornanong Phatlum 66-73—139 Cristie Kerr 71-69—140
played a little bit better than I scored,” Nordqvist said.
“I’m still in it. It was just a hard afternoon with the wind.”
Nordqvist won the Founders Cup in Phoenix in March for her seventh LPGA Tour title, a homecoming victory for the former Arizona State star.
Moriya Jutanugarn and Lee each shot 70.
Stacy Lewis followed an opening 67 with a 72 to drop into a tie for 19th at 3 under. She won in 2012 and 2014 at Stockton Seaview.
India’s Sharmila Nicollet shot a 76-78 to miss the cut after winning a fan Twitter poll to get the final sponsor exemption.