POSTON KEEPS ROLLING WITH A 4-STROKE LEAD

J.T. Poston continued his recent hot streak and took a four-stroke lead into the weekend in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, following an opening 9-under 62 with a 65 on Friday at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

Coming off a second-place tie last week in Connecticut after also opening with a 62, Poston got to 15 under with a birdie on the par-4 13th and parred the final six holes in the afternoon round.

“I feel great,” Poston said. “My last few rounds out here have been great going back into last week, so just going to try and keep riding that momentum and doing what I’m doing.”

Poston was a stroke off the tournament 36-hole record set by Steve Stricker in his 2010 victory.

Denny McCarthy was second at 11 under after a 65, also playing in the afternoon after rain delayed play in the morning.

Christopher Gotterup, the former Rutgers player in the field on a sponsor exemption, had a 67 to match Matthias Schwab (65), Emiliano Grillo (64) and Chris Naegel (66) at 10 under.

“It was an interesting day,” Gotterup said. “Definitely a bit of an up-and-down day compared to yesterday, where I was kind of more on cruise control.”

Poston won the 2019 Wyndham Championship for his lone PGA Tour title. Last week in the Travelers Championship, he followed the opening 62 with rounds of 70, 67 and 64 to finish two strokes behind Xander Schauffele.

“Last week, the one thing I think I learned after playing well Thursday was to try and keep the pedal down,” Poston said.

Ortiz, DJ share LIV lead

The outcry that marked the start of the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf series’ first American stop quieted a bit the second day, putting the focus on the play at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.

Modest crowds and mild temperatures in the mid-70s greeted the players on the upstart series — bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — which is trying to shake up the PGA Tour. But there has been widespread criticism because of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

Dustin Johnson, the 2020 Masters winner, shared the lead with Carlos Ortiz of Mexico going into the final round of the 54hole tournament Saturday. Johnson shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to reach 8 under.

A lone protestor was outside the gate at the club some 20 miles west of Portland, holding a sign that simply said “Fallon Smart 2000-2016.”

Smart was 15 when she was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Portland. A Saudi national attending school in Oregon was charged in her death, but removed a monitoring device before the start of his trial and vanished. U.S. officials believe the Saudi government helped spirit him away.

Elsewhere

Spanish golfer Jorge Campillo is the pace-setter halfway through the Irish Open while home favorite Shane Lowry staged a grandstand finish to make the cut at Mount Juliet. Campillo added a 4under 68 to his opening bogey-free 65 for a halfway total of 11 under par. He’s one shot ahead of Poland’s Adrian Meronk and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti.

Notable

In an escalating war of words, European tour CEO Keith Pelley fired back at 16 players who have threatened legal action if they remain punished for ignoring tour regulations by playing in the Saudifunded LIV golf events.

The Daily Telegraph obtained a copy of the letter to the DP World Tour — the commercial name of the European tour — in which players demanded their fines be rescinded and they be allowed to play in the Scottish Open next week.

“The letter claims that these players ‘care deeply’ for the DP World Tour,” Pelley said in his statement.

“An analysis of the past participation statistics on our tour in recent years of several of the leading players named suggests otherwise.”