Johnson, Putnam in two-man race at St. Jude Classic
Andrew Putnam will be playing in the last group today for the first time, looking for his first PGA Tour victory.
His playing partner will be Dustin Johnson, who’s already won once this year and needs his 18th career victory to reclaim his spot as the world’s top-ranked golfer .
No pressure at all. “It’s going to feel a little different than the typical Sunday round of golf, but I’m excited for it,” Put- nam said. “I’ve earned my way here and I feel like it’s going to be a fun day. See what happens.”
Putnam matched the best round of his short PGA Tour career Saturday with a 6-under 64 and tied Johnson atop the leader board at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee. Johnson had a 65 to match Putnam at 15-under 195 and said he’s in great position.
“I can kind of control my own destiny,” Johnson said. “If I go out and play really good golf, probably going to win. If I don’t, I’m sure Andrew’s going to beat me. He’s playing really good right now. It’s pretty simple.”
A two-time winner on the Web.com Tour, Putnam birdied No. 18 to tie up Johnson once again after a bogey-free round and consecutive 64s. Putnam, who joined the tour in 2015, has had only one bogey through 54 holes here.
“I’m happy with everything I’ve been doing,” said Putnam, 29, from Washington.
Stewart Cink, who had a hole-in-one on No. 8, matched his low round of the year with a 64 to get to 10 under.
Cink, who last won The Open Championship in 2009, missed the cut at both the Players Championship and Memorial last week. He took advantage of the par 3s with two birdies and his hole-in-one to keep close to Johnson and Putnam.
“It can be a little bit of a shock when it happens and suddenly you find yourself right up there in the mix and you’ve got to reset yourself,” Cink said of his holein-one. “But I did a really good job the rest of the way and I’m proud of that, and I look forward to tomorrow.”
Ricky Werenski got to 10 under but bogeyed No. 18 to finish with a 68. He was tied with Bryan Wesley (69) at 9 under. Brandt Snedeker (70) was at 7 under.
LPGA >> Sei Young Kim birdied seven of her last 10 holes for a share of the lead with Celine Herbin in the suspended second round of St. Jude Classic co-leader Andrew Putnam is looking for his first PGA Tour win.
the ShopRite LPGA in Galloway, N.J.
Kim was 10 under for the tournament with three holes left when play was suspended because of darkness.
Herbin had her second straight 5-under 66.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS >> Tom Lehman shot a 7-under 65 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.
Lehman eagled the par-5 eighth and played a 10-hole stretch in 7 under before dropping a stroke on the par-4 18th. He had a 13-under 131 total, the best two-round score at Wakonda Club.
From neighboring Minnesota, Lehman has finished in the top 10 in each of his first six appearances in Iowa, but the 1996 British Open champion has never won the event.
“I made my share of putts. Made some longer putts I wasn’t expecting, kept the ball in the fairway (and) did a lot of things right,” Lehman said.
First-round leader Bernhard Langer had a 69 to fall into a tie for second with Glen Day (68), Woody Austin (68) and Scott Parel (66).
The conditions were warm but uncharacteristically calm, which dried out the course and made low scores attainable. In fact, the scoring average of 70.19 set a course record. CURTIS CUP >> Redwood City teenager Lucy Li and two partners won both their matches in the Curtis Cup to help the United States take a 9-3 lead against Great Britain and Ireland in the team competition at Quaker Ridge in Scarsdale, New York.
Li and Stanford’s Andrea Lee topped Lily May Humphreys and Shannon McWilliam 3 and 2 in the morning, and Li partnered with Sophia Schubert to beat Paula Grant and Shannon McWilliam 7 and 5 in the afternoon. The Americans need just 11/2 points today in singles to win the competition.