Luke List makes seven birdies in eight-hole stretch to lead John Deere Classic.
Sinks seven in an eight-hole stretch during 8-under day for 1-shot edge over Munoz
Luke List has a happy and healthy home life with his newborn son, and he felt pretty good about his golf game Friday in the John Deere Classic.
List ran off seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch in the middle of his round, his only par on a 12-foot birdie chance on the 15th hole, and posted an 8-under 63. That gave him a oneshot lead over Sebastian Munoz going into the weekend at TPC Deere Run. List was at 13-under 129. Munoz played early and shot a 4-under 67, getting all his birdies on the back nine and then finishing with 10 pars.
Former tournament winner Ryan Moore had a chance to catch List until he ran into trouble off the 18th tee and made bogey, giving him a 66 and leaving him among seven players two shots off the lead. That group included Lucas Glover and Chase Seiffert, each with 63.
List is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory, though that wasn’t front and center over the past month. His son, Harrison, was born June 5 and had to return to the hospital because of a respiratory virus that had him intubated for a few days and in intensive care for two weeks.
List, who is No. 117 in the Fedex Cup with the season winding down, stayed home the past two weeks to help with their 2-year-old daughter.
“It was tough, but it’s been amazing to come back,” List said. “Everyone has been asking and praying and thinking about us, so it’s kind of cool. It’s a big family out here, and it’s nice to know that you’ve got everyone’s support when it’s not going great.”
Harrison is home and gaining weight. “Everything is great now,” List said.
The key to his round Friday was simple. While all eight of his birdies were about 10 feet or closer, there’s a reason for that. List missed only one fairway. On two of the par 5s, he had eagle putts from 25 feet and 10 feet.
“I was able to keep hitting the fairway, which out here is premium, and I was able to attack from the fairway,” List said. “I think there’s a lot of wedge opportunities out there, and if I can keep it in the fairway, then I’ll have some scoring options.”
The scoring was so good, as it often is at the John Deere, that the cut was at 4-under 138.
Among those making it to the weekend was Steve Stricker, the 54year-old Ryder Cup captain and threetime John Deere Classic winner. Stricker wanted to be part of the 50th anniversary of the tournament, so he skipped his title defense at the U.S. Senior Open.
His play on Friday suggested that was a good move, with six birdies in his round of 66 that left him seven shots behind in the middle of the pack.
LPGA: Nasa Hataoka needed another birdie streak to hang onto the lead in the Marathon LPGA Classic. A day after making six straight birdies in an opening 10-under 61, the 22-yearold Japanese player had four in a row on Nos. 14-17 to salvage a 69. “My shots were not as good as yesterday,” Hataoka said. “Didn’t have that many chances. I had a lot of problems, but I was able to fix that for the last part and bring it back up.” Her lead was cut from four to two strokes, with American Mina Harigae second after her second straight bogeyfree 66. Hataoka had a 12-under 130 total at Highland Meadows. She played the first nine in 1 over with two birdies and three bogeys and dropped another shot on 13 before rallying with the late birdie burst.
European PGA: Rory Mcilroy was waiting to get his second round under way on the 10th hole at the Scottish Open when a spectator wandered on to the tee, had a dig into the four-time major winner’s golf bag, and started taking swings with his 6-iron. It wasn’t long before the interloper, who smelled of alcohol according to Mcilroy’s playing partner, Jon Rahm, was ejected from the tournament. Mcilroy didn’t last much longer. After an evenpar round of 71, Mcilroy missed the cut at the European Tour event and will be making an earlier-than-planned journey to the south of England for next week’s British Open. He was 1 under for the tournament, 10 shots off the lead held by the top-ranked Rahm and Belgium’s Thomas Detry — after their rounds of 6-under 65 — and first-round leader Jack Senior (67). They were all at 11-under 131 overall. Mcilroy was reluctant to speak in detail about the incident on his first hole, which took place at about 8 a.m. local time. “I was surprised,” he said “It was handled efficiently and everything was OK. I had no idea who it was.”
Champions: The combination of wind, heat and humidity made it difficult to go low at the U.S. Senior Open. Jim Furyk and Greg Kraft found a way. Furyk shot a 6-under 64, the best round in days at Omaha Country Club, to take a two-stroke lead over Stephen Ames. The 2003 U.S. Open champion and 17-time PGA Tour winner rebounded from an opening 72 to get to 4 under. “I was able to see some putts go in, and I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens today, kept the ball in good places,” Furyk said. “Just really kind of got on a roll and got some momentum.” First-round co-leader Ames bogeyed four of the first six holes on his second nine and shot 73. Two-time U.S. Senior Open runner-up Miguel Angel Jimenez (71) was 1 under.