The leaders haven’t changed, but superstars begin their charge at FESJC.
Stefani, English 1-2 entering final round, but superstars lurk
Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington, two of the more celebrated golfers in the FedEx St. Jude Classic field with seven major titles between them, made their expected charges Saturday at TPC Southwind.
Mickelson fired a 5-under 65 to move from 22nd to sixth. Harrington matched Mickelson’s 65 and jumped from 38th to eighth.
Fledgling PGA Tour players Shawn Stefani and Harris Eng- lish, who shared the top two spots on the leader board after Friday’s second round, didn’t flinch. They withstood the early-round moves by Mickelson, whose 41 victories rank ninth in PGA Tour history, and Harrington, whose three major titles include two British Opens, to remain where they began the day.
The only difference was English, the second-round leader, and Stefani traded spots on the leader board. Entering Sunday’s final round, Stefani, a 31-year-old rookie from Houston, will be at 12-under 198, one stroke better than English, the 23-year-old former University of Georgia golfer. Both will be looking for their first Tour victory and both expect to see Mickelson and Harrington — and several other veteran challengers — apply the same pressure they did Saturday.
“I expect them to make their runs again,” English said. “That’s why they’re the best players in the world; that’s why Mickelson has won 35 or 40 times or whatever he’s won. That’s what you like to see, especially as a golfer. You like the competition. You like the heat
being turned up.”
Also making their moves up the leader board were Patrick Reed, a former Augusta State golfer, who shot 64 — the day’s best round — for an 8-under 202. Also at 202 were Nicholas Thompson and Scott Stallings, a two-time winner on Tour and a Knoxville resident. At 203 are Mickelson and Eric Meierdierks, whose 66 included a hole-in-one on No. 8. At 204 are Harrington, Ryan Palmer and Roberto Castro.
After pleasant and unseasonably mild conditions for the first three rounds, the Memphis weather will add a degree of difficulty, too, with a dose of typical heat and humidity. Whether Stefani and English can withstand the combination will play out Sunday, but Stefani already has shown he has a penchant for handling sticky situations.
In grabbing the thirdround lead, he overcame a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 11th hole, the nightmare beginning with the wrong club choice off the tee and the ball landing in the water.
But Stefani recovered masterfully and unexpectedly. He closed with birdies on 14, 16, 17 and 18. When his wedge off the tee at No. 11 found water, Stefani was at 12 under and had a twostroke lead over English after playing the front nine in 3 under.
“It does bother you a little bit,” Stefani said. “But it’s who gets over it fastest and who moves on the fastest. And to finish the way I did with three birdies on the last three holes was great.
“It was a great round and lot of things happened pretty well. Even with the small road bump in the middle of the round, I managed to keep it going and stay patient and things worked out great coming in.”
English, who had never led any round of his previ- ous 43 PGA Tour events, said he was concerned that Stefani might build an insurmountable lead had he not encountered trouble on No. 11.
“Shawn played so good on the front nine,” English said. “And when he birdied 10 I thought ‘This guy is going to shoot 60.’ ”
English stayed in contention by overcoming a few mistakes of his own en route to a 69. After early birdies took him to 12-under, he bogeyed Nos. 5 and 8. On the back nine, he ran off eight straight pars before knocking in a 14-footer to finish at 11 under.
While Stefani will be seeking his first Tour win — his best finish in 14 career events is a tie for seventh earlier this year in the Tampa Bay Championship — he says he can’t afford to watch the leader board Sunday. He has to worry about himself and not Mickelson or Harrington.
Harrington, with 28 professional wins, knows the feeling.
“It’s nerve-wracking whenever you’re going into a Sunday and you think you have a chance of winning,” Harrington said. “And it’s even more nerve-wracking when you’re leading the tournament, for sure.”