Glover overtakes Spieth for PGA Tour playoff lead
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Sloppy mud one day, broiling heat the next. Lucas Glover is playing his best golf no the matter the conditions on the ground or in the air, posting a 6-under 64 on Friday for a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Glover holed three putts longer than 25 feet, one of them for eagle on the par-5 16th, and has made only one bogey through 36 holes going into the weekend of the PGA Tour’s postseason opener at TPC Southwind.
It was the 19th time in his last 20 rounds Glover has shot in the 60s. A week ago, he was No. 112 in the FedEx Cup and looking at a month off. Now he’s moving closer to making it all the way to the Tour Championship.
“I’m old enough to know it can change the other way in a hurry, too,” the 43-year-old Glover said. “So kind of ride the wave and just don’t overthink it. Keep going and play until it runs out, and then figure it out after that.”
Glover was at 10-under 130.
Spieth was up to his tricks, holing a bunker shot for birdie on the seventh hole after back-to-back bogeys, part of a late surge that gave him a 68.
For all of them, the biggest issue was the hot sun and Southern humidity, a combination that had the heat index just short of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48 Celsius).
Eric Larson, the caddie for Harris English, had to stop after 10 holes. He stooped to tie his shoes on the second hole and had trouble standing up. English all but ordered him to get checked out. Larson said his heart rate was high and blood pressure was low (90 over 50).
He had intravenous fluids and felt better by the end of the day. English grabbed Andrew Argotsinger, the head pro at nearby Windyke Country Club, to fill in. Larson slipped him $100 for the effort when the round was over.
For everyone else, it was a matter of soaked shirts, soaked pants and plenty of birdies from the fairway on a course that had been soaked by storms the last few days.
Towels were used as much to wipe arms, necks and brows as cleaning clubs.
“I didn’t get this wet in the shower this morning,” Glover said.
Spieth figured the heat would not be an issue coming from Dallas the last few weeks, though he conceded he played most of his golf before noon. He practically bragged to his caddie that Memphis heat was nothing to worry about.
“And then today I’m like, ‘Man, I was wrong.’ I’m humbled,” Spieth said. “It’s just a different kind of heat. But it felt like it was just coming off the ground. I’ll bring two shirts from now on and change at the turn because I was struggling a bit early in the round.”
The golf part was fine, though Spieth said the heat contributed to a few poor club choices that led to bogey. He’s right where he wants to be going into the weekend, with plenty of company.
Tommy Fleetwood (66) and Sungjae Im (65) were among five players at 8-under 132. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy each had a 66 and were in the group three shots behind.
The top 50 from the 70-man field advance to the second week of the playoffs at the BMW Championship, with Cam Davis making the biggest move. \
He had three birdies late for a 67 that currently would have him inside the top 50.
Women’s British Open
WALTON-ON-THE-HILL, England – There’s a golfer hailing from America’s South and with a passion for hunting who is running away with the British Open thanks to precise driving and a red-hot putter.
Sound familiar? Ally Ewing is putting up a good impression of Brian Harman as she goes for a first major title this week at Walton Heath.
The No. 39-ranked Ewing rolled in six birdies in her first 11 holes and shot 6under 66 Friday to establish a fivestroke lead after the second round of the Women’s British Open, the final major of the year.
Ewing is delivering a golfing clinic southwest of London three weeks after
Harman did the same four hours north of England at Royal Liverpool in the men’s event to win his first major championship.
The similarities don’t end there. “I think a lot of people, I wouldn’t say they were rooting against him but a lot of people were rooting for other people,” Ewing said. “I can kind of attest to that in some sense. But, yeah, certainly happy with where I am through 36 holes.”
Ewing is from Mississippi, and Harman is from Georgia.
And then there’s the hunting – the favored pursuit of Harman and something which proved to be a fascination for the British media, who labeled him “Brian the Butcher.”
Yes, Ewing confirmed, she also likes to hunt.
“For the most part, my family, my husband and I, we do mostly deer hunting, so venison,” she said. “That’s most of what we do.”
The field will look to hunt down Ewing over the weekend, but it will need her to slow up.
At one stage Friday, she held a sevenshot lead and she felt like she was in a trance when making four straight birdies from No. 6.
“I didn’t really even know until I signed my scorecard that I had four birdies in a row,” Ewing said, “so I would probably say that stretch from like No. 6 to No. 11 is kind of a little bit of a blur.”
There was another birdie at No. 16 before a bogey at the last, after her worst swing of the day on the 18th tee, gave her rivals some hope. Ewing was 10 under overall.
The biggest names in women’s golf can’t keep up.
Top-ranked Nelly Korda shot 70 and was 1 under for the tournament – nine off the lead – like Rose Zhang, the 20year-old American sensation in her first year of pro golf who also shot 71 in her second round.
Celine Boutier, the Frenchwoman who arrived as the hottest player in the game after back-to-back titles including the Evian Championship, also shot 71 and was two shots further back at 1 over for the tournament. That was one shot above the cut.