SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Steve Stricker opened a six-stroke lead in the U.S. Senior Open on Saturday at Notre Dame, shooting a 4-under 66 and extending his bogey-free run to 48 holes.
Seeking his second senior major title after winning the Regions Tradition by six strokes in May in Alabama, the 52-year-old Stricker had a tournament-record 18-under 192 total on the rain-softened Warren Golf Course.
He opened with a 62 to tie the tournament record and share the first-round lead with David Toms, then shot a 64 on Friday to take a two-stroke advantage.
Fellow Madison, Wisconsin, player Jerry Kelly was second after a 70. Kelly beat Stricker and Retief Goosen in a playoff last week in Madison in the PGA Tour Champions event that Stricker hosts.
Rocket Mortgage Classic
DETROIT — Nate Lashley shot a bogey-free, 9-under 63 on Saturday to open a six-stroke lead in the Rocket Mortgage Classic at 23-under 193.
The 36-year-old Lashley slipped into the field at Detroit Golf Club as an alternate and the 353rd-ranked player has put himself in position to win for the first time on the PGA Tour. He tied for eighth in February in the Puerto Rico Open — played opposite the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship — for his only top-10 finish on the tour.
Lashley, the first- and second-round leader, started Saturday with a one-shot lead and pulled away with the low round of the day.
J.T. Poston (66) was second. Cameron Tringale (65) was another stroke back.
Lashley is in his second season on the PGA Tour, reaching the highest level of golf after a long road that included tragedy , selling real estate and playing in the PGA Tour’s minor leagues.
After watching Lashley play in a tournament for the University of Arizona in 2004, his parents and girlfriend died in a plane crash in Wyoming. Rod and Char Lashley along with Leslie Hofmeister, all of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, were missing for three days before their bodies and the wreckage were found near the 13,780-foot Gannett Peak.
Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
ROGERS, Ark. — Sung Hyun Park birdied the final two holes for an 8-under 63 and a share of lead with Carlota Ciganda on Saturday after the second round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Park, the second-ranked South Korean star who won the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in early March for her sixth LPGA Tour title, is coming off a second-place finish last week in Minnesota in the major KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Ciganda shot a 66 to match Park at 13-under 129 at Pinnacle Country Club. The Spanish player chipped in from 60 yards for eagle on the par-4 first hole and closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th.
First-round leader Inbee Park was tied for third at 11 under, following her opening 62 with a 69. Top-ranked Hyo Joo Kim (64) also was 11 under with Danielle Kang (63), Linnea Strom (65), Brittany Altomare (65) and Daniela Darquea (65).
