Former University of Kentucky golfer Chip McDaniel fired a 6-under-par 66 in the second round of the Barbasol Championships and made the cut in his professional debut. (Kentucky Today/Keith Taylor)
By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Four players share the lead going into the final round of the Barbasol Championship at Champions at Keene Trace In Nicholasville.
Robert Streb fired a 9-under-par 63 Saturday to surge into a four-way tie with Hunter Mahan, Tom Lovelady, and Troy Merritt. All three players shot 18-under-par through the first three rounds. Sam Ryder, Blayne Barber, and Billy Horschel are two shots back at 17-under-par.
Streb is confident going into the final round.
“Maybe (I) wasn’t perfect off the tee, but had a lot of chances, made a lot of putts,” he said. “Obviously a lot of the other guys did, too, but happy to keep pace and have a chance (Sunday).”
Merritt had the lead through the first two rounds but maintains in contention despite surging rounds by Mahan, Streb, and Lovely.
“You know, when you’ve got a birdie fest sometimes it’s hard to maintain that lead, especially when you’ve got guys five, six, seven shots back that can go out and shoot 8- or 9-under,” he said. “That might be the case again (Sunday). We are going to have to go out and work really hard not to give anything away and try to put up five or six birdies because it could take a 65 to win tomorrow.”
Morehead State graduate Josh Teater is five strokes behind after shooting a 3-under 69 Saturday. Recent Kentucky graduates Chip McDaniel and Cooper Musselman made the cut. Musselman has shot under par in all three rounds, including a 3-under-par 69 during the past two days.
“It still feels pretty unreal,” Musselman said. (I) played pretty well (Saturday).”
McDaniel posted the best score of his professional career with a 6-under-par 66 in the second round and followed with a 71 during the third round of play.
Playing in her first-ever PGA event, LPGA star Brittany Lincicome fired. 1-under -par 71 in the second round and missed the cut by 11 strokes.
“I felt a lot calmer today. I think maybe because the spectators couldn’t come out as much, so it was a little bit calmer feeling this morning,” she said. “But my putter, obviously I was hitting it close, which helped. And then my putter, I made a lot of really good putts, so that was nice. Nice to have a bunch of birdies today.”
Although she missed the cut for the final two rounds, Lincicome enjoyed the experience after becoming just the sixth player in history to compete in a PGA event.
“This is obviously a much bigger stage or different stage than I’m used to,” she said. “With a major coming up, hopefully, that first tee shot I won’t be as nervous. I’ve learned to kind of play through the nerves this week, which is great. Just in the future, I think that’ll really help me.”
The final round resumes Sunday in Nicholasville,
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.
