Writing from Silvis, Illinois
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Cameron Tringale has been banging around the PGA Tour for 10 years without a victory.
Andrew Landry’s been in the circuit four years and has one title to his name, last year’s Texas Open.
They’re the co-leaders of the John Deere Classic entering the final round.
In other years, things are shaping up as they almost always do at TPC Deere Run, with the potential for an unknown to become a known.
The tournament boasts 22 first-time winners, everyone from Payne Stewart and Jordan Spieth, both of whom went on to capture multiple majors, to David Gossett and Sean O’Hair, who went on to oblivion.
Tringale, 317th in the world ranking, has been around long enough to win about $10 million without collecting any silverware. He’d like to find a use for a trophy case but doesn’t want to think about it.
“Even with a lot on the line, I default to my instincts and not trying too hard,” Tringale said after his-under-par 65 elevated him to 16-under 197 with a lap to go in the annual festival of birdies.
That’s worked well enough over the years to score three runner-up finishes. But only his family would be able to pick him out of a police lineup, even after a couple of recent top-fives, including in Detroit two weeks ago.
Landry is in nearly the same situation. His title in Texas notwithstanding, the 5-foot-7 Arkansas graduate is known for being 5-foot-7. He’s 168th in the world ranking and 170th in the PGA Tour’s playoff standings. A pair of 65s gave him a tee time on Saturday’s final pairing, and while 36-hole leader Jhonattan Vegas imploded with a 5-over 76, Landry reversed the number with a 67 to move from second to joint first with Tringale.
Landry’s round was workmanlike, opening with three birdies in a four-hole stretch, then went south with a brace of bogeys before recovering with birdies on the 13th, 16th and 17th. He thought the key was a save from a bunker on the drivable par-4 14th.
“I left myself a 30-footer t try to at least save it, and they was kind of the key moment there that kept the round going,” Landry said. “I know I had a couple of birdie opportunities coming in.”
Given there wasn’t a lot of moving on Moving Day, 197 was good enough to pace the field for only the second time since 2010. The course playing firm and fast, the result of no recent rainfall after a soggy spring and superintendent Alex Stuedemann’s six-year plan to get Deere Run playing faster. Players had to consider where and at what angle they landed their drives on the sloping fairways.
The biggest movers on Saturday were Bill Haas, whose 7-under 64 allows him to share third place at 15-under 198 with Adam Schenk, and Nick Watney, whose 64 places him third at 14-under 199 with South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli and 2016 Deere winner Ryan Moore.
Haas has won but once since his 2011 Tour playoff championship, but remains hopeful.
“The game is not easy,” Haas said. “It’s been beating me most weeks. Just stay in the moment and be positive and you never know what will happen tomorrow.”
Moore had the fastest finish of all, something those who bet longshots and lurkers would do well to consider. He went birdie-eagle-birdie on the last three holes to climb from 10-under to 14-under.
“I bogeyed 15 and was a little down on myself, gave myself a little pep talk and said, ‘Let’s go try to birdie these last three holes,’ ” Moore said. “It was a great way to finish. I’ve just been a little up and down with the putter this week.”
Moore has a chance. Everyone within five strokes, which means 20 players, has a chance, including Sungjae Im, the South Korean who is one of 13 players in the field already qualified for the British Open. He’s 23rd in the playoff race, 62nd in the world rankings, and of the 18,000 or so spectators at Deere Run on Saturday, you probably could have counted on one hand those who knew that.
But if he lifts the handsome trophy designed by Malcolm DeMille on Sunday afternoon, he will become a known.
Around Deere Run
Former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover ho-hummed his way to a 2-under 69 that included three bogeys, and is still tied for ninth at 13-under 200 entering the final round. ... First round leader Roberto Diaz matched 36-hole leader Vegas’ 5-over 76, and won’t play on Sunday. The PGA Tour’s second cut is to the low 70 and ties if more than 78 play on Saturday, and Diaz, despite his opening 62, was outside the trim. ... The run of rounds on the circuit with 62 ended at six straight. There wasn’t even a 63. ... The course averaged 69.237 strokes, and the three-round average is 69.663. ... Leaders Cameron Tringale and Andrew Landry tee off at 12:45 p.m. Local favorite Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink, a pair of British Open champions, start at 8:15 a.m. ... The Deere offers the last spot in the British Open for the top player not yet qualified in the tournament’s top five. ...
DirecTV, now owned by AT&T, and Nexstar, owner of Quad Cities CBS affiliate WHBF, are at loggerheads, so Channel 4 isn’t on the satellite provider’s lineup, blacking out those who haven’t hooked up antennas to pick up the free over-the-air signal. Curiously, WHBF kept running a crawl on the bottom of the screen reminding people with DirecTV they couldn’t watch on DirecTV, though a prime-time replay was available on Golf Channel. CBSSports.com is also carrying the live coverage online.
– Tim Cronin