DES MOINES — Steve Stricker emerged as the leader after the first round of play in the Principal Charity Classic on Friday and remained on top after the second round, but there was still a bit of a shakeup on the leaderboard after Saturday’s competition.
Stricker, who entered the weekend at the top of the PGA Tour Champions standings for the Charles Schwab Cup, couldn’t match his success from the first day. He made birdie on two, three, five and 13, but shot par the rest of the way.
“I let a couple get away at times,” Stricker said. “Didn’t really get through the fairway all that well today. I struggled but again, I’m tied for the lead, and I’ve got an opportunity for tomorrow. So hopefully, I can get a little sharper.”
Still, Sticker’s 4-under performance gave him a score of 68 on the day and 132 overall to keep him in a three-way tie for first. He will tee off Sunday alongside Stephen Ames and Tim Herron.
“Great guys, I’ve played with them a bunch over the years,” Stricker said. “Looking forward to that, (but) it really doesn’t matter who I play with. You’ve just got to stick to your own game.”
Ames’ blistering performance on the front nine kept him atop the leaderboard, even as he struggled on the back nine. He made an eagle on the fifth hole and added three consecutive birdies on seven, eight and nine. He was on par through the back nine, good enough to score the same as Stricker and Herron.
Herron was one of five golfers to finish 7 under on Saturday but the only one of that group to finish in the top three. He had two birdies and an eagle on the front nine and three birdies and a bogey on the back nine.
“I’ve got Steve Stricker, I mean he’s probably ranked top 10 in the world,” Herron said about what it would mean to win the Principal Charity Classic. “I’m just hoping to be in the mix and worry about that when it happens.”
Where did notable PGA winners end up after Saturday?
The beauty of golf is that anyone can win; just because last year’s champion is in the field, that doesn’t mean they’ll pull off back-to-back victories.
Defending champion Jerry Kelly put together a solid first round on Friday. He finished 6 under to tie for second but dropped in the standings on Saturday. He stands at fifth after only going 3 under in the second round for a score of 135.
Kevin Sutherland, who won the Principal Charity Classic in 2019, finished the second round with a 7-under score of 137. He shot a 67 on Saturday, three better than his Friday tally, and finished tied for 16th.
Tom Lehman started off middle-of-the-pack with a 2-under score on Friday. But the 2018 winner struggled on Saturday, going 1-over and shooting a 73. He dropped 29 spots to 54th in the standings.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.