Six weeks ago, Ricardo Gonzalez was a solid senior golfer, but not even a full member of the PGA Tour Champions. On Sunday, Gonzalez will have a chance for his second win on the Champions tour.
A victory in February at the Trophy Hassan II earned Gonzalez full membership on the senior tour. In Saturday’s second round of the Galleri Classic, Gonzalez fired a remarkable 9-under 63 in the uncharacteristic rain, wind and cold of Rancho Mirage to take the lead of another PGA Tour Champions event.
“I played I think one of my best rounds on the tour, and so happy to make a (course) record,” Gonzalez said after breaking the Dinah Shore Tournament Course record of 65 set by several players in the inaugural Galleri Classic last year. “Played with two great men like Vijay (Singh) and Stephen Ames and enjoyed. Enjoy the key to make under par.”
New tournament record
Solo leader Ricardo Gonzalez shoots 9-under 63 to set the @GalleriClassic tournament record. pic.twitter.com/Jgrf2gWJ6n
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 30, 2024
Gonzalez enters Sunday’s final round of the senior event at 11-under 133, good for a one-shot lead over Steven Alker and Retief Goosen, who both again displayed strong play on the Shore Course.
The runner-up to David Toms in last year’s inaugural event, Alker shot a 68 on a day when the forecasted heavy rain never hit the Coachella Valley. Instead, temperatures hovered in the upper 50s and swirling winds made conditions colder and more difficult.
Goosen, third in last year’s event, also shot 68 with a 5-under 31 in some of the toughest conditions of the day on the back nine. With defending champion Toms tied for fourth at 8-under with Alex Cejka, the top three players from the 2023 tournament in Rancho Mirage are among the top five players entering Sunday’s final round of the $2.2 million event.
“What course was he playing?” Alker joked about Gonzalez’s round.
“I think he was first off, wasn’t he?” laughed Goosen. “Second group off, so he got lucky with the weather, yeah.”
Tee times for the final round will be moved up only slightly Sunday to 8:10 a.m. for the first groups off the first and 10th tee and the final group will start at 10:15 a.m.
A light rain started falling on the course about 20 minutes before the lead group of Goosen, Alker and Cejka teed off at 10:11 a.m. While there were bouts of harder rain and strong winds, Alker felt the day was playable.
“I was expecting the weather to be worse, to be honest,” Alker said. “I thought there was going to be no talking in the group, I thought it was just going to be head down and battle forward, but it wasn’t too bad. I think we got lucky.”
Big back nine for leaders
Goosen’s rally on the back nine started with an up-and-down birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-5 11th. He added a birdie at the 14th, then caught a break on the 15th hole.
“I got lucky on 15, I blocked it right and I hit a gap through the trees there and hit it to about five feet and made the putt, so that was a bit of a break,” Goosen said. “Yeah, 17 we both hit good shots, (Alker) just landed too far, went a little further past than me.”
Goosen rolled in a putt from the fringe for another birdie on the 17th, then added a 10-foot birdie on the par-5 18th to cap the round.
From off the green!
Retief Goosen gets himself within two
@GalleriClassic pic.twitter.com/FPIHfUsnhQ
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 30, 2024
Alker’s round was less dramatic than Goosen’s, with five birdies scattered throughout the round and one bogey when he had a severe lip-out on par-3 17th. But Alker rallied with a long birdie putt on the 18th hole to tie Goosen for second place.
“We didn’t have the rain, the greens weren’t soft, you couldn’t throw it at it,” Goosen said. “So you’re adjusting for the wind and the bounce. So yeah, there were some adjustments today, but felt like had an amazing finish. I was kind of struggling there in the middle and then come back and made nice putts at the end so just going to make dinner taste a little bit better.”
Goosen and Alker will be paired together Sunday with Gonzalez, a player Goosen knows well from their playing days together on the DP World Tour.
“He’s always been a good ball striker and putting was always a little suspect,” Goosen said. “But he seemed to find his game and find his comfort out here. He’s playing really good golf.”
Gonzalez’s round included 10 birdies, five on each nine, and just one bogey. The round included a string of three birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes, holes that were playing into the cold, prevailing wind. The Argentine star kept the round special with saves of par on the par-3 17th and par-5 18th, especially a 10-foot par putt on the 17th after hitting his tee shot into a bunker behind the green.
“Yeah, yes, and 15, 14, 13,” Gonzalez laughed about his strong putting. “And 17 is special because try to not make bogeys. I make one bogey on the first nine holes (the par-3 eighth hole) and I say, no, come on, concentrate on that and make. But I have a great feeling today.”
Gonzalez credited much of his putting success – he ranked first in the field Saturday with 1.46 per hole – to his son and caddie, Santiago.
“I think Santiago’s 80 percent of my putting because he gives me good line and then when you have feeling you have the right line, everything’s possible,” he said.
Sunday’s final round is forecast to be warmer but with still a chance of rain through the morning.
“I like the course, I like the design and that’s why I’m feeling comfortable from the tee to green,” Gonzalez said. “Today the strawberry on the cake is the putter. It’s always when you make (putts) you can do low scores.”