Kerr heads to final round at Kingsmill with two-shot lead

Kerr heads to final round at Kingsmill with two-shot lead










Benjamin Standig, The Sports Xchange May 4, 2013 8:20 PMThe SportsXchange


JAMES CITY, Va. -- Success is no stranger to Cristie Kerr. Neither is winning after sleeping on a third-round lead.

While Kerr has 15 LPGA Tour victories to her credit, she has no interest in viewing herself as the front-runner. The 35-year-old has more moving to do.

Kerr shot a 5-under-par 66 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Kingsmill Championship on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort.

Fellow American Stacy Lewis carded a 68 and is tied for second with Suzann Pettersen of Norway. Angela Stanford is alone in fourth at 7 under.

"I've always loved it here," said Kerr, the only two-time champion in the eight-year history of the event. "I played a great round today."

The 2005 and 2009 champion at the River Course started the day two strokes behind first- and second-round leader Ariya Jutanugarn, a 17-year-old from Thailand who entered on a sponsor's exemption. Kerr rolled in six birdies, three on each side and all coming after a bogey on the second hole.

"Saturday is definitely moving day, but I got to look at it like I'm two back tomorrow," Kerr said. "That's when I play my best golf. I'm looking at tomorrow as moving day as well because if you're not moving, somebody else is gonna."

That someone could be either of the two accomplished golfers sitting right behind her.

Lewis, the top-ranked American and No. 2 in the world, described her round as "pretty boring and pretty frustrating," but she moved back into the mix with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16.


"It was nice I hung in there and made a few birdies at the end to keep myself in it for (Sunday)," said Lewis, already a winner twice on tour this season. "I know that my best round is still out there and I think that's what encouraging going into tomorrow."

Pettersen won this event in 2007. The top three players each have at least one major championship victory on their resume.

If Kerr tacks on a third title at Kingsmill, her putter will have been the reason. It's the same putter she used to dominate the 2010 LPGA Championship and claim her second major title. That season, Kerr emerged as No. 1 in the world on three separate occasions, but she has since slipped to No. 12 in the rankings.

"Yeah, I love this putter, I've always loved this putter," Kerr said. "Hard not to love a putter that you won a major by 12 shots with, so it deserves another shot and it's going to get it."

Jutanugarn, the current leader on the Ladies European Tour money list, finished her round with a 73 after bogeys on three of her first four holes and six in all.

She shot a first-round 64 and dominated the front nine on Thursday and Friday but opened Saturday with a wayward drive on the first hole, leading to a bogey. She also dropped a stroke on the second and fourth holes.

"I (was) never nervous with my game today," Jutanugarn said. "Just have bad for putting and just miss my driver on first hole, that's it."

Ilhee Lee's third straight 69 left her four shots back in fifth, though her day was hardly formulaic. The South Korean's wild round included an eagle, five birdies and consecutive double bogeys.

Inbee Park of South Korea, ranked No. 1 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings and a three-time winner this season, shot 69 and is tied for eighth.

Lizette Salas turned in the day's low score with a 65, jumping from 40th overnight to a tie for sixth with Jutanugarn.

Overcast morning conditions gave way to sunny skies once the final groups hit the course, but chilly temperatures remained throughout, as did swirling winds.

With Jutanugarm dropping back, several players took turns atop the leaderboard.

Lee initially emerged from the pack with a 30-foot eagle putt on the seventh hole and started the back nine with a two-stroke lead.

Four holes later, her lead vanished after back-to-back double bogeys on 12 and 13, although Lee carded birdies on the next two holes.

Kerr, who last won at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November, led almost exclusively from there.

Briefly joined by Pettersen at 8 under, Kerr jumped ahead for good with a birdie on 13. She extended her lead with a birdie on the par-5 15th.

Now Kerr needs another strong round for a sweet 16th tour win. Those in the hunt make that goal far from a certainty.

Asked if the current leaderboard gives the final round a major-type feeling, Kerr said, "Absolutely. There's definitely no chickens to be counted."

NOTES: Park, coming off a victory in the North Texas Shootout, bounced back from a 1-over-par 72 in the second round. She carded a bogey on the first hole but played the last 17 holes in a bogey-free 3 under. She will start the final round six strokes behind Kerr, ... Playing in her first event as a member of the LPGA Tour, 23-year-old American Katie Burnett has posted rounds of 68-70-71 and is tied for eighth with Park.

Lateral Hazard: Mystery golfer emerges from shadows for first victory on PGA Tour

Lateral Hazard: Mystery golfer emerges from shadows for first victory on PGA Tour











Brian Murphy May 5, 2013 9:05 PMYahoo Sports







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Derek Ernst celebrates his first PGA Tour victory. (AP)



Derek Ernst is a winner on the PGA Tour, and that's big news for his family back in the central California town of Clovis, Calif., his buddies from UNLV who nicknamed him "Stripes" for his consistent contact and for the staff at the Foster's Freeze in Clovis who used to serve Ernst and his girlfriend the "Reese's Twister" when they went on nightly ice cream runs in their hometown.

Outside of that crew, nobody knew who Ernst was prior to his big day at Quail Hollow.

Oh, the things a golf writer can learn when researching the life and times of a 22-year-old, quick-swinging bomber ranked 1,207th in the world. Ernst stunned the golf world with a "Hoosiers"-like win over a leader board that included Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy. What do we know of the guy? Turns out Ernst likes ice cream. Reporters covering his runner-up finish at the 2011 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Bandon Dunes unearthed that, along with an amazing story about getting 10 stitches in his eye as a second grader when he had an accident with a sharp object while making his Mom a present, leading to consistently blurry vision in one eye. Crazy, but true.

[Related: Derek Ernst's life-changing phone call]

Other than that, the kid's a cipher, a mystery man who appeared on our Sunday TVs from Quail Hollow almost like a hoax. Nobody had a clue how to process it. Rules officials probably were on walkie-talkies, wondering if they should check his ID. Even the guy he beat in the playoff with a par on the 18th hole, England's David Lynn, said afterward: "I'd never heard of him." Luke Donald chimed in on Twitter: "Never heard of Ernst before this week. Shows how deep the fields on the PGA Tour are. Welcome to the winner's circle. #goodforhim"






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Ernst won the Wells Fargo Championship on the first playoff hole. (AP)The story makes other first-time winners on Tour this year – Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Kevin Streelman – look positively bland. To think, Ernst only got a Wonka golden ticket to play as fourth alternate after a slew of big-name players walked away from Quail Hollow because the greens were atrocious. To say the greens resembled a lunar landscape is an insult to lunar landscapes, which probably feature smoother rolls.



Ernst was ready to play in a Web.com event in Georgia, but got the call to The Show. He didn't care if the greens at Quail Hollow looked like Candlestick Park's sloppy turf from a winter NFL playoff game. To him, they were carpets of splendor. After battling his way through four (!) stages of Q-School to get his card, every PGA Tour invite was gold-plated. Still, he'd yet to find his comfort zone, missing five of seven cuts and boasting a high finish of tie-47th at New Orleans last week.

He had a rental car in Georgia, but had to swap it out before driving to North Carolina, lest he incur a $1,000 location fee. That was six days ago. Today, he's hitting "refresh" on his online checking account every five minutes to stare at the new addition to his new account balance – $1,200,000 for the win at Quail Hollow.

[Related: Final scores from Quail Hollow]

Once he got to Charlotte, the talent that made him a four-time All-American at UNLV finally burst through. Rounds of 67, 71 and 72 put him in position on Sunday, but still, nobody noticed. Why would they? CBS came on the air with Ernst three shots behind Mickelson, and Jim Nantz did his best to re-emphasize the big-name leader board of Lefty, Rory and Lee. That Watney was in the mix, too, was an interesting twist – a fellow Californian who played college golf at Fresno State, just miles from Ernst's childhood home.

And then, while Mickelson made unforgivable bogeys on 16 and 17; while Rory double-bogeyed the 12th hole; while Westwood bogeyed 12, 13 and 17 … Derek Ernst went on a butt-kicking spree. He made no bogeys on his back nine, carving birdie on No. 11, on the par-5 15th and, most memorably, the 18th hole, his 72nd of the week.

A notorious beast of a closing hole, the 478-yard par-4 18th has ruined many a day. Not Ernst's. He smoked a driver, then pulled 6-iron from 192, choked down, and hit the prettiest little draw to four feet you'd ever want to see. He made the putt for a birdie and final round 70 to force a playoff with Lynn and leave Lefty in the dust. We should also note Ernst did so without leaning his abdomen on a putter. What do you know? A young kid with a real putter.

[Watch: How Ersnst secured the win]

By then, Ernst was possessed. He didn't hesitate to repeat that swing with driver on the playoff hole, then hit a bold 3-iron to 15 feet and darn near jar the birdie putt before kicking in his par to beat Lynn.

These were profoundly unafraid golf swings, reminiscent of Streelman's work on the par-3s down the stretch at Innisbrook, or Horschel's work on the greens at TPC Louisiana. These new winners have some gumption.

How in the name of Ben Curtis did something like this happen? Donald's tweet provides one theory – the depth of talent on Tour these days is legitimate. There's also the fact that sports always provides unexpected magic. Milan High wasn't supposed to win the Indiana state high school basketball title, either.

Derek Ernst, welcome to fame. Be sure to keep that golf swing when you check in at this week's Players Championship, this year's PGA Championship, next year's Maui Tournament of Champions and, oh yeah, Augusta National next April. They have ice cream in the grill room there, too. Get some on your peach cobbler.

SCORECARD OF THE WEEK

68-67-73-73 – 7-under 281, Phil Mickelson, third place, PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship, Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, N.C.






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Bogies on the 16th and 17th holes cost Phil Mickelson a possible victory at Quail Hollow. (AP)I don't want to overstate this, because the guy won at Phoenix this year and finished third at Doral, and he's Lefty, after all.



But is Phil starting to look a little old out there?

Again, not pressing the panic button. Just observing. He turns 43 next month, and when contrasted against the lean-and-mean 22-year-old game of Ernst, you start to think: Holy heck, Lefty turned pro before some of these guys learned to walk.

And yes, we've seen Mickelson blow leads before. (Winged Foot, coughcough, Winged Foot.) The breakdown was just a startling reminder of his occasional frailty. This time, it was back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes to tumble from the outright lead at 9-under to signing a scorecard for 7-under to watching an Ernst-Lynn playoff.

Mickelson said afterward he was "bummed out" and thought he had the tournament under control. Yes, and yes. Now he heads to the Players Championship to take on an elite field. Last time we saw him versus an elite field was the Masters – where he finished tied-54th, his worst finish at Augusta National since missing the cut in 1997.

MULLIGAN OF THE WEEK

In fact, let's stay on this topic.

I was thinking it would be really fun to see Mickelson and Ernst tangling in a playoff: Two Californians going at it, one who can remember when MTV showed music videos; the other who thinks anybody who watches TV and doesn't stream video on their smart phone is a total loser.

[Watch: Mickleson struggles on Sunday]

It would be a clash of eras and a clash of résumés; Phil bringing the worldwide fame and glamour; Ernst bringing the Clovis Foster's Freeze fan club.

But it would require Mickelson to make par on the 17th hole, a brutal par-3 over water in the rain. Surely, though, a vet like Lefty could make a "3," right?

Instead, Mickelson tugged a 9-iron and missed the green right. That left him a very difficult lag putt, and his leave of 12 feet exemplified said difficulty. On those Quail Hollow greens, no way was Mickelson making the par putt from that far out, and the bogey was in the books. He'd miss the playoff by one stroke.

So, in the interest of an Ernst-Mickelson smackdown, a California clash in the Carolinas, let's go back out to the 17th tee, remind Lefty of the impending drama with the kid and … give that man a mulligan!

BROADCAST MOMENT OF THE WEEK

"He didn't want to make an illegal drop." – Jim Nantz, CBS, with the one-liner on Derek Ernst's rental car story.

Hey, now! Nice work by the usually buttoned-down Nantz. The story was that Ernst saved $1,000 by swapping rental cars in Georgia to make the drive to Quail Hollow, but Nantz made sure we'll never forget Tiger Woods' 2013 Masters. Like, ever. Especially after the story broke this week that it was former USGA rules official David Eger who was Tiger's "narc" on the drop, proving there's always somebody watching you – and he generally knows the rules better than you.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?






View gallery.

Tiger Woods hasn't played on the Tour since finishing in a tie for fourth at the Masters. (Reuters)Speaking of Tiger – yes, he will play at TPC Sawgrass this week, part of a Players Championship extravaganza that will feature all 30 of the world's top 30-ranked players. We know he's taking it seriously, because his main squeeze Lindsey Vonn made a red-carpet appearance at a gala last week and, asked where her dude Tiger was, answered: "He's practicing."



He better be. Sawgrass has been a house of horrors for Tiger of late – W/Ds in 2010 and 2011, and a tie-40th last year.

Rory will be there, too, after yet another disappointing weekend – back-to-back 73s that led to a tie-10th. He tweeted a picture of himself in his private jet flying home, prominently featuring his lime green Nikes on the leather seat in the photo. As a Rory fan, I didn't find any of it encouraging.

Meanwhile, the locker room at Sawgrass will have a spot for Derek Ernst. He should take his rental car from North Carolina down to Jacksonville for the drop-off and leave the radio on at full blast as he pulls in, just to show what a suddenly new baller he is.

Kerr claims Kingsmill crown in playoff

Kerr claims Kingsmill crown in playoff










Benjamin Standig, The Sports Xchange May 5, 2013 9:20 PMThe SportsXchange


JAMES CITY, Va. -- Cristie Kerr emits a confident if not boastful aura on the golf course, especially when the ultimate stakes are in play. Entering Sunday's final round with a two-stroke lead, the 35-year-old American had an extra level of motivation while in pursuit of her 16th tour title.

None of her previous LPGA Tour victories, including two on the Kingsmill Resort's River Course, came with her father on site.

Michael Kerr, a retired schoolteacher who traveled with his daughter early in her pro career, was on hand this time as Kerr shot a final-round, 2-under 69, then parred the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to outlast Norway's Suzann Pettersen and claim the Kingsmill Championship on Sunday.

"I wasn't going to lose, not today, not with my dad here," said Kerr after finishing at 12-under 272 for her first victory on tour this season. "He had never seen me win."

Previously the only two-time winner in the event's history, Kerr earned her third victory at Kingsmill, and it nearly came on the first playoff hole. After striking a 5-iron from the rough that sent the ball just passed the hole -- "beautiful, best shot I hit all day" -- Kerr missed a six-foot birdie chance.

While Pettersen's approach shot on the second playoff hole landed off the green, Kerr's landed safely 20 feet from the hole. Her subsequent lag putt settled just outside the cup. After Pettersen missed a par-saving putt for her first bogey of the day, Kerr completed her victory, improving her playoff record to 3-2.

The financial reward came via the $195,000 first prize. The emotional payoff came shortly after the winning putt as Kerr embraced her father, a Vietnam War veteran who has had both knees replaced.

"I think we just kind of cried and were just really happy," Kerr said about the post-round scene. "It's not only my day, but it's his day."

In order for it to become a winning day, Kerr had to overcome blustery winds, chilly temperatures and the match-play-like scenario. Oh, and sink one lengthy par-saving putt after another, including two on the final two holes of regulation. She also needed birdies on 15 and 16 to catch Pettersen at 12 under overall on the par-71 course.


"The way I hit it today, to even have a chance to win -- I made so many putts out there to save par, save any momentum," said Kerr, who hit only 10 greens in regulation through 18 but gave herself scoring chances on both playoff holes. "I started hitting it better late in the round, just in time to catch up a couple of shots."

Pettersen, who won the 2007 Kingsmill event in a playoff, fired a 4-under 67. A winner last month at the Lotte Championship, Pettersen made a playoff bogey on the 18th hole after she parred the par-4, 382-yard hole during all four rounds in regulation and the first playoff hole.

"I probably played my best today out of the four rounds," Pettersen said. "Obviously it's disappointing to lose in the playoff, but there was a lot of good to take from it."

The fifth-ranked player in the world had a lengthy birdie bid on the final hole of regulation roll just past the hole. Kerr then forced the playoff with a tricky up-and-down including, a testy six-foot par putt.

Ariya Jutanugarn, a 17-year-old from Thailand who led after the first and second rounds, matched Sunday's low round with a 66 and tied South Korea's Ilhee Lee for third place, two strokes behind the leaders.

"I played very good today, but not on the front nine," Jutanugarn said. "It's amazing for me to shoot like a 5 under on the back nine."

Americans Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford finished at 9 under. Inbee Park of South Korea, who retains the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings, shot a 67 and finished in seventh place, four shots back.

Kerr, No. 1 in the world for stretches of the 2010 season, ranked 12th entering the week, but she is projected to enter the top-10 when the next rankings are released.

While others threatened to contend, the final battle came down to the duo in the final pairing.

"I was really proud of the way I tried to ... take care of my own game today, especially with Suzann," said Kerr, who won at Kingsmill in 2005 and 2009. "She likes to try and intimidate people out there, but I'm not easily intimidated."

Peterssen, referring to finishing at 12 under par, said, "Thirteen was the number I had in my head, and it seems like that would have (won it). I was one short of where I wanted to be."

NOTES: Already a three-time winner this season, Park pulled within one stroke of first place by birding four of the first seven holes, but she made only one birdie over the final 11 holes despite consistently reaching the green in regulation. ... Lewis, the top-ranked American, started the round two shots behind Kerr. The world's No. 2 player fell back after bogeys on three of the first 12 holes.