NAPA, Calif. – Ben Griffin grabbed a shot to lead and never saw his shoulder on the PGA Tour. He has two players in the world’s No. 1 chased him in the Procore Championship.
One is Jackson Koivun, a teenager at Auburn, ranked No. 1 in the world amateur rankings and he had locked in the PGA Tour when he became a professional player.
Another even more daunting – Scottie Scheffler, the first player in the entire golf, had a double bogey on Saturday but still hit eight with a 64 shot.
Griffin won the first game of the game on the final hole and had to settle for 70 2 shots, narrowing his lead to one shot from Koivun and taking two shots on Scheffler.
Griffin is under 200.
“Even though he’s still in college, he’s got a lot of evidence on the tour,” Griffin said of Coyvin.
“I know he has a lot of games. He’s second on Sunday’s tour, so he can be like me, and like me,” he said. “I just have to focus on myself, stay motivated and try to do a lot of birdies tomorrow without worrying about anyone.”
If there are any signs on Saturday, it should be a big show. Since Phil Mickelson played, even though the competition moved to Napa in 2014, the crowd was the largest. It was an opportunity to go to Bethpage Black for the match between September 26 and 28, with two players on the US Ryder Cup team.
Most of the time they met Scheffler there, and most of the crowds in the hole made four holes with the same ode of “Scottie!”. and “America!”
“If I go out and play well, consistent golf, I’m going to start the road on the rankings, and that’s what I’m going to get into today,” Schaffler said.
He missed only two greens and only missed one big mistake on the 14th. His tee shot soft and rough. His green was not far enough and then tried to clamp the wedge to a tight pin. But it became soft, falling into a bad lie in a deep bunker, he blew up 15 feet and took two putts for a double bogey.
Schefler answered three birdies in his last four holes, two of which were 5 and the other birdie at 17-17-17-17-7 iron to 6 feet.
Koivun didn’t make a good start. He had two bogeys earlier, and when he birdied back on the eighth of the third, he started to slide down the rankings while a tough shot from the fairway bunker to 20 feet for a pressure-free shot, it was important at the time to avoid another setback.
He then was five in the last nine games, including a Hawk for the second consecutive day in 12-12 shots, which was a 40-foot putter.
“There isn’t a good start, not the start I wanted, but the ability to turn it around midway through the round, make some birdies, make some putts, flip the script and keep it up with its own controversy,” Koivun said.
He had the chance to be the second-place amateur for years after Nick Dunlap last year at American Express.
“I know Nick very well,” Coyvin said. “I haven’t really talked to him about him this week, but definitely want to go and see what he did.”
Meanwhile, Griffin’s birds weren’t as many as the first round birds, but still managed to keep distance from the three birds and didn’t make a mistake until the 18th. When he was 127 yards on the fairway, he hit the third shot on the 5th, when he shorted the front pin, flashed the green, and had to get forward for a bogey.
Griffin won Scheffler’s six shots in the Colonial earlier this year. He also fought in the memorial to track down Schefler. So the best thing about golf in a mix is nothing new.
“Not too worried about what he would do. I’m only better than him,” Griffin said. “If I do this tomorrow, I should be able to lift the trophy. Obviously, there are a few others, but I think everyone knows Scottie Scheffler’s ability and I just have to stay ahead.”
