For the second consecutive year in a row, one bad round derailed Brian Stuard’s chances at his home-state PGA Tour tournament.
Stuard, the Jackson native and Oakland alum, followed up a Saturday 73 with a Sunday round of 4-under 68, among the best among the early starters at Detroit Golf Club on Sunday. It could’ve been a 67 but he missed a short putt for par on the 18th. He made the mistake of leaving his chip above the hole on the toughest green on the course.
Last year, it was a sluggish Friday round that cost Stuard, who finished tied for fifth in the inaugural event.
He’s still looking for his second PGA Tour win.
Stuard finished the week at 12 under, which should be good enough for a top-30 finish or thereabouts. He finished tied for 20th at last week’s Travelers Championship in Connecticut.
The up-and-down story of was week stems from the par-4 10th, on which he made an eagle-2 on Thursday, a par 4 on Friday, a double-bogey 6 on Saturday and a birdie 3 on Sunday. For the record, that’s 2-4-6-3. He might want to be a Daily 4 lottery ticket.
— Tony Paul
WOLFF EYES NO. 2
Matthew Wolff is going for his second PGA Tour victory. Interestingly enough, the 21-year-old’s first came almost one year ago, also over the July 4 weekend, at the 3M Open in suburban Minneapolis in 2019.
If he gets it done Sunday, Wolff would be the youngest two-time winner on the PGA Tour since some guy named Tiger Woods.
A win could prove huge for the tournament, too, considering Wolff is considered a potential superstar in the making — he can keep up with Bryson DeChambeau off the tees, folks — and he’d probably be a regular participant in Detroit if he’s on the list of past champions.
He tees up shortly after 2.
Nobody out early has made a huge move up the leaderboard, so keep an eye on the last five groups.
TV coverage begins at 1 on Golf Channel, and shifts to the sweet tones of Jim Nantz on CBS at 3.
— Tony Paul
