Stroud, Landry make Tampa cut, may be paired
Published 8:20 pm Friday, March 22, 2019
Round three of the Valspar Championship at the Innisbrook Resort outside Tampa is shaping up as the answer to a future trivia question about professional golfers from Southeast Texas.
The question would be something along the lines of when was the first time Port Neches-Groves exes Chris Stroud and Andrew Landry were paired together in a PGA tournament.
While a Pea Patch dream pairing was not 100 percent assured as of this writing, all signs point in that direction. Landry (72-71) and Stroud (72-71) were the fourth and fifth players to post at one-over-par 143. Tour rules call for players with the same scores to be paired in a first in, first out order.
With threesomes paired from the low score and going down the leaderboard, Stroud and Landry should be paired with Billy Hurley.
The good news for the PNG duo is, despite being one over, they are still in reach of a top 10 finish. Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course is playing so tough they are only seven shots off the lead and four shots out of 10th.
Former Lamar golfer Shawn Stefani is in much better position. The Barbers Hill ex added a 71 to his Thursday 68 and is tied for 10th at 139. Paul Casey and Landry’s former Arkansas teammate Austin Cook share the lead at 136.
Neither Stroud nor Landry made the cut on the number without considerable stress. Landry had to roll in a 24-foot par putt on the 18th hole to stay
alive. Stroud was required to get up-and-down on his final hole, after short-siding himself in a bunker.
Stroud’s even-par 71 was pretty much miraculous, given his woes getting iron shots anywhere close to the hole. He hit just seven of 18 greens and only once had a birdie putt inside 20 feet. He missed that one. His two birdies came from 25 feet, 4 inches on his second hole of the day and from 24-9 on the third.
After that it was pretty much an example of true grit. Stroud sank par saving putts of 9-8 and 8-6 and managed to avoid three putting, or failing to get up and down, despite consistently being between 30 and 40 feet away in regulation.
Landry, meanwhile, also started fast with a birdie from 4 feet on the par 5, first hole. He suffered back-to-back bogeys on 3 and 4, got back to even on the day with a birdie from 15 inches on the par 4, sixth, then made another bogey at eight to turn in one-over 36.
That left him 2-over for the tournament and one above the projected cut line. He would stay that way until a birdie 2 on the 13th. That set the stage for the scary finish at the 18th hole. And for a pairing, if it happens, that will be worth a trivia question.
Coverage of the third round will air from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Golf Channel.
In the Web.com Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open, being played outside Lafayette, West Orange-Stark ex Michael Arnaud slipped from an opening 67 to a 73 but made the cut on the number at 140.