PGA TOUR: Stroud shreds Spyglass Hill, moves into 14th-place tie

Published 7:04 pm Saturday, February 9, 2019

Elevated by what was likely his best round of the year, Chris Stroud climbed 31 places up the leaderboard Saturday into a tie for 14th at the 54-hole mark of the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.

Stroud, playing Spyglass Hill — the toughest of the three courses being used this week — shot a bogey-free 67 for 207. He authored a 66 each of the last two weeks, but the degree of difficulty in raw, rainy weather was much higher at Spyglass.

Despite the leap he made on moving day, Stroud is only on the fringe of contention. Leader Paul Casey, who also shot 67 at Spyglass, stands at 15-under 200. Phil Mickelson and Lucas Glover are three shots back at 203.

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The Port Neches-Groves ex, however, is primed for a second consecutive top-10 finish, something that has not happened in stroke play tournaments since 2012.

Stroud tied Casey for the third low round of the day in relation to par. Adam Hadwin was six under at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and Martin Trainer posted six under at Spyglass.

After being all over the place with his driver last week in Scottsdale, Stroud hit 10 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens in what looked to be a relatively stress free round. The highlight of his day was an eagle 3 on the 11th hole that lifted him to four under.

He ripped a hybrid to 18 feet from 220 yards, then sank the putt.

Stroud had gotten into red figures with a birdie 2 on the third hole, then reached two under with a birdie 4 on the seventh. He shaved a fifth shot off par with a birdie 3 at the 17th.

After starting the weeks at No. 115 in FedEx points, Stroud was projected 80th after Saturday’s round. That will go up or down depending on what happens on Sunday when the weather is again predicted to be cold and weather.

The telecast of the final round begins Sunday at noon on the Golf Channel, then moves to CBS (KFDM-6) at 2 p.m. All players will be at Pebble Beach.