South African Darren Fichardt tied the mark for lowest round of the PGA Tour Champions season with an 11-under-par 61 in the second round Saturday to take a one-stroke lead at 14-under 130 into the final round of the Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, Ark.
Fichardt’s bogey-free round left him one shot better that first-round leader Zach Johnson (67). The 50-year-old Johnson, a two-time major winner, overcame an uneven front nine to shoot 5 under on the back nine to earn a spot in Sunday’s final group.
New Zealand’s Steven Alker also shot a 67 on Saturday, tying him for third at 11 under and gaining him the last spot in the final threesome Sunday. Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (68) is tied with Alker while South Africa’s Retief Goosen (66), Jerry Kelly (67), Argentine Ricardo Gonzalez (67) and Michael Block (69) tied for fifth at 9 under. Four other golfers are another shot back.
Fichardt, a Tour rookie, started his day on fire at Pleasant Valley Country Club, parring the par-4 first hole before going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie over the next four. He shot an 8-under 28 on before the turn, then birdied Nos. 10 and 11 before cooling off and parring the next six holes. He birdied the par-5 18th to end his round.
His 61 tied the tournament record set in the first round last year by Alker.
The top 36 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standings after Sunday will advance to the Cup Championship in Phoenix in two weeks.
Fichardt’s round propelled him from 46th to a projected 13th in the standings.
“The first 11 holes was awesome,” the 51-year-old Fichardt said after what he called his “best round ever.”
“I was a little irritated because (Friday) I felt like I could go low and not too much went right,” he added. “But I could feel the lines were getting close to being spot on. You know, I’ve come off four really tough weeks where I thought I could do a lot better, but I was struggling with a few injuries. So yeah, it was good to get a good round today.”
“Yeah, that was a heck of a score,” said Alker, whose 61 came in the first round last year. “Today was the day to do it, right? I mean, there’s no wind. Fire at some flags and try to take advantage of it. … It was a heck of a round.”
Alker is also one of the golfers to post a 61 this season, doing so in the second round of the Rogers Charity Classic. The season’s other 61, by Mark Wilson, came in the same round as Alker.
Johnson, a fellow rookie and one of six players to get their first Tour win this season, credited his round-opening bogey as one of the reasons he was able to weather a front nine that included two bogeys and two birdies.
“I actually made a really bad but yet very good bogey, if that makes sense, on the first hole,” he said after his round. “I mean, I don’t know what I made, probably a 10-footer for 5. … And then I steadied it. I played pretty good.”