NAPA, CA – Ben Griffin clings to the one-shot lead, offering over-shoulder views he’s never seen on the PGA Tour. He has two top players in the world.
One is Auburn Junior and No. 1 in the world’s amateur rankings, Auburn Junior, who has already locked up PGA Tour cards when he became a pro.
The other is much more difficult – Scotty Scheffler, the number one player in all golf, was double bogeying on Saturday and shot an 8-under 64.
Griffin made the tournament’s first bogey in the final hole and had to settle for 2 under 70.
Griffin was 16 under 200.
“He’s proven a lot on tour despite being still in college,” Griffin said of Kovrun.
“I know he has a lot of games. He’s in second place in the tour event he goes to Sunday, so he can play just like Scotty, just like I do,” he said. “I have to focus on myself, stay proactive and try to make lots of birdies tomorrow. No one needs to worry.”
If Saturday is any sign, it should be a pretty show. Even when Phil Mickelson played, the crowd was the biggest since the tournament moved to NAPA in 2014. This was the chance to finally feature all but two players from the US Ryder Cup team before heading to Bethpage Black for the September 26-28 match.
Most of the time they were there to see Schaeffler, but the crowd was four deep in most holes with an equal chant of “Scotty!” and “America!”
“If you’re going out and playing good, consistent golf, I’ll start moving up the leaderboard and then that was the goal today,” said Schaeffler, who started round eight shots behind Griffin.
He only missed two greens and only had one big blunder on the 14th. His tee shot drifted into a soft, thick rough. He appeared just below the green and then tried to clip the wedge near the tight pin. But it came out softly, and became a bad lie in the deep bunker, and he exploded into 15 feet and took two putts for a double bogey.
Schaeffler replied with three birdies in his final four holes. Two of them are on par 5 and the other is 6 feet from 7 irons on the 17th.
Koivun wasn’t off to a great start. He had two bogeys in front, bouncing off a birdie at par 3 8th, and starting to slide the leaderboard for a stress-free shot, bouncing off a tough shot from the fairway bunker to 20 feet.
And he’s 5 under on the back nine, a par 5 12th day in a row, this has a 40-foot putt.
“It wasn’t the start I was looking for, it wasn’t a great start, but I was able to turn it in the middle of the round, make birdies, make some putts, turn the script over and keep the fight going,” Koivun said.
He has the chance to become the second amateur over the years to win the PGA Tour, following Nick Dunlap on the American Express last year.
“Nick knows pretty well,” Kovrun said. “I wasn’t really talking to him about this week, but I’d definitely like to go and see what he did.”
Meanwhile, Griffin didn’t make as many birdies as the opening round, but he was not wrong with three birdies until the 18th. He was playing his third shot at par 5 18th place from 127 yards on the fairway.
Griffin won the Colonial earlier this year, with Schaeffler shooting six shots. He also continued his fight at the monument to pursue Schaeffler. So the best golf in the mix isn’t new.
“I’m not too worried about what he’s going to do. I have to play better than him,” Griffin said. “And if you do that tomorrow, you should be able to lift the trophy. Obviously there are others in the mix, but I think everyone knows what Scotty Schaeffler can do.
