Brendan Steele, who tied the course record with a 63 in his opening round, remained atop the leaderboard Friday with a two-under 70 after 36 holes of the Frys.com Open. Loupe earned his Tour card that day with his 2-shot victory in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the third event of the Web.com Tour Finals, closing out his victory with solid play down the stretch.
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The Northern Irishman had just played a chip shot from next to the green at the driveable par-four 17th when Grillo’s drive landed only a couple of feet from the surprised McIlroy, who clearly received no warning that he was in danger of being hit.
Grillo hit a missile right on line to the green, and it whizzed past McIlroy’s face by mere inches.
Two PGA Tour rookies were among the eight players two shots behind at 12-under 204.
“Had a few of them drop”, Loupe said. Two years back, he was way ahead and I nearly chased him down.
Grillo was aghast that of all people he could have clunked, it had to be the most recognizable name in the tournament, McIlroy.
“It’s a rough game for me”, he said.
THE PUTTER: From tee-to-green, Rory McIlroy feels as though he should be close to the lead instead of six shots behind. The 18-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander rallied, driving the short par-4 15th to set up a two-putt birdie and making a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. It left him more discouraged than disconsolate.
“A couple of guys are going lower than that but for the first round of the season … it was a nice way to get things going”.
Steele, the leader, is ranked 79th in the world.
“… That was a great round (63) that Andrew shot”. If Loupe’s name sounds at all familiar, it’s because he was the first-round leader of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2014 before quickly falling out of contention.
And it is a big start for Varner, who joins Tiger Woods as the only players of black heritage on the PGA Tour this year. All four players are part of the fourth-place tie. And while he was seven shots worse on Friday, it was like that for a lot of players.
Brendan Steele has spent four-and-a-half years looking to rediscover that precious winning feeling and it could return this weekend at the Frys.com Open in Napa Valley, California. “And it’s always tough to follow up a round like yesterday with anything even under par”.
McIlroy’s score on Thursday, as he alluded, was not pace-setting form. He doesn’t plan any strategic changes, however.
“I’m sure they were happy to see that they can take my money, and then I can come out here and play well”, he said.
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It was only after he finished that he saw that just about everyone else did so much more. “Was just able to keep it going and finish well”.
