Kuchar step closer to first tour win since 2014

ERIN, Wis. – The farmland that surrounds Erin Hills provides sufficient testimony to the blue-collar work ethic of the local residents preparing to watch the first U.S. Open played in their home state. And, when play begins Thursday, they will have a homegrown hero to root for, a Wisconsin native who embodies the values that the state’s residents value so highly. The fact that he earned his spot the hard way, through the U.S. Open’s 36-hole qualifiers that are open to anyone from major champions to club champions, is even more fitting. There was sentiment that Steve Stricker, owner of 12 PGA TOUR titles and this year’s Presidents Cup captain, should be awarded a special exemption into the field at Erin Hills, but the U.S. Golf Association did not agree. It didn’t matter after he won his qualifier in Memphis. “I still don’t believe I should have got a spot,â€� Stricker said Tuesday. “I’m convinced of that, but it would have been nice if they would have. But the way it worked out, I feel much better the way I got here.  After the qualifier, that was pretty sweet, because I earned my way in.â€� And the local fans are glad he did. This will be Stricker’s 20th U.S. Open, and first since 2014. He has three top-10 finishes, including back-to-back fifth-place showings in 1998 and 1999. His wife, Nikki, whose own roots in this state’s golf scene run deep, is on the bag this week. She admits getting emotional at the ovation they received as they walked up the ninth fairway in Monday’s practice round. The cheers they’ll hear at 2:20 p.m. on Thursday, when Stricker hits his first tee shot of the tournament, should be even louder. Nikki admits she’ll have to hold back her emotions on that first tee so that her husband, who isn’t afraid to shed a tear in public, doesn’t get emotional as well. Wisconsin’s abbreviated golf season creates passionate fans who take advantage of any opportunity to hit the course. The list of PGA TOUR players from the Badger State is a short one, and Stricker has lived here his entire life, except for his brief trip across the state border to attend the University of Illinois. He grew up in the one-stoplight town of Edgerton, where he could walk to Edgerton Towne Country Club, the 5,900-yard track that proudly displays Stricker’s pictures on its website. The state’s only PGA TOUR-sanctioned stop, the American Family Insurance Championship, is hosted by him. It will be played next week in Madison. And, of course, there’s the stories of how, when mired in a deep slump that cost him his TOUR card, Stricker rebuilt his game by hitting balls out of a trailer during Wisconsin’s snowy winter. All those factors contribute to the fans’ adoration for him. “It’s something that Mario (Tiziani, Nikki’s brother) told me when Steve and I first started dating. He said that ever since he had met Steve — and he had gone away to (college) and had some success — he was the same person as when he had first met him,â€� Nikki said. “He’s genuinely nice to everyone. He gets emotional. He’s real.â€� On Tuesday, fans wearing Brewers and Packers caps cheered as he walked toward the first tee for Tuesday’s practice round, yelling “We love you, Steveâ€� as they filmed the moment on their cell phones. “Him being here, it just makes sense,â€� said Tiziani, Steve’s agent and occasional caddie. “A lot of these people have grown up with him.â€� Stricker’s strong showing last Monday earned him a tee time at a course that he first played before it even opened to the public. He also played it when it was being considered as a U.S. Open site, in order to give a professional player’s input. He estimates he’s played Erin Hills about a half-dozen times. That’s more than the vast majority of the field, but may not make this week’s task any easier. Stricker is giving up some 30 yards off the tee to most players, and this week’s rain only inhibits the roll that can help him squeeze out a few extra yards. Balancing all the requests for his time has been another challenge. At one point Tuesday, Tiziani looked at his phone and said it was the first time all day that the screen was clear of notifications. But those requests for his time aren’t the only thing that has filled his time this week. True to his ethos, his days have been full of family affairs. On Monday, he was one of 12 people at a birthday dinner for his mother-in-law, Barbara. He scheduled Tuesday’s practice round for the afternoon so that he could watch his 11-year-old daughter, Isabelle, play in an interclub match that morning (it was rained out). His older daughter, Bobbi, is competing in this week’s state open, as well. If Stricker hadn’t qualified for Erin Hills, he said he’d likely be on her bag. The Strickers have been commuting to Erin Hills from their home in Madison, but they’ll move into a house closer to the course on Wednesday in order to give this tournament a more “normalâ€� feel. “The calming place for both of us is getting out on the golf course,â€� Nikki said. That’s when Stricker will return to his regular job, albeit followed by thousands of fans cheering enthusiastically for the local hero.

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IRVING, Texas — Brooks Koepka leaned in for a closer look at his ball buried in deep rough when a critter he couldn’t identify caused him to jump back with a bit of a startled look. His best guesses were a frog or rat, though he was too disoriented to be sure. It definitely wasn’t a birdie, because Koepka was on his way to finishing with two straight bogeys after sharing the lead late in his opening round of the AT&T Byron Nelson on Thursday. A year after losing to Sergio Garcia in a playoff at the TPC Four Seasons, Koepka settled for a 3-under 67 and trailed co-leaders James Hahn and Ricky Barnes by three shots. “It jumped out and I didn’t know what was going on, freaked me out,” said Koepka, who needed help from a bevy of tournament volunteers and fans to find his ball while hitting two shots out of the thick grass and just missing a chip that would have saved par on the ninth hole, his last. “I was so in amazement of what just happened, whether it jumped out, scared me. I couldn’t see it because it ran underneath the grass again.” Matt Kuchar, Jhonattan Vegas, Jason Kokrak and Cameron Tringale shot 66, and top-ranked Dustin Johnson topped the group at 67, a stroke ahead of fourth-ranked Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, the No. 6 player competing in his hometown event. Masters and defending Nelson champion Garcia, ranked fifth, had three bogeys on the front nine and just one birdie in a 73 that left him tied for 93rd. The event is the last at TPC Four Seasons, ending the tournament’s 35-year run in Irving. The tournament will move to the new links-style Trinity Forest Golf Club south of downtown Dallas next year. Tringale was the only player with a lower score than Johnson in a blustery afternoon round, while Hahn and Barnes played in slightly calmer conditions in the morning. “It was blowing hard and it was gusty,” said Johnson, who has four top-10 finishes in seven previous Nelsons. “I thought it was very difficult to judge the wind and control the ball. Felt like there were a lot of times I hit really good shots that didn’t end up in good spots.” Using a mallet putter instead of his traditional blade, Spieth made a 10-footer for his second straight birdie on his 17th hole, the par-4 eighth. Normally one of the best putters on tour, the Dallas native was frustrated with that part of his game after missing the cut at THE PLAYERS Championship last week. “It’s nothing crazy new,” said Spieth, whose best Nelson finish remains his tie for 16th as a 16-year-old amateur in 2010. “It helps me line up a bit better and that’s kind of been my struggle is lining the putter up where I want to. I just haven’t quite dialed in the speed yet.” Day birdied the par-4 11th when he chipped to 12 feet off a cart path behind the green after a 326-yard drive on the 309-yard hole. On the next hole, he had to bend his second shot around tree from the rough and saved par. Day eagled the par-5 seventh and curled in a 28-footer for birdie on 18. “In this wind, I think everyone’s kind of scrambling,” said Day, whose first PGA TOUR win came at the 2010 Nelson. “I was not going to drop it all the way back onto the other side of the road. It was just in long grass and I wouldn’t be able to flop it over. It was quite a simple shot. You just had to contact it correctly.” Hahn finished a bogey-free round with a 22-foot birdie putt on 18 to match his lowest round of the season. The two-time tour winner saved par with a 24-footer on 14. Hahn’s first four birdies were inside 10 feet. Barnes, who has made four straight cuts after missing 10 of his previous 13, started a run of three straight birdies with a chip-in on his 15th hole, the par-4 sixth. He had two bogeys. “I’m having signs of brilliancy,” said Barnes, still looking for his first win in his 255th PGA TOUR start. “I just need to put it all together.” Koepka birdied his first two holes and was 5 under through 13 holes before stumbling late. On No. 8, his 17th hole, Koepka had to lift a folder lawn chair to uncover his ball behind the green. He missed the par putt. After missing on a birdie chance for the win in 2016, Koepka went in the water on 18, the first playoff hole, to open the door for Garcia to become the only two-time winner since Lord Byron’s event moved to the Four Seasons. “I didn’t play very good today,” Koepka said. “Even last year, I didn’t play very good around this place and just managed to get a decent score. Three under isn’t very good around here. I’ll take it for how I played.”

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