Rickie Fowler leads entering Sunday at Waste Management Phoenix Open

SOUTHPORT, England – Glasgow native Kent Bulle is in contention at The Open Championship. He’s not a Scot giving the British fans a rooting interest, though. He’s a Web.com Tour player who is a surprise contender at The Open Championship after earning his spot with a win in South America. Bulle is from Glasgow, Kentucky, a town of approximately 15,000 residents and a dozen stoplights. It was named for the Scottish hometown of one of its founders, John Matthews. His mascot at Glasgow High School was the Scotties, and the town is known for its annual Scottish Highland Games. Bulle has had little success this season in the States, but has handled himself well on the unique challenges of links golf. Bulle, who is playing in just his second major championship, sits at even-par 140 after shooting 68-72 in the first two rounds. He is No. 632 in the Official World Golf Ranking. “It’s been a whirlwind,â€� said Bulle, a 28-year-old alumnus of Middle Tennessee State. “(I) try to keep (my) head down and plug, and not think about the situation (I’m) in, just try to play good golf.â€� The Open Championship offers a unique hiatus from the Web.com Tour’s current 14-tournament stretch that runs through the tournament’s conclusion. Bulle sits 96th on the money list, and needs to crack the top 75 by Aug. 27 to qualify for the Web.com Tour Finals, where players compete for 50 PGA TOUR cards. Bulle is in The Open after winning his second consecutive Argentina Open last November. He first won the title in 2015, as part of a season that saw him finish second on the PGA TOUR-Latinoamerica money list. He competed on the Web.com Tour last year, but returned to Argentina to defend his title. The victory, which he earned in a three-man playoff, was his lone top-10 in 21 tournaments last year. It came with a big reward: an invitation to The Open. It’s a little different than his first links golf experience. He took a golf trip to Scotland about seven years ago and waited outside the St. Andrews clubhouse in the early morning in order to play the Old Course. “We sat next to the first tee, huddled at 3:00 in the morning. It was pouring down rain,â€� Bulle said. “It was about 45 degrees and we sat there for about 4 ½ hours to be able to play. And then once we got there it blew 35, 40 mph with gusts over 50. … Balls were rolling off greens and stuff like that.â€� Conditions weren’t quite that difficult at Royal Birkdale on Friday, but they were trying. Bulle handled them well. His birdie on the first hole put him into a tie for fourth, just two shots off the lead. It was one of just two birdies on the day, but his 2-over 72 was two strokes better than Friday morning’s scoring average of 74.4. Only four players broke par in the morning half of the draw. Bulle said he enjoys links golf because of the short-game shots it demands and the fact that pars are valuable at difficult Royal Birkdale. The course is known for its tight fairways, but Bulle ranks 14th on the Web.com Tour in total driving. He’s 15th in driving distance, averaging 317.9 yards off the tee, while also hitting 65 percent of his fairways. His best finish of the season came at the season-opening event in Exuma (T13), where high winds led to just one player breaking par. “I like when par has some value,â€� he said. He’s missing two Web.com Tour events to compete in The Open, but is scheduled to be back on the circuit again at next week’s Pinnacle Bank Championship. He sits $13,682 dollars behind Justin Hueber, who ranks 75th on the Web.com Tour money list, as he chases a spot in the Web.com Tour Finals. A good showing this week could help Bulle qualify for that four-event series via non-member FedExCup points. He would have to match No. 200 on the FedExCup points list to do so. He can earn points this week, and a top-10 finish would get him in next week’s RBC Canadian Open. “This week means a lot to me, not just because it’s The Open Championship,â€� he said. “There’s a lot on the line.â€�

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