STEVENS POINT, Wis. — After his first look at SentryWorld as a championship golf course, Padraig Harrington said it would prove to be a good layout to come from behind on. Birdies are there to be had, along with trouble.
Steve Stricker agreed with that assessment – and the Madison resident will find himself doing just that as he heads to the weekend looking to make up three shots on U.S. Senior Open leader Bernhard Langer.
Four other golfers stand between Stricker and the top of the leaderboard heading into Saturday’s third round, including fellow Madison resident and good friend Jerry Kelly. Kelly shot a 1-under 71 and is 1 under for the tournament, tied for third with Dicky Pride and Retief Goosen.
First-round leader Rod Pampling is alone in second at 2 under.
Stricker and Kelly will be chasing together, too, as they will be paired together Saturday and tee off at 1:29 p.m. ET off No. 1.
“I mean, yeah, that’s a fairytale week even for us,” Kelly acknowledged. “I mean, it’s pretty cool. I’m all for that. We really enjoy playing with each other. It will just make it that much cooler.”
Kelly got to 2 under at one point in the tournament, but a couple of bogeys on the front nine (his back nine) had him come in just shy of Langer and Pampling.
“It’s much more penalizing,” Kelly said of the course. “It can jump up and bite you on what you would consider the easiest holes. It doesn’t make any difference. If you get in that rough, you’re going to struggle. That’s just all there is to it.
“I think the way the greens are the putting’s not going to get any easier, and the putting is difficult already. It’s going to be a test on the weekend. It’s going to be a test of patience.”
As for Stricker, he admitted he fought himself a bit during the opening round of the tournament to finish 1 over. He acknowledged the nerves of being a home-state favorite, having a Tour-record streak of rounds of par or better on the line, and then managing his emotions after uncharacteristic errors led to big numbers.
It led to him beginning his second round four shots back of Pampling.
But Stricker got it going early Friday, maneuvering around his first 14 holes at 3-under to pull within a shot of the lead. But then Stricker bogeyed No. 6 and No. 9 – where his temper flashed after hacking out of the rough following an offline tee shot.
“It’s just I know how important it is to drive it in the fairway there, and I just didn’t put a good swing on a 3-wood,” Stricker said of his last hole of the day. “I tried to send it down the right and turned it over, and I started in the middle and turned it over. That rough on the left is the worst on the course, and I know it is. My ball was straight down there. I had all I could do to hit a sand wedge 40 or 50 yards.
“I wanted to make a par and get under par kind of thing. But again, I’m right there. I’m going to have to have a couple good rounds this weekend, but I’m right in there.”
Stricker is in the mix by shooting a 1-under 70 on Friday and heads to the weekend at even par for the tournament. He is tied with Ernie Els for sixth, three shots clear of Langer.
“I’m paying attention to who’s on top and where the lead is at,” Stricker acknowledged. “Obviously I wanted to get more under par than where I was at there coming in. It’s just about patience too, and we’re only halfway through and a lot can happen still.
“You can get it going here. I had it 3-under on the day in the middle of the fairway on No. 4 with a sand wedge in my hand and a par-5 coming up next, and I don’t make two birdies there. Or I should have probably made one, you know. So it’s out there. If you play well, if you get it in the fairway, you can definitely shoot a good, you know, I’m saying a 4-, 5-under round, so would be a helluva round. But it’s tough.”
Bernhard Langer on the 10th hole during the second round for the 2023 U.S. Senior Open at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. (Photo: Tork Mason/USA TODAY)
Langer, 65, got it going at times on Friday as he fired a 3-under 68 to surge into the top of the leaderboard, making six birdies against three bogeys.
He is the oldest player to hold the 36-hole lead in the championship.
“Played pretty solid, and believe it or not, I had two three-putts and a hit a sand wedge from the middle of the fairway into the water hazard, which is painful when you think about that from 100 yards, but that’s golf,” Langer said. “The course is tough, but it’s fair, and it’s a great setup. I’m fortunate to be playing well and look forward to the weekend.”
Langer is sitting on 45 PGA Tour Champions wins. His next one breaks the tie with Hale Irwin.
Langer also has 11 Champions tour majors. A 12th would put him three ahead of Gary Player’s nine.
Langer is also the only player to win all five majors on the Champions circuit.