It was quite a day for Steve Stricker Friday at the PGA TOUR Champions Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Golf Course. Stricker fired a course-record 12-under 60 to go with his first round 68 to take a two-stroke lead at -16 over Alex Cejka entering Saturday’s final round of the 54 hole tournament with a $2 million purse.
Cejka carded a bogey-free 64 and sits in solo second at 14-under. The 52-year-old seeks his third win on PGA TOUR Champions (46th start). In each of Cejka’s two wins on PGA TOUR Champions Steve Stricker held the lead entering the final round and the two were paired together on the last day in what were 72-hole tournaments.
“Yeah, it was a good day, it was a special round. I got off to a good start. I was 4 under through five and getting through that fifth hole with a birdie is a key to the round for me and I did that. Strung together a few more birdies after that, too. Hit the ball solidly again today and I just hit it closer today than I did yesterday and gave myself some opportunities and made some nice putts. The weather is so pure, the course is so pure and conditions, it’s all so nice,” Stricker said about his course record.
Stricker matched the second-lowest round in PGA TOUR Champions history. It is the 16th time a Champions Tour player has shot a round of 60 with last time being Fred Couples at the final round of the 2022 SAS Championship. It is one stroke higher than the low 18-hole score of 59 in PGA TOUR Champions history which was set by Kevin Sutherland in 2014. Sutherland was first round leader yesterday with Darren Clarke. Sutherland shot 3-under 69 second round and sits tied for ninth at 10-under along with World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els.
This is Stricker’s lowest 18-hole score on PGA TOUR Champions which set the 18-hole scoring record at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai previously held by Loren Roberts with 61 in 2006. Stricker’s 36-hole score (128) is his second-lowest on PGA TOUR Champions
This is his 13th time leading/co-leading entering the final round on PGA TOUR Champions Stricker, 55 years old seeks his 12th win on PGA TOUR Champions with 48 starts.
A win Saturday would move Stricker into T24 on the PGA TOUR Champions all-time wins list. Would be his fifth consecutive season with a win and would improve his winning percentage on PGA TOUR Champions to 25%. He is making his second start at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai having finished tied for 29th in 2019
“ I actually played pretty good even the front nine, I just didn’t make any putts. You know, just tried to make good shots, trying to stay out of the lava. You make a bad shot, it’s not rough, it’s immediately lava. So I tried to keep it inbounds, in play. I didn’t look at the leaderboard I think until 16 because it’s like it’s right in your face right next to the green. But I’m not a leaderboard watcher. I’m playing my game, that’s all I can do. I have no control if somebody in front of me or behind me is playing great. It’s such a level of play, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the final group or in the third last group. I think we all are pretty pleased,” Cejka, who shot 6-under par on the back nine, said.
First-round co-leader and 2021 champion Darren Clarke is three strokes behind Stricker having posted 6-under 66 and sits in third at 13-under. Three-time Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai winner Bernhard Langer is one of five players tied for fourth at 11-under as he seeks his record-tying 45th win on PGA TOUR Champions. After 36 holes, he is the only player in the field without a bogey or worse.
Jerry Kelly, 2018 champion, shot 8-under 64 and sits tied for fourth at 11-under, along with Ken Tanigawa, Mike Weir and first-timer at Hualalai Justin Leonard. Reigning PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year Steven Alker sits tied for 12th at 8-under. Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, a three-time winner at this event and defending this year sits tied for 14th at 7-under.
The final round will be broadcast on Golf Channel 2 to 5 p.m. First T-time is at 10 a.m. and the leaders will tee off at 12:23 p.m. One of the highlights of the final round is when the crowd gathers around the 18th green as the final groups finish their rounds and the Nani Lim Hula Halu performs on the 18th green leading into the trophy presentation.