11 players are within four shots of the lead
March 28, 2021 by Anthony Mikos in Recap with 0 comments
TYLER, TX — The thick woods of the Dogwood Course are testing the skills — and mental strength — of the world’s best players. After Saturday’s second round, there’s little separation at the top of the field, and the competition seemed to level up with some pretty spectacular rounds that challenged the earlier frontrunners. Here’s a look at what happened on moving day and where things stand heading into championship Sunday.
- Veteran Ricky Wysocki picks right where he left off after the Belton Open. His 10-under par round pushed him into a tie for first place at 17-under par on the weekend after completing a bogey-free round. Although he only hit the fairway off the tee 50% of the time, the best scrambler in the world was in fine form, going 8/8 on saving par or better. He finished two-under on holes when he didn’t find the fairway. His 100% C1X putting led the way to a 1064-rated round in which he birdied seven of the front nine.
- Matt Orum matched Wysocki’s 10-under to tie him for the lead heading into championship Sunday. The story on Orum’s day was his consistency. Carding zero OBs on 83% fairway hits, Orum was able to stay out of trouble while capitalizing on four Circle 2 putts.
- Chris Dickerson is one of the only competitors from day one that is still at the top of the leaderboard. His 7-under par round ties him for third place with Casey White, the co-leader after round one, at 16-under par. After hitting the fairway at a rate of 78%, Dickerson was able to knock down four C2 looks. White got off to a slow start, only going one-under in the front nine, but knocked down six birdies in the back to stay right in the hunt for his first Elite Series win.
- Mr. Hot Round, AKA Kevin Jones, proved on Saturday why he was an All-Star. Jones parked 22% of the holes while also competing on the greens, going 100% from Circle 1. His 11-under par round is the best of the weekend, jumping him 15 spots for sole possession of fifth place. He got the only eagle of the day on the 519′ par 4 13th after driving the green to inside 30 feet!
- Calvin Heimburg gets the “shot of the day” award. After leaving it short off of the tee on hole one, he threw his second shot in from 94 feet to grab a birdie. With a 92% C1X percentage, he finishes the round at 14-under par, three shots off the lead.
- Ace Watch: The field only saw one ace on the day from Jake Hebenheimer. His shot came on hole six, a 243′ par 3 with a slight dogleg to the left. He finished his round 6-under par for a total of 5-under par to start day three.
Statline
Hole one played as one of the most challenging holes on the course during day two. With an average of +0.4 over par, the hole only gave up three birdies. Kevin Jones, Ben Callaway, and Calvin Heimburg were the rightful owners to these birdies with two of them coming from lengthy throw-ins. Heimburg, as noted above, buried a 94-foot bomb with Callaway not too far behind with an 82-footer. Jones, though, drove the green and hit a 27′ putt for the birdie.
Heard
“I knew it was going to take a lot of birdies out here. This is a wooded course and there’s a lot of birdies to be had, so I just wanted to get off to a hot start and maybe put some pressure on the leaders to see what happens. I was just happy to get off to a hot start, finish strong, and come out with a solid round.” – Ricky Wysocki on his day two performance
