Ridge slapped on back side

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/07/2009 (6230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It wasn’t until he was walking off the 18th green that Brad Fritsch pulled out his fingers and discovered he had just busted through one of golf’s gold standards.

“It wasn’t something I thought about,” said the 28-year-old Ottawa pro, “until I knocked it in on the last green. And then I was like, ‘Well, 2, 4, 5… OK, 6 under. That’s 29. Cool.”

That’s 29 in nine holes of professional golf — in this case, the back nine at Pine Ridge during Saturday’s third round of the $200,000 Players Cup.

Now, shooting 30 for nine holes is stupidly good. But 29? Well, that’s an invisible barrier many top professionals have never crossed, including — until now — Fritsch, who finished with a 64 that left him one shot behind leader Lucas Lee.

But here’s the best part — Fritsch carded the 29 on a day in which he was erratic with his drives, hitting just six fairways and 12 greens in regulation.

Take just the last five holes, for example, in which he looked more like David Copperfield than Tiger Woods.

On the 13th, Fritsch was in the trees but escaped to make birdie. On the 15th, he was right of the cart path but fired an eagle. And then on the 17th, he had to pitch out of the trees again to save par.

Put it altogether and Fritsch had four birdies and an eagle on the back nine — plus another birdie on the front — to finish the day with a 7-under 64 and head into today’s final round tied with American Byron Smith for second at 8-under, one behind Lee, who also shot 64.

Even if the rest of your game is just average, you can definitely putt your way to a championship — something Fritsch did just 23 times Saturday.

“I had the putter rolling — definitely,” said Fritsch. “But I felt like I actually played better (Friday) — and I shot 2 over.”

Fickle game this golf.

But a fun one too — especially when you’re the lone local hope in the field and you’ve got things rolling like Dauphin’s Ryan Horn did in the third round.

Horn shot a 68 to put himself within striking distance today, tied for eighth place at 5-under — just four strokes off the leader Lee, with whom Horn was paired Saturday.

“That’s all you can ask for is a chance on Sunday,” said Horn, 27.

However, history — Horn’s and that of this event — will be working against him today. No Manitoban has won this event since Rob McMillan did it in 1996 and it’s been almost as long for Horn, who cites his 1999 Manitoba junior title as the last major tournament he’s won.

But then beating the odds was the order of the day at Pine Ridge on a day that saw Lee — who was born in Brazil but emigrated to the United States to chase his golf dream — light up a golf course in Winnipeg with his 64. By day’s end, even Lee was surprised. “I came here with low expectations,” he said. “I missed the last three cuts.”

Lee birdied four of the first five holes and then added three straight on the 13th through 15th, plus a stray on the eighth. Lee’s only give-back came near the end of his round, a bogey on the 425-yard par-4 17th.

After rain, cold and wind through the first two days of the tournament, the weather was perfect on Saturday and that was reflected in the scores. More of the same is expected today, with the forecast calling for sun and a high of 27C.

Horn predicted those kinds of conditions will mean a 64 or even 63 today may be required to win this tournament.

Is the local up to that kind of round on a course where the record is a 62?

Don’t count him out, he says. “I’ve got a chance. One more round to go,” said Horn. “I just have to stay focused.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca