Tag: Charlie Saxon

Charlie Saxon looks to go wire-to-wire at Korn Ferry Tour’s Lincoln Land Championship

Charlie Saxon put together another strong round on Saturday and is looking to go wire-to-wire at the Lincoln Land Championship.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A nettlesome wedge shot flustered Charlie Saxon enough for him to vent a little frustration on his club during the third round of the Lincoln Land Championship at Panther Creek Country Club on Saturday.

He quickly rebounded on the next hole with his only birdie on the back nine to preserve a one-stroke lead over 2018 tournament champion Anders Albertson and enter Sunday’s final round at 18-under-par.

Austen Truslow and Brett Drewitt remain close behind in third at 16-under while Ben Kohles sits fifth at 14-under.

“It was good after kind of parring it out there for 10 or so holes,” Saxon said of his birdie on the par-5 16th, breaking a streak of 11 straight pars. “It was nice to hit a good iron on the green there. I hit a pretty abysmal eagle putt but it was nice to roll in a 3-footer for birdie. I played a solid two holes coming in and I’m sitting in a good spot.”

Saxon, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, also dropped his putter on No. 15 after missing his golden birdie opportunity that started with a promising long drive within 100 yards of the green. But Saxon said his caddie, Ryan Boshoven, helped allay the frustration.

His patience paid off on No. 16 with a birdie after nailing the middle of the green from 195 yards with a 7-iron on the par-5.

Lincoln Land Championship: Leaderboard

“The putter was an accident,” Saxon said of No. 15. “I had 85 yards from there — pretty easy wedge shot. I was just biding my time all day waiting for an opportunity to really get a good look at birdie. That was a bit of a bummer. It was nice to back it up with a birdie.”

Albertson, who has one top-10 finish this year and ranks 75th in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings, chipped in from 94 yards for eagle on No. 8 and birdied Nos. 13 and 16.

“I was doing some work on the range last night,” Albertson said of his chip shot. “That was a great number for me.”

Albertson previously went 25-under at Panther Creek in 2018 for his only victory on tour. He also finished fifth in 2017, one stroke away from reaching a four-way playoff won by Adam Schenk.

“It’s nice to come back to a place where you’ve had success,” Albertson said.

For the third straight round, Saxon had no bogeys. The University of Oklahoma graduate last won professionally in June 2018 on the PGA Tour Series in China and is ranked 51st in the point standings with two top-10 finishes. This year’s champion receives 500 points in the Korn Ferry standings and $108,000 with four more tournaments left on the schedule.

“I really didn’t hit it as well as I have the last few days,” Saxon said. “The putter saved me at the end of the day. I made a couple real nice 70-footers (for a two-putt) for par on the front nine. They kept my round together.

“It wasn’t the cleanest round even though my scorecard was lacking bogeys, but I’m happy with it. We’re moving forward. Hopefully I play a little bit better tomorrow.”

Charlie Saxon bogey-free for second day, leads after 36 holes at Korn Ferry Tour’s Lincoln Land Championship

Charlie Saxon went bogey-free for a second day to keep his lead after 36 holes at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lincoln Land Championship.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Charlie Saxon had another dream start.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma, native wrangled three straight birdies early in the second round of the Lincoln Land Championship at Panther Creek Country Club and stayed atop the leaderboard at 15-under-par for a two-stroke lead over Australian Brett Drewitt.

Saxon didn’t quite match his career-low 61 from Thursday but once again went bogey-free at 5-under 66 Friday.

“It’s a long tournament on a relatively easy golf course, so you’re just going to have to make birdies,” Saxon said. “I just tried to run away from everybody as far as I could.”

Saxon last pulled out a win in June 2018 on the PGA Tour Series in China.

“It’s been a little longer than I would’ve liked, but hopefully we solve that this weekend,” Saxon said.

Drewitt was among three players to score 9-under Friday but stands alone at second. Vincent Whaley is third with a 12-under total while Harry Hall and 2018 tournament champion Anders Albertson are tied for fourth at 11-under.

Drewitt had six birdies on his first nine holes and credited that string of fortune to his putter.

“I just got some putts to drop, which was really nice,” Drewitt said. “I haven’t had that yet this year.”

Whaley, a Georgia Tech alum, said he wasn’t as sharp Friday and watched another Yellow Jacket, Albertson, surge into contention.

“It’s one of those courses where it’s not overly demanding off the tee but if you hit it just a little out of position it’s tough to hit it close to some of these holes,” Whaley said. “The greens kind of firmed up and the whole course really firmed up, so it was playing a little tougher than yesterday, too.”

Hall, a recent graduate from University of Nevada Las Vegas, finished with three straight birdies to build momentum into the weekend.

“Finished like a Rebel today, that’s the saying of Coach (Dwaine) Knight at UNLV,” Hall said. “I was just so in the zone that it didn’t feel like my last three holes. I just kept doing what I was doing.”

Saxon had looks down the stretch to expand his lead but couldn’t convert with his putter.

“I played solid the rest of the day,” Saxon said. “I didn’t quite putt as well as I did yesterday. Overall, it was a solid round. I was proud of how I stayed patient even though the putts weren’t falling and I was able to scoop up a few on the par-5s.”

The University of Oklahoma graduate thrived against the wind Thursday afternoon. This time he played under calmer conditions.

“A lot less was going on, so kind of funny that the tougher conditions I was five shots better,” Saxon said. “But that’s how golf is sometimes.”

Charlie Saxon goes low with 10-under 61, leads Lincoln Land Championship after first round

Charlie Saxon went low on Thursday with a 10-under 61 to take a two-shot lead at the Lincoln Land Championship.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A breezy afternoon wind swept through Panther Creek Country Club on Thursday.

It was no match for Charlie Saxon from the windswept lands of Oklahoma.
The Tulsa native birdied the first three holes and then reeled off four in a row on the back nine en route to 10-under-par 61 in the first round of the Lincoln Land Championship for a two-stroke lead over Vincent Whaley.

“I got off to a great start,” Saxon said. “I think I birdied my first three and feeling good. I had some great swings to start the day. I felt good with the putter and I just kept hitting good golf shots.”

“It wasn’t my goal to shoot 59. I was just trying to hit good shots. I’m thrilled with a 61,” he added.

Saxon said he once scored a 59 in a practice round but this was his personal best in professional play. The University of Oklahoma graduate has two top-10 finishes this year and is ranked 51st in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings.

But Saxon said it was a largely uneventful day, no small thanks to his driver soaring long distances and cheating over doglegs. He had four straight birdies beginning on No. 10 until he lipped out a birdie attempt on the par-3 15th.

Dirty Meadow: Four pro golfers all live in the same house

“I drove it really well,” said Saxon, who was sporting an OU belt buckle. “That’s the key out here. If you’re driving it well and hitting the fairway and giving yourself a lot of wedge opportunities, yeah it felt great with the driver. I was able to cut a few corners with the wind how it was. Maybe a few holes played a lot shorter than I guess they’re supposed to be.

“It’s golf. Sometimes everything goes in your favor. When one of those days happens, you just got to keep it rolling.”

Saxon overtook Whaley, a Georgia Tech grad, who began the tournament with 2018 tournament champion and fellow Yellow Jacket Anders Albertson.

Whaley didn’t get any course tips, but he did acquire Albertson’s old caddie, Michael Hinds, from the 2018 victory.

“When he won, Michael was on his bag,” Whaley said. “So he knows the course well. I played well here last year, but it was a good grouping, it was fun.”

How much did the caddie contribute to the strong start?

“I’m sure he thinks so,” Whaley said. “I don’t know. He’s great. He helps me the whole time. Nothing in particular, just trusting him.”

Whaley started 3-under after the front nine and later knocked down a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th.

“It was pretty clean,” Whaley said. “I didn’t hit it overly close, it was just one of those rounds where I kept getting reads from my playing partners all day so I knew where a lot of putts were breaking and I was able to get them to drop.

“My eagle putt on 16, that was a nice 30-footer after Anders gave me a perfect read. A lot of good putts, nothing bad.”

Thursday’s wind didn’t start picking up until the middle of the day.

“Having the first tee time off was great, I haven’t had that in a long time,” Whaley said. “I’m usually last off. That was very nice. We didn’t have a ton of wind until the last four or five holes and I think it’s going to continue to be windy all day.”

Ryan Brehm and Ben Kohles finished the round tied at 6 under for third place.

Whaley has appeared on the PGA Tour this year, finishing as high as 29th place at January’s The American Express in La Quinta, California.

Whaley said his swing is now starting to feel better since the quarantine.

“It’s been a lot of ups and downs but I feel better with where my game is at right now.”

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Four pro golfers, one house: Welcome to ‘The Dirty Meadow’

Four up-and-coming professional golfers all live in the same house in Dallas. Experience what life is like at “The Dirty Meadow.”

It’s not long after you walk in “The Dirty Meadow” – more on that later – that you realize it’s a golf-friendly house. Maybe 5-10 seconds.

“The hitting net in the living room now is a dead giveaway,” said Charlie Saxon.

The house in Dallas on Clover Meadow (hence the name, and because, why not?) is home to Saxon and his former Oklahoma Sooner teammates Max McGreevy and Grant Hirschman, as well as former Texas standout Scottie Scheffler. Former Drake University players Will McDonald and Drew Ison also live there.

With Scheffler on the PGA Tour and Saxon, McGreevy and Hirschman on the Korn Ferry Tour, the Dirty Meadow just might be the most talented golf house in America.

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Scheffler led last season’s Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list and the overall season points list, earning his PGA Tour card for the 2020 season and 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year honors. Saxon played his senior year at Oklahoma with McGreevy and Hirschman in 2014-15. The latter two went on to win the NCAA Championship with the Sooners in 2017.

The Dirty Meadow

So why Dallas? Depends who you ask.

Scheffler says it’s because the Sooners just couldn’t handle Oklahoma anymore. The Oklahoma boys disagree. Dallas is a bit warmer in the winter, and flying out of Oklahoma City meant a lot of connections through Dallas anyway.

The hitting net in the living room of The Dirty Meadow, featuring Grant Hirschman’s dog, Pal. (Photo: Grant Hirschman)

It all started when Scheffler and Hirschman graduated in 2018. The two had talked about moving to Dallas for a couple months. As Hirschman remembers, Scheffler didn’t respond for four months (if you ask Scheffler, Hirschman forgot about him and only texted him once).

Hirschman then reached out to Saxon and McGreevy, as well as McDonald and Ison. With half the group on the road playing golf, McGreevy and Ison did most of the house hunting. Scheffler got back in the picture and the house was theirs on May 1, 2019. It wasn’t until late last fall that the entire group was together under one roof. Even then Scheffler was still gone a lot on Tour. The group doesn’t even have a picture of the four of them all together.

Six people in one house can be a lot to handle, not to mention six fiercely-competitive professionals all in their 20s. That said, the group doesn’t get in many big fights, just small minute-long spats where they soon end up laughing.

McGreevy said the most difficult part of being quarantined together is they don’t really have a getaway, other than the golf course. In fact, they’re even worse when they’re together at the course.

“Most of our arguments occur when the four of us go play,” explained Hirschman. “We play so slow because we sit there and argue on the green and then we argue on the tee box and before we know it we’re holding up the entire golf course and we’re most likely the four best players on the golf course.”

The house agreed Scheffler was the one who talks the most trash on the course, with McGreevy adding “he’s probably made four birdies in a row, so it’s okay, but he likes to dig.”

Off the course, the guys are just as competitive. During their time in quarantine they’ve started playing board games. One game in particular, Sequence, gets rather heated. Especially with a little action. They might be professional athletes, but the pot isn’t anything Michael Jordan Last Dance-esque.

“That doesn’t fit the Korn Ferry Tour salary,” joked Saxon.

Life together on tour

While the comment was made in jest, it’s true at the same time. The life of a professional athlete isn’t always a glamorous one, especially for a young golfer trying to make his way up the ranks. It’s normally a long season on the Korn Ferry Tour, traveling week after week with less-than-stellar accommodations to small cities across the country, rarely getting to be home.

“It’s been nice to be at home, and even though being on the road is difficult at times, we all love it,” said Saxon. “We love the competition and the grind and I know we’re all missing it.”

Drew Ison caddying for Max McGreevy at the 2019 Macau Championship on the PGA Tour Series – China.

“The biggest benefit is just picking each other’s brains,” explained Hirschman. “We’ve all been through quite a bit and had our own personal experiences with golf and we can learn a lot from each other.”

Even as these four housemates told their story over the phone, their tight bond was clearly visible in the way they spoke about each other and interacted. Not a minute of conversation went by without a genuine laugh and jab at someone’s expense. The great thing about the Dirty Meadow men is their friendship carries over to the tour, even as competitors.

“On the road if you’re struggling it’s good to have buddies to bounce thoughts and feelings off of,” added Saxon.

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