Tag: Sepp Straka

Hudson Swafford ends round with 3 straight birdies to secure 36-hole lead at Corales Golf Club

Hudson Swafford lead the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship after 36 holes by two shots in the Dominican Republic.

A hornet sting between his fingers couldn’t stop Hudson Swafford from taking the lead in the Dominican Republic on Friday.

The former University of Georgia golfer finished the second round 5-under 67 to hold a two-shot lead at 12 under heading into the weekend at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

Swafford, who started his second round on No. 10, carded birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 and suffered a hornet sting on No. 11 in the joint of his pinky finger to start his round and make the turn at 2 under.

The punches kept coming. His next nine was a bit of a roller coaster. After a bogey on No. 1, Swafford went par-birdie-birdie-bogey to get back to 2 under on the round, then ended with three consecutive birdies.

Swafford, coming off a first-round 65, co-led after 18 holes at Corales Golf Club alongside Scott Harrington, Tyler McCumber and Sepp Straka.

Corales Puntacana: Scores | Photo gallery

“The wind was a little different today, so definitely the front nine played a little harder I would say after the first four holes kind of being some help wind,” Swafford said. “The last few were back into the wind right there in the middle, so made covering some bunkers a little more difficult with driver and fairways got a little smaller.

“Made a mistake on maybe 5, I guess, but other than that I honestly played pretty good. I gave myself a lot of chances, that’s all that we were trying to do because I feel like I’m rolling it good, I feel like I’m seeing lines pretty good, so just trying to get on the green as fast as possible.”

Swafford said he did not seek medical attention for the sting, but iced it for his first few holes. The sting might have even been a blessing, he said, forcing him to not overthink during Friday’s round.

“I guess it kind of just cleared my mind of the golf thing and just let me focus on something else,” Swafford said.

The 33-year-old is coming off a T-56 finish at the Safeway Open in Napa, California. Last season on Tour, Swafford competed in 10 events, making five cuts and earning one top-10 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. His lone Tour win was in 2017 at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

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Finishing two strokes behind Swafford were Luke List, Sean O’Hair and Justin Suh at 10 under.

List shot a bogey-free 65, tied with Adam Long for the second-lowest round of the day behind Graham DeLaet’s 64. O’Hair finished the day with a 5-under 67.

Suh, 23, carded five birdies Friday to finish but his most impressive moment of the day was his long par putt on No. 18 to finish the day with his second-straight 67.

Tied for fifth at 9 under are Mackenzie Hughes, Long, Straka and Xinjun Zhang.

Entering the weekend T-9 at 8 under with six other players, including Kelly Kraft, was Patrick Rodgers, who made six consecutive birdies Friday on Nos. 7-12 for the longest consecutive birdie streak in a round of his Tour career. Rodgers finished his round 3-under 69 after bogeys on Nos. 13, 16 and 17.

Notable players to miss the cut at were Jhonattan Vegas, reigning champion Graeme McDowell and Charles Howell III.

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Heat and hornets: Players battling the elements at PGA Tour stop in Dominican Republic

From high temperatures and strong winds to hornets, players have a lot to deal with at the PGA Tour’s stop in the Dominican Republic.

It may look like paradise this week on the PGA Tour, but the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship is far from just a trip to the beach.

Players are having some fun in the Dominican Republic sun with solid scores in the first two rounds, but the muggy conditions at Caroles Golf Club are one of the early storylines heading into the weekend. The Tour announced that Robert Garrigus withdrew from the event during Friday’s second round due to heat exhaustion and multiple players have complained of the high temperatures, as well.

“It’s really hot, it’s really hot out there. I sweated a lot,” said Sepp Straka on Thursday, who was tied for the lead after the opening 18 holes. “I generally sweat a lot anyways, so I feel like everybody’s kind of on my level this week.”

Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship: Leaderboard

Ask any player and they’ll tell you the truth, with wide fairways and large greens the course is gettable. That is until the Caribbean breeze kicks in and makes you wish you were sitting in the sand with a cerveza and not standing on the tee with hazards in play.

“Yeah, the wind wasn’t really blowing though this morning and it was very humid,” said Hudson Swafford, who took advantage of the calm course with a 5-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead after Friday morning’s early wave of play at 12 under.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Swafford. Starting his day on the back nine, the 33-year-old was stung by a hornet on No. 11’s tee box “right in the joint” of his pinky finger on just his second hole of the day.

“It kind of started swelling up and it was nice and warm, so it was kind of some chaos the first few holes,” said Swafford, whose caddie got stung Thursday and said “it’s kind of a good omen.”

“We played well and we ended up playing well again today, I guess it kind of just cleared my mind of the golf thing and just let me focus on something else.”

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Sepp Straka looking for first PGA Tour win in Dominican Republic

Former University of Georgia golfer Sepp Straka went bogey-free in the first round of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

Is it Sepp Straka’s time to shine?

The former University of Georgia golfer is tied for the lead at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship after carding a bogey-free 7-under 65 at Corales Golf Club.

Straka is one of four golfers leading at 7 under after the first round in the annual Dominican Republic event previously scheduled for March but pushed to this week due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Scott Harrington, Tyler McCumber and Hudson Swafford also finished Thursday with 65s. McCumber, who matched a career low with his 65, briefly led the trio of Harrington, Straka and Swafford, but carded his sole bogey of the day on No. 8, his second to last hole, to fall to four-way tie for the lead.

Despite his bogey which cost him the sole lead after 18 holes, McCumber was pleased with his performance in the event he played once before in 2018.

Corales Puntacana: Scores | Photo gallery

“I thought I was pretty consistent, especially my effort,” he said. “Put myself in really good spots on the par 5s. If you play the par 5s well out here you have a chance of shooting 7 or 8 under if not lower, so I feel like we did that pretty well today.”

In his second event of the 2020-21 season, Straka is also drawing on his experience from his previous visits to the Corales Golf Club: the 2019 Tour event, in which he finished T-26 at 9 under, and a former Web.com Tour event.

“This course is not really one where you can push it,” Straka said after his opening round. “It’s not — you can shoot a low round out here, but it’s got to be a consistent low round, you’ve got to let the birdies come to you.”

Come to him, they did.

Straka, who began his round on No. 10, carded four birdies on his first nine, including three consecutive on Nos. 14-16. The 27-year-old added an eagle on No. 4 and a fifth birdie on No. 8 to finish his day bogey-free.

“I hit the ball great, made some good putts and everything just kind of fell in line today,” Straka said. “Hit my irons really good, which is important on this track. You’re going to hit a lot of fairways, fairways are pretty wide, but you’re going to want to hit your irons good because the greens, you can miss it in some bad spots.”

Coming off a T-14 finish at the Safeway Open, Straka is looking for his first Tour win. Last season he gained plenty of experience, playing in 25 Tour events, making the cut in 10 and earning three top 10s. Straka totals four top 10s on Tour in his professional career with his best in 2019 when he finished third at the Barbasol Championship. His sole professional win is on the Korn Ferry Tour at the 2018 KC Golf Classic.

One shot behind the co-leaders in fifth are Xinjun Zhang and Joseph Bramlett at 6 under. A slew of players including Brian Stuard and Justin Suh are T-7 at 5 under.

Among the many players to finish T-17 at 4 under is Kelly Kraft, who went eagle-par-ace to close out his round with a 68.

Reigning champion Graeme McDowell shot 2-under 70 to finish T-46 alongside Henrik Stenson, Keith Mitchell and Will Zalatoris.

Straka tees off his second round alongside Sam Ryder and Bo Hoag Friday at 12:40 p.m. ET from the first tee.

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