Turner takes lead at Soboba Classic
SAN JACINTO, Calif. – “Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play.” Jerod Turner just wants to play some golf. The 34-year old rookie from Texas has been sitting on the bench most of the Nationwide Tour season, just waiting for his chance to show what he can do. Patience has paid off for Turner, who has quietly parlayed a late-season opportunity into the 36-hole lead at the Soboba Classic, one of two $1M events that close out the final four Tournaments of the 2009 schedule.“You haven’t seen me because I haven’t gotten into any Tournaments,” said Turner, whose number didn’t come up as a starter until 18 weeks deep into a 29-event season.
Playing in the next-to-last group and finishing on the front nine, Turner was almost unnoticed as he posted a bogey-free 66 to reach 8-under par and take a one-stroke lead at the halfway point. The attention during the day, and the week, is on 20-year old Rickie Fowler, a two-time All-America from Oklahoma State who grew up 30 miles away and is making only his second professional start.
Just before Turner ended his day in anonymity, Fowler birdied the final two holes to set The Country Club at Soboba Springs course record with a 6-under 65 and get to 7-under par. Fowler was promptly besieged by fans wanting autographs, friends wanting to say hi and media wanting an interview.
“I could care less,” said the laid-back Turner. “Let him have all the attention. That’s fine with me. I told my caddie, ‘let the media go wherever they want to.’ I don’t think they saw me hit a shot today and I’m leading the Tournament. I just want to win.”
Turner hasn’t had many chances to win because he just hasn’t had many chances, period. He made only one in five cuts prior to last week’s WNB Golf Classic, where he finally got a call on Tuesday afternoon that enough players had dropped out and his alternate status was changed to that of a starter.
Turner was No. 188 on the money list knew it would be his final one of the year if he didn’t do something with it. Opening rounds of 67-67 got him within sniffing distance of the lead and he closed out the weekend with scores of 69-70, good for a seventh-place tie and a subsequent berth in this week’s money monster.
“There was a lot more pressure last week, without question,” said Turner. “I feel like this is a freebie. I’m not even supposed to be here. I might as well have fun.”
Part of Turner’s fun this week comes from finding something in his game last week in the Lone Star State.
“I felt it starting to click in Midland,” he said. “I started holing the putts I felt like I should be holing, those five- and six-footers. And that’s golf. I’ve been driving it really well this week and I’m hitting good iron shots, too.”
The numbers back him up. Turner is T14 in driving accuracy and T2 in greens in regulation.
Fowler, meantime, has been the object of everyone’s attention. He had an extended photo shoot with his clothing manufacturer as the week began, fulfilled several media requests for interviews, took part in a junior clinic on Tuesday afternoon, did a national radio show shortly after sunrise Wednesday and played in the afternoon Pro-Am before finally turning his attention to matters at hand – the actual Tournament.
“Yesterday I was just a little off,” said Fowler of his slow start. “I got a few more fairways today and I was able to go at a few more pins. The greens were a little more receptive and I managed to roll in a couple of putts.”
Fowler needed only 23 putts, including a 30-footer at No. 8 for birdie as he grabbed the spotlight from the rest of the field.
“I was able to be a little more aggressive, playing from a few more fairways and with the greens being a little more receptive,” said Fowler, who lost a playoff at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational while still an amateur earlier this summer. “I hung in there and made some good birdies.”
Craig Bowden (68), Brian Stuard (67) and Monday qualifier Tyrone van Aswegen (67) are also at 135 and share second place on a packed leaderboard.
A total of 61 players made the 36-hole, which came at 1-under 141. With only seven strokes separating the top from the bottom, every player who advanced to the weekend has a legitimate chance to take home Sunday’s $180,000 first-place check.
That’s all Jerod Turner wants – a chance.
Second-round notebook:
* Grant Waite withdrew prior to the start of the second round.
* Tom Gillis saw his perfect season come to an end today. Gillis, No. 4 on the money list, posted rounds of 72-78—150 (+8) to miss the cut for the first time in his 13 starts in 2009. This is the first time this year that Gillis has carded consecutive rounds above par. In fact, he had only 5 over-par scores in 48 total rounds prior to this week. The missed cut also brings to an end his streak of six consecutive top-10 finishes. The Michigan resident had finished 2, T3, T9, T5, T9 and T7 in his previous six starts.
* Steve Pate has opened with scores of 69-68 (-5) and is currently tied for tied for ninth heading into the final 36 holes. Pate has made only one cut in seven starts this year with a T38 at the Stonebrae Classic his only weekend play on this Tour. The opening scores represent his best opening 36 since he started 69-67 at the 2005 Mark Christopher Charity Classic in nearby Rancho Cucamonga – a span of 70 total starts (52 on the Nationwide Tour and 18 on the PGA Tour).
* Sponsor pick Jeff Hart, 49, is making the most of his opportunity thus far. Hart has carded scores of 70-67 (-5) and is also tied for ninth after two days. Hart has made only five Nationwide Tour starts in the last three years and missed the cut in his only start in 2009, the BMW Charity Pro-Am. Hart was last a full-time member of the PGA Tour in 2005 and the Nationwide Tour in 2006. His last top-10 finish was a T10 at the 2006 Athens Regional Foundation Classic.
* Blake Adams (75-71) missed the cut for the second straight week. Adams missed only two cuts in his first 16 starts this year and had 8 top-10 finishes prior to his early weekend last week at the WNB Golf Classic in Midland, Texas. Adams is No. 2 on the current money list.
* Jin Park (71-78) missed the cut one week after a career-best, T3 at last week’s WNB Golf Classic.
* First-round co-leader Michael Putnam stumbled to a 3-over 74 today. He is 1-under for the Tournament and tied for 48th place.
* Two-time winner Kevin Johnson (69-73—142) finished at even-par and missed the cut. Since Johnson won the Knoxville Open in June, he has made only two cuts in his last 12 starts. He is No. 7 on the money list.
* This week’s field consisted of 23 of the top 25 money winners and 56 of the top 60. Five of the top-10 made the cut – #3 Chris Tidland, #5 Roger Tambellini, #6 Garrett Willis, #9 Chad Collins and #10 Garth Mulroy. Those missing the cut were: #2 Blake Adams, #4 Tom Gillis, #7 Kevin Johnson and #8 Justin Bolli. Twelve of the top 25 will be around for the weekend. Leading money winner Michael Sim and #17 Mathias Gronberg did not play this week.
* Gavin Coles improved his score by 11 strokes today (81-70). Coles’ improvement came on the front nine, where he carded a 4-under 32 today, compared to a 7-over 43 on Thursday.
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