Steve Stricker’s chase of Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita brings him within two shots of the leader entering final round of U.S. Senior Open
Steve Stricker has spent the weekend at the U.S. Senior Open Championship chasing Hiroyuki Fujita, a 55-year-old former MVP on the Japan Golf Tour who has taken to Newport Country Club in Rhode Island like someone raised on clam chowder and the Boston Red Sox. With 18 holes remaining and still a two-stroke deficit to erase, however, the Madison golfer knows he will be chasing time Sunday as the 71 golfers left in the field will also be trying to out-run Mother Nature during the final round.
“Yeah, he didn’t really miss a shot all the way around,” Stricker said after getting a front-row view Saturday in the same final group as Fujita as the wire-to-wire leader thus far shot a 3-under-par 67 to finish 54 holes of this PGA Tour Champions major at 14-under 196. “(I’m) very impressed with how he plays, and we’re going to have to probably put up a good one (Sunday).”
Indeed, Stricker did his best Saturday to try to turn up the heat on Fujita, who until this weekend had never broken 70 in four PGA Tour Champions start, including a T-52 finish at this year’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
Stricker matched the leader’s two birdies on Nos. 1 and 6 with two of his own at Nos. 1 and 7, but Fujita moved four strokes in front of Stricker with a birdie at No. 9 to make the turn in 3-under 32. That would prove to be the final birdie of the day for Fujita, who watched Stricker cancel out the birdie he made at No. 12 with a bogey at No. 13 before finishing birdie-birdie-par to stay ahead of Australian Richard Green (69), alone in third at 199, and get within two of Fujita.
“From where Richard and I were (on the green on No. 16 with eagle putts), we had big breaking putts, and the best we could do was mine at about 4 or 5 feet (and) then made that,” said Stricker, the 2019 champion who put a new putter into play this week and used it to send a message at the par-3 17th hole. “(I) hit a nice little punch 6-iron at 17 into the green. Yeah, I’ve been scaring the hole a lot today. I feel good over some long putts. I feel like I’m starting them on my line, and that one happened to find the hole.
“That was an important putt to get another shot closer. Like I said, he’s in control, so we’re going to have to try to catch him, I think.”
The weather could throw another wrinkle in Fujita’s efforts to protect his two-shot advantage. The forecast calls for a 60% chance of rain and scattered thunderstorms with southwest winds between 10 and 20 mph.
“The conditions are supposed to be pretty bad from what I hear,” Fujita said through an interpreter. “I don’t have a lot of distance on my club, so I’m definitely going to be in some tough spots. I’m just going to focus on the fact that I’m playing on the last day in the last group and focus on the fact that I’m lucky to be here.”
Fujita (pronounced HE-ro-you-key fu-JEE-tuh) posted 18 of his 21 victories as a professional on the Japan Golf Tour, where he was the most valuable player in 2010 and 2012 and topped the money list in 2012. His only top-10 finish in 29 career starts in PGA Tour co-sanctioned events came at the 2011 Honda Classic where he finished T-10.
“He’s very consistent, hits it in the fairway, in play, gets it on the green,” Stricker said of the guy he’s chasing. “He’s very consistent, putted the ball really nicely. So we’re going to have to go out and have a good round to try to catch him. It looks like he’s in control of what’s going on with his game and emotion.”
Madison’s Jerry Kelly shot his best round of the week, a 3-under 67, and moved into a tie for eighth place at 5-under 205, nine shots off the pace. Madison’s Mario Tiziani, the only other golfer with Wisconsin ties to make the cut, shot 1-over 71 and moved up nine spots into a tie for 51st at 3-over 213.
