Afternoon nap fuels Barbasol Championship leader ahead of weekend rounds
During one of the most important workdays of his life, Adam Svensson took a nap.
It’s hard to fault the Canadian for catching a couple hours of sleep on Friday afternoon in Nicholasville, while players waited out weather delays that wreaked havoc at Champions at Keene Trace golf course during the PGA Barbasol Championship.
Svensson was originally scheduled for a 6:45 a.m. tee time Friday (he woke up at 4 a.m.) after shooting a 10-under par 62 to take a two-shot lead during Thursday’s opening round.
That tee time became 8:45 a.m. due to a fog delay.
After Svensson made a birdie putt on the 13th green at 12:20 p.m., storms moved into Nicholasville, with lightning, rain and thunder causing a delay of more than three hours.
It was 5 p.m. when Svensson cleaned up a par putt on the 18th green to close his round of 67 (-5) and finish 36 holes at Keene Trace at 15-under par, again in possession of the solo lead by three shots,
“I was pretty tired, took a nap in the car and just hit a couple balls and just went out there,” Svensson said of his rain delay activity.
This brief rest has the potential to help change Svensson’s life forever.
The reward for the winner of the Barbasol Championship is a handsome one: $666,000 and a spot in next week’s 150th edition of The Open Championship in Scotland await the winner.
The kind of pressure associated with winning big-time golf tournaments isn’t new for Svensson, who attended Barry University, an NCAA Division II school in Florida.
While there, Svensson was twice named a First Team All-American and won NCAA D-2 national team titles in 2013 and 2014.
Svensson also won the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2014, which recognizes the top players at the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, and NJCAA levels.
Svensson saw his college coach from Barry, Jimmy Stobs, during The Memorial Tournament (Nicklaus’ event) in early June.
“He reminded me, ‘Middle of the green, make your pars,’ and I’ve really taken that to heart the last four or five years,” Svensson said of Stobs.
Svensson has put together two nearly flawless rounds of golf at Keene Trace: 14 birdies, two eagles and just three bogeys.
“I think just keep doing what I’m doing. I’m putting well, I’m hitting it well off the tee,” Svensson said about what he needs to do to secure a wire-to-wire win, and the spot in the British Open.
Svensson’s lead has also partially been the result of good fortune.
He had an afternoon tee time Thursday and morning tee time Friday, allowing him to complete two rounds of golf in two days, despite the weather delays.
Some members of the field — specifically the players who shot low scores Thursday morning but had delayed starts Friday evening — weren’t able to finish 36 holes over the first two days and had to finish their rounds Saturday morning, if the weather cooperated.
Play was halted at 9:04 p.m. Friday due to darkness.
The second round of the Barbasol Championship was to continue at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
Former major champion among challengers
Sitting just five shots back of Svensson at -10 overall was Jason Dufner, who is the most accomplished player in terms of career résumé in the Barbasol field.
Dufner is a former major winner who triumphed at the 2013 PGA Championship and played on the 2012 American Ryder Cup team.
But his form in recent years has been sorely lacking: Dufner is ranked No. 671 in the world according to the Official World Golf Rankings and hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since The Memorial Tournament in June 2017.
And he knows it.
“I’ve really struggled for the last four years. I’m fighting that a little bit . . . of trying to forget how poorly I’ve played for four years,” Dufner said. “I’m not ignorant to the fact that I haven’t played well, I know that. But I’m always trying to think if I can figure some things, if I can get it clicking, and maybe play some better golf. I haven’t quite given up hope yet, but there’s been times when I’ve been close.”
Still, Dufner remains one of the few players playing the weekend at Keene Trace that have been there and done that before.
“I’m going to need to keep shooting around 5-under (par) or better. It’s gotten soft, the wind’s laid down. I would expect something in the low 20s to probably win on Sunday,” Dufner said. “I’m happy to play the weekend. It’s been awhile.”
Leaderboard update
Here’s what the top five (with ties) of the Barbasol Championship leaderboard looked like when play was suspended due to darkness Friday night, along with where each golfer was in their second round.
▪ Adam Svensson (-15) F
▪ Trey Mullinax (-13) through 13 holes
▪ Mark Hubbard (-12) F
▪ Robin Roussel (-12) F
▪ Brandon Hagy (-12) F
▪ Tom Lewis (-12) through 14 holes
▪ Jonathan Byrd (-12) though 13 holes
▪ Matti Schmid (-12) through 10 holes
▪ Max McGreevy (-12) through nine holes
The projected cut line for the Barbasol Championship stood at 5-under par entering the completion of the second round Saturday morning.
Kentuckians in the Barbasol Championship
Six players with direct ties to Kentucky are taking part in this year’s edition of the Barbasol Championship.
Here’s how they fared on Friday.
Matti Schmid (University of Louisville): -12 overall (-5 in second round), Tied for third.
Schmid, who is from Germany, played a clean round of golf Thursday: Shooting a 65 with seven birdies and 11 pars.
On Friday, he was 5-under par through 10 holes.
Schmid played at U of L for four seasons from 2017-21 and has already made an impact in pro golf.
He was named the rookie of the year on the DP World Tour (also known as the European Tour) in December and was the low amateur at The Open last July, after which he turned professional.
Josh Teater (Henry Clay High School, Morehead State): -5 overall (-1 in second round), Tied for 61st.
Always a crowd favorite at the Barbasol, Teater again put together a solid round of golf at Keene Trace on Thursday.
Teater carded an opening round of 4-under par (68). He needed to return Saturday to complete his second round, with his ability to make the cut likely in the balance.
Teater was 1-under par through nine holes in his second round.
Teater finished tied for 15th at last year’s event.
Stephen Stallings Jr. (St. Xavier High School, UK): -5 overall (-3 in second round), Tied for 61st.
The UK alumnus posted four birdies and two bogeys during his opening round, followed by four birdies in his second round.
He was right on the cut line, but would play the weekend if the cut remained at 5-under par.
Jared Wolfe (Butler High School, Murray State): -4 overall (+1 in second round), Tied for 79th.
The 34-year-old Wolfe caught fire on the front nine at Keene Trace on Thursday, recording birdies on the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth holes. Wolfe played the back nine at even par to finish his opening round with a tidy 67.
On Friday, Wolfe had just two birdies on his card and was on the wrong side of the cut line.
Wolfe played at Murray State from 2006-10.
Matt Harris (Henry Clay High School, Eastern Kentucky): +3 overall (+1 in second round), Tied for 145th.
The storybook tale of Matt Harris had a bit of reality added to it on Thursday.
Harris — who played baseball at Eastern Kentucky before embarking on a golf career — made a triple bogey on his second hole of the day, but steadied the ship to finish 2-over par with an opening-round 74 in front of about a dozen people who walked the course and cheered for him.
Harris had the last available tee time on Friday, and was to return Saturday to finish his second round, but was likely to miss the cut.
Harris has played just five holes in his second round.
Andrew Stephens (Covington Latin High School, UK): +6 (+1 in second round), 151st.
Former Kentucky golfer Andrew Stephens paired two birdies with five bogeys and a double bogey to finish near the rear of the field after one round.
Like Harris, Stephens had the last available tee time on Friday and was to play on Saturday, but with his ability to make the cut already a near formality.
Stephens had played six holes in his second round entering Saturday.
Withdrawals
In addition to Grayson Murray, the 2017 Barbasol Championship winner who withdrew during the first round, five other players — George Coetzee, David Drysdale, Matt Every, Curtis Thompson and Ricky Werenski — withdrew on Friday.
None of those players were in contention.
This story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 7:49 PM.
