By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- For all the back and forth, permutations, and scoreboard watching, only two players moved from outside the top 125 on the money list to inside it, and one of them was the winner of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic.
Charlie Beljan, who entered the week 139th in money, locked up a PGA TOUR card for the next two years after his two-shot victory. Tim Herron’s journey to full status was a little more harrowing.
Herron, who came here 136th in money, was cruising along with five birdies through his first 14 holes Sunday. Then he double bogeyed the 17th hole after hitting his tee shot into the water and left his putt from just off the green a few inches short of the hole.
“I needed to suck it up and hit it down the left and try to hit a cut and I came over and hooked it in the water,” Herron said. “I thought if I got in at 12 under, I was in.”
But Herron finished at 11 under and thought he was out, kicking and walking on his bag in frustration. “Usually when I walk on something, it breaks,” he said.
Then he was informed he was safe.
“Billy Andrade told me, ‘Don't worry about it; you’re in; don't break any more stuff’,” Herron said. “But I didn't believe him.”
Herron finished 124th, about $13,000 ahead of Kevin Chappell.
Chappell, who tied for 34th, teetered back and forth most of the day before finishing just over $1,800 ahead of Jerry Kelly, who finished outside the top 125 for the first time in more than a decade.
Chappell, though, wasn't safe until Charlie Wi and Josh Teater each made par on the last hole. If either made bogey, Kelly would have moved up on the leaderboard and passed Chappell on the money list.
Kelly, meanwhile, can use a career money exemption.
Only two players fell out of the top 125. Rod Pampling and Billy Mayfair, who began the week 124th and 125th, respectively, both missed the cut and had to watch their fate from home.
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- It wasn't the biggest turnaround in PGA TOUR history but even so it was pretty impressive.
Tim Herron improved 15 shots from the first round to the second when he tied the course record with a 61 at Sedgefield on Friday. It is the biggest swing between the first two rounds on TOUR this year, although, as a point of reference -- but not necessarily a record -- Michael Clark shot 81-62 at the 2004 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Herron’s peers were impressed.
"That was a great round," noted Tim Clark, who had shot 62 on Thursday. "... I thought it played tougher than yesterday. I would not have seen that score today on the course the way the pins were set-up.
"That's an amazing round and obviously now with the wind blowing in the afternoon I don't think you'll see it like that this afternoon."
Herron had started the round next to last in the field of 156h after opening with a 76. At 3 under, he'll make the cut and the man who entered the week ranked 139th in the FedExCup will keep his Playoff hopes alive. He likely needs to finish 13th or better in order to move into the top 125 and make the field for The Barclays.
Herron had 34 putts in the first round -- and he thinks he had five three-putts from off the green so in a way, it actually was more. Herron went to the putting green with a long putter on Friday morning but ended up using the same one he'd used in the first round with much better results.
"I've been hitting it pretty good all year," said Herron, who ranks 157th in strokes-gained putting on TOUR this year. "I kind of zoned it in a little bit today and just kind of kept rolling and making putts."
Herron went out in 32 after making four birdies and a bogey. He missed a 10-footer on the ninth but got hot on the back nine, making birdie putts of 7, 2, 3, 24 and 4 feet, as well as a two-putt from 15 feet at the 15th hole.
"I missed a couple on the front," Herron said. "I missed about a 4-footer straight down the hill, maybe 5-footer and so I had a good chance at 59. You didn't know that on 9. I was just trying to make some putts and gain some kind of confidence.
“It's amazing this game can tease you. You want to like pack it in and shoot 61 and you don't know what to do."
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Tim Clark, Sergio Garcia, Jimmy Walker and Harris English may own the lead at the Wyndham Championship right now but Tim Herron is the one who grabbed the morning headlines.
Herron, who started the day 155th in a 156-man field, tied the course record with a 61. He moved up 121 spots when he finished into a tie at 3 under.
The 15-shot swing assured Herron of a spot on the weekend. It also gave him a shot at making the FedExCup Playoffs. Herron started the week at No. 139 and he likely needs to finish in a tie for eighth or higher to move into the top 125 and earn a spot in the field at The Barclays.
Herron started on the front nine and made the turn in 32 after notching four birdies and a bogey. He birdied the 10th hole and then reeled off five in a row starting at No. 13 to shoot 29 on the back.