FORT WORTH, TEXAS (AP) – This has been a good week in North Texas for Scott Stallings, first qualifying for the US Open that will be played less than an hour from where he was born and now sharing the lead at Colonial with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Beau Hossler.
Stallings shot a 6-under 64 without a bogey on a relatively calm Friday at Hogan’s Alley.
That put the Massachusetts-born and 206th-ranked player in the world at 9-under 131 with Dallas-area resident Scheffler and Hossler, both former University of Texas golfers who had bogey-free 65s.
Scheffler, in one of the last groups of the day after Stallings and Hossler played in the morning wave, tied them with a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th and saved par at No 18 after his final drive went left into the rough.
“I think I needed to put up a good score with the wind being real low and the greens being not crazy firm,” said Scheffler, without a bogey so far this week. “Yeah, I love that stat. It’s a lot of fun. I kept the stress off myself for the most part.”
It was calm pretty much throughout the day on Friday. But hot and breezy conditions are expected for the other rounds at the Charles Schwab Classic, with gusts around 30mph and temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s in the forecast.
Scheffler and Hossler were among the Colonial-record eight players to share the 18-hole lead at 66.
