Slowly and steadily, though still struggling in some of his past areas of strength, Chris Stroud is climbing out of an early season funk that had his many Southeast Texas followers sweating whether the former Port Neches-Groves and Lamar star would be able to keep his PGA Tour card.
Stroud, with a 35th-place tie in the Wells Fargo Championship that earned him $35,223,
ascended to No. 126 on the FedEx Cup points list. He needs to be in the top 125 at season’s end to keep his card. With his game trending upward after making six consecutive 36-hole cuts, he should be feeling considerably less stress.
On tap this week is the Players Championship. Boasting one of the biggest purses in all of professional golf, the Players has been very good to Chris over the years. He’s made five of six cuts at TPC Sawgrass, including a T10 in 2010 ($237,500) and a T12 ($175,071) in 2011.
All total he’s added $514,358 to his bank account from six trips to the Jacksonville, Florida, tourney. Another strong showing in the Players and he’ll be on solid footing for the first time this season.
There is, however, a troubling caution flag to be raised, despite Stroud’s recent success. Although he’s succeeded in adding length off the tee, the short game that has always been his bread and butter is inconsistent at best.
For many years one of the tour’s better up and down players, Stroud ranks No. 146 in the scrambling stat. He’s No. 147 in both putts per round and total putting. Those numbers explain some of his early woes and leave reason to be concerned as to whether his season has truly turned a corner.

CHIP SHOTS
Babe Zaharias head pro Ed Campbell doesn’t often comment on the various milestones players achieve but he was beaming over what Richard DeLee of Port Arthur accomplished on Friday.
DeLee fired a best ever round of 82 (44-38), with a birdie-2 on No. 15. His playing companions were Murphy DeMarcay and Jack Mades.
“I am so happy for Richard,” said Campbell. “That was a terrific accomplishment for him.” …
Jason Parks of Nederland made a hole in one on the 163-yard, seventh hole at Bayou Din on Friday and had more than the usual reason to celebrate. Parks’ ace, accomplished with a 7-iron, was made in the Motiva Scramble for Junior Achievement.
His bonus, since No. 7 carried a prize for closest to the hole, was a new Formula 6 driver from Krank Golf.
Witnesses were John Comer, Bryce Tyson and Roger Lindsay …
Nederland ex Shelbi Vincent played some of her best golf last week in the Women’s Division of the 30th PGA Minority Collegiate Championship on the Ryder Course at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Vincent posted a 54-hole total of 232 to place eighth. Her University of Houston-Victoria teammate Brooke Brasseaux from Little Cypress-Mauriceville finished T10 at 233. …
PN-G ex Braden Bailey’s terrific freshman season at Baylor has enabled him to make a quantum leap in the World Amateur Golf Ratings. Bailey, who will be playing in a U.S. Open regional qualifier in
Austin today, has soared from No. 362 to No. 159.
Getting inside the top 200 opened the door for invitations to several top amateur tournaments this summer, including the Trans Miss at Olympic Club in San Francisco. Bailey and his Baylor teammates will be teeing it up next Monday through Wednesday in an NCAA Regional over the Meadow Valley Course at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin. …
In case you missed it, Nederland ex Felicia Sauceda bounced back strong in last week’s NCAA Women’s regional in Bryan.
Sauceda, after an opening 89, rebounded with rounds of 73-79. Her final 36 holes bested all her Lamar teammamtes, including Southland Conference Player of the Year Wendy Chang. …
The fivesome of Steve Picou, Jim Jordan, Larry Johnson, Jim Cooper and Larry Rogers scored a sweep in the best two ball Senior Plus Game at Babe Zaharias. They were 6 under on the front and 3 under on the back …
The Super Saturday Game at The Babe, played in a best two-ball format, resulted in a sweep for the team of Bill Hanley, Ed Holley, Johnson and Dan Flood. They were minus 5 on both the front and back. …
The Friday Game at Zaharias, also played in a two-ball format, saw the foursome of Rick Pritchett, Earl
Richard, Harry Green and Dan Harrington win the front in minus 5. On the back, the fivesome of Benny Sharpe, Picou, Larry Vicknair, Tommy LeMire and Jess McPhillips placed first at minus-6. …
The Thursday Senior Game at The Babe was played in a 4-Person Select Drive format, with all points counting.
Finishing first with 33 points was the team of Dwayne Morvant, Bob Moore, Don MacNeil and Larry Foster. Closest to the pin winners were Richard McClelland (No. 2), Dwayne Morvant (No. 7), Paul Bourgeois (No. 12) and Cap Hollier (No. 15). …
The Babe Zaharias DogFight was won with 20 points by the foursome of Pritchett, Tommy Duhon, Jimmy Cooper and Charlie Perez. Closest to the pin winners were Harrell Guidry (No. 2, No. 12), Ed Hetzel (No. 7) and Tom LeTourneau (No. 15)
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