Chris Stroud’s resiliency was never more on display than following what should have been a demoralizing triple bogey 8 in the opening round of the PGA Tour Corales Golf Club Puntacana Resort and Club Championship Thursday.
The Port Neches-Groves ex, after playing the back nine first, was rolling along at 3-under-par when disaster struck on his 13th hole. He hit two tee shots out of bounds on the par 5, fourth, then scrambled to make the triple.
Knocked back to even par, he rebounded with birdies at par 4, sixth and the par 5, seventh. Stroud posted a two-under-par 70 that left him in a tie for 23rdth.
Matt Jones, Joel Dahmen and Paul Dunne share the lead at 66 in the tournament being played in the Dominican Republic.
Other scores of note were Lamar ex Shawn Stefani’s 74 and a 79 by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Romo, playing on a special exemption, got off to a shaky start, shot 42 on his opening nine, then settled down and came back with a 37.
Meanwhile, in Carlsbad, California, PN-G ex Braden Bailey shot an even par 72 in the third round of the Mackenzie Tour Q school at Carlton Woods Golf Club. Bailey, who earlier signed off on rounds of 74 and 71, moved up eight places and is tied for 26th in a field of 120 players.
His 217 total left him three shots out of the top 14 headed into Friday’s final round. Players who finish in the top 14 earn status for the first six tournaments on the Canadian PGA Tour. Bailey’s 72 included four birdies and four bogeys.