Daniel

Summerhays

Summerhays was playing a home game this week in Utah, teeing it up on the course where he grew up with his brother on the bag and his nephew, Preston, playing alongside him for the first two rounds. He seemed out of the mix before catching fire in the final round, playing seven holes in 6 under on the back nine to take the clubhouse lead with a closing 62. It ultimately got him into a three-way playoff, but Summerhays was eliminated on the first extra hole and Kyle Jones won one hole later. Summerhays, who won a Korn Ferry event as an amateur in 2007, went 0-for-215 on the PGA Tour including a playoff loss at the 2013 Sanderson Farms and a third-place finish at the 2016 PGA Championship. The 36-year-old plans to hang up the clubs competitively to become a high school teacher and golf coach in his native Utah.

Back on the PGA TOUR via Q School, Summerhays has started 2012 with two paydays in three starts but nothing better than a T40 at Pebble Beach. This is his first trip to El Camaleon and he’s taken quite nicely to the challenging layout, splitting 21 (of 28) fairways and 28 greens in regulation. He’s needed just 55 putts and has converted 11 birdies. He’ll share the overnight lead with Will Claxton and Greg Owen.

His four-day-total of 11-under 68-70-68-71=277 was due in large part to his ability to hit 76.4 GIR. Summerhays is trending much better in 2012 than he did in his rookie season of 2011.

Summerhays was one of three 36-hole leaders. He grabbed the lead today with a birdie at the par-4 second hole, then built his advantage to two after consecutive birdies starting at the par-5 seventh. He made the turn still two strokes ahead, and then padded his lead after a birdie at the par-4 11th. He parred his remaining seven holes and a hard-charging Stroud was able to pull within a stroke of the lead, but he bogeyed the final hole. All four golfers inside the top three through 54 holes are chasing their first PGA TOUR victory -- Summerhays (12-under 201), Stroud (203), Michael Allen (205), Will Claxton (205).

Before missing the cut at last week’s Honda, Summerhays held a share of the 36-hole lead and slept on the 54-hole lead at the Mayakoba before fading to finish in a share of fifth place. Today’s experience was a continuation of that form as he hit 11 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens to limit the damage to one bogey. He signed his card two strokes back of the clubhouse co-leaders.

He hit 14 greens for the second straight round but required one more putt (31) and incurred one more bogey (two) but he’s keeping his ball in play. Overall, he’s split 21 (of 28) fairways and buried nine birdies.

Summerhays tied for fifth two weeks ago in Mayakoba for his highest PGA TOUR finish, and that’s exactly where he finds himself 54 holes into this weeks tournament. Fairways and greens are coming easily for him as he is tied for 12th in driving accuracy and tied for seventh in GIR for the week. In the third round he split 10 (0f 14) fairways and landed on 14 greens in regulation.

He has already exceeded his 2011 money total by almost $100k, and has matched his eight made cuts from last year in less than half of the events. He missed the cut here last year. He ranks 28th in GIR with 67.94 percent.

Summerhays possesses the sneaky ability to climb into a zone while seemingly erasing all memories of negative outcomes. He hit just 11 greens today but rolled in seven birdies, five of which from beyond 11 feet. This included a chip-in from nine yards out at the third hole and putts measuring 27'8", 30'3" and 31'10" at the 10th, 14th and 18th, respectively. He also converted a par save from 10'2" at the 11th. Those conversions helped offset two bogeys and a double. He took just 24 putts on the round. As we enter the deepest fields of the year, consider adding the second-year PGA TOUR member to your roster. He could snipe a top 10 or two and retain his card for 2013. Summerhays entered this week ranked 102nd in FedExCup Points and 105th in earnings.

It’s always gratifying when an alternate cracks a field and capitalizes, just as Summerhays did today. However, he hit only eight greens in regulation, applying direct pressure on his short game. No worries as he converted a field-tying-high seven birdies highlighted by a pair of greenside hole-outs at the 10th and 12th holes. His longest conventional birdie rolled in from 19'4" at the first hole. He also dropped in a par save from 18'1" at the eighth.