Tough third day in the California heat. Four over on the front nine (started on 10). Double bogey on toughest par on the course. But hey–he’s playing golf. On Saturday. For free. On TV. With Tom Watson. Still smiling.
Lining up a putt on 6 with caddie English Mike
Final putts on last hole (number 9). Tough day, tougher man. Gutsy 79 for the day.
Gallery of friends and family looks for some shade. One more day….
Mike and his older son Ryan getting ready in the clubhouse at Del Paso
Showing his Jesuit roots–“For the greater glory of God”
Gallery forms for the third time
Mike tees off today at 10:43 a.m PDT (1:43 p.m. EDT). TV coverage today is on FOX, 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. So Mike will be playing during the prime viewing time–he’ll likely get some TV time.
Mike is one of three amateurs to make the cut, three shots behind leading amateur Michael McCoy.
Mike leads the field in driving distance, averaging 311.75 yards off the tee. His eagle on number 4 Friday was one of only 5 the entire tournament thus far . He’s tied for 60th in fairways hit, 37th in greens in regulation, and 42nd in putting. But hey, chicks dig the big hitters . . .
Mike Finster truly made the cut at the US Senior Open! It wasn’t official until about 11 p.m. eastern time. About an hour earlier amateur Dave Ryan made a bogey on his last hole, moving him to +5 and dragging the rest of the +5 players (including Mike) into a tie for 60th and above the cut line one last time. Another amateur, Dave Bunker, had a chance to screw things up by making a birdie on one of this last two holes but he finished with a double and a par. The cut line moved from 4 to 5 for hours–Mike said he was on the verge of a heart attack, which was okay since the Senior Tour keeps defibrillators scattered all over the place.
Here’s scene from the victory celebration:
Cut line bouncing back and forth between +4 and +5–which means one minute Mike’s playing Saturday and Sunday, next minute he’s not. Geez, you go all the way out there, might as well keep playing . . .
Now back to 5 . . . .
Very colorful score card for Mike today. Finishes -1 for the day, solid 69, and +5 for the tourney. Cut line is top 60 plus ties–still a lot of golf to play, Mike is really close to making the cut. We will see . . .
Big smile from Mike
Mike started off with 4 under par on first 7 holes, including an eagle on 4 and a birdie on 7–a hole that started his double bogey binge Thursday.
Made birdie out of bunker on 7
Warming up Friday a.m.
Northwestern purple today
Today Mike tees off at 8:55 PDT, or 11:55 EDT. Online live streaming begins at 11 a.m. EDT so there’s a chance to see Mike if he does something really well–watch for an eagle on the par 5 first hole. Clik here for a link to the USGA live stream.
Fox sports airs live today from 3 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., which will catch the end of Mike’s round. Fox Sports One is channel 1153 in St. Petersburg (Brighthouse) and can access online or on mobile with Fox Sports Go. You can watch online by clicking here, but you’ll need your cable login to access the channel (same on your mobile device if you download the Go app).
