Chris Stroud had conditional status on the PGA tour going into last Sunday’s final round at the Barracuda Championships.
With everyone fixated on the WGC-Bridgestone and Hideki Matsuyama’s final round 61, Stroud quietly won his first PGA Tour event and regained full status.
It took him 290 events to get there.
Now he’s in rarified air. He’s paired with leader Kevin Kisner for Sunday’s final round at the PGA Championship.
First, consider that Stroud hasn’t even played in a major championship since the 2014 PGA and where he stands now looks almost miraculous.
Stroud looked unflappable Saturday as he managed to shoot even par when a lot of big names players were shooting themselves out of contention.
“It was very difficult today,” Stroud conceded after shooting 71 to post six-under par. “I didn’t do anything great but didn’t do anything bad,” was how he summed up his efforts on the difficult Quail Hollow test.
“At the end of the day,” he pointed out, “I’ve still got a chance.”
A victory by Stroud might be the biggest Cinderella story since John Daly’s victory in 1991.
