Steven Alker maintained his sizable lead in the second round of the Simmons Bank Championship Saturday in Little Rock, Ark. by going bogey-free for the second straight day.
After posting an 11-under-par 61 on Friday, Alker shot 6 under on Saturday to enter the final round with a five-stroke lead at 17 under at Pleasant Valley Country Club.
The New Zealander’s day included three straight birdies on Holes 6-8 and then birdies on 16 and 18 to close out his round. Through two rounds of the event, he’s tallied 17 birdies and no scores worse than par.
“I had a little goal going out, just keep my nose clean again, not make any bogeys. So, if you’re giving away shots, you’re giving away shots to the guys. I did that today, which I was really pleased with,” Alker said after his round. “Then (I) threw some birdies in there. … My lead was 5 going out and I’ve still got it, so that’s nice.”
Alker, who won the Charles Schwab Cup in 2022 and 2024, began the week in fourth place in this year’s standings. Should he preserve this lead, he’s projected to move atop the leaderboard entering next month’s playoff finale, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.
He’s not taking it easy going into Sunday’s final round.
“I don’t shoot (low), someone else might,” Alker said. “I have that mentality of just kind of staying patient but kind of conservatively aggressive, taking my chances where I can because there’s a low round out there. Someone can hunt me down pretty quick.”
Tag Ridings, who posted his second straight 6 under score Saturday, is alone in second place at 12 under, tying with Alker for the low round of the day. He entered the weekend firmly on the bubble for the final playoff event, ranking 35th with only the top 36 of the 54 golfers competing this weekend advancing to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Ridings is now projected to sit 22nd in the standings should he remain in second place.
“It’s really nice to play some solid back-to-back rounds without really — I’ve hit some poor shots but I’ve gotten away with them,” Ridings said. “I’ve worked hard to get a lot of pars out of it. That’s been nice, especially on a hard golf course.”
Justin Leonard sits in third place at 10 under after shooting 4 under on Saturday. Cameron Percy and Greg Chalmers of Australia as well as Stewart Cink are tied for fourth at 8 under.
Cink entered the week second in the Charles Schwab Cup standings while current leader Miguel Angel Jimenez has struggled this week, tied for 30th at 1 under.
