SENSATIONAL SCOTT VINCENT LIGHTS UP THE DAY FOR IRON HEADS
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia - It’s not a done deal yet, but Iron Heads’ Scott Vincent put himself in a great position to move into the Lock Zone and secure his playing privileges in LIV Golf League for another season.
The Zimbabwean came into LIV Golf Jeddah presented by ROSHN in 31st place in individual standings, needing a good finish to move into the Top 24. And he did his chances no harm with an eight-under par round at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, matching leader Brooks Koepka for the low card of the day.
The 31-year-old from Harare, who topped the International Series Order of Merit last year to become part of LIV Golf this season, is now tied fourth at 8-under par total alongside Bryson DeChambeau and just four shots off Koepka.
Another Iron Heads player who had a good day was LIV Golf Tucson champion Danny Lee. Despite playing with anti-inflammatory injections to soothe the pain in his right wrist that has two chipped bones and will require surgery on Tuesday after the Team Championship in Miami, the New Zealander shot a three-under 67 and moved to tied 16th place at four-under total.
Vincent, who started the day on the seventh hole with a birdie, immediately followed it with a bogey. Undaunted by the setback, he made six more birdies and a fantastic eagle on the par-5 18th hole.
“It was a great start. Nice to make that putt on that first hole. The bogey was a little upsetting, kind of soft,” said Vincent.
“But with it being so hot and humid, you can’t afford to waste energy on the ifs and buts. We just put our heads down and just move forward. We knew there was a lot of golf to play. And you know, you can’t get caught up on one shot.”
The mindset paid dividends and Vincent continued to rise on the leaderboard with one good shot after another, and none better than his 3-iron second shot from 260 yards on the 18th hole that nestled to seven feet from the pin and resulted in the eagle.
“That was incredible. One of the shots that kind of worked out better than you had planned,” said Vincent , whose best finish this year is a fourth place in Singapore.
“It was great. I was thinking about laying up, but my caddie Jacob asked me to give it a go. Worst case, I put it in that greenside bunker and give myself a chance to get it up and down. It was a long one. But we had a lot of wind behind us. So that helped.”
Vincent said he’d depend on following his routines and try to focus on his round tomorrow.
“It’s obviously on my mind, but it’s something that I can’t really focus on. We’ve got one more day of golf. And that’s what I’m focusing on. It’s just about being in the present for me,” explained Vincent.
If I said I am not feeling the pressure, I think I’d be lying. But like I said, we were working very hard on just trying to get better at being in the present. It’s so easy to get ahead of yourself.”
Captain Kevin Na (73) and Sihwan Kim (71) were both tied at three-over par 143.
In the team championship standings, the Iron Heads were in ninth place at 11-under total.