DES MOINES, Iowa — Tim Herron turned a couple of tough tee shots into a four-shot lead on Saturday.
Herron sent his first shot on the Par-4 No. 10 into the rough right of the fairway. He responded by sending a laser to the green for a birdie to kickoff the back nine.
The very next hole, he did it again — tee-shot to the rough, rebound to the green, birdie.
Those two holes propelled Herron to a 9-under 63 here at Wakonda Club, giving him a two-day score of 14-under. He will carry a four-shot lead into the final day of the 2021 Principal Charity Classic.
“On 10, I got a good break,” Herron said. “I had a jumpy lie and hit a good shot. I saw that putt feed a ball-and-a-half outside the left and just fed it in there. Same with the next hole.
“I hit some really good putts today.”
Indeed, Herron, a 51-year-old didn’t three-putt at all on Saturday. His 36-hole score of 130 featured 15 birdies and just one bogey so far — on No. 1 to begin Friday’s opening round.
The Minnesota native will be paired with Shane Bertsch and Rod Pampling during Sunday’s final round. Bertsch and Pampling are both at 10-under after carding back-to-back 67s on Friday and Saturday.
“If you’re not close, you’ve got no chance,” Pampling said. “It makes Sundays interesting when you’re close. We’ve got a chance. We’ll get out tomorrow and see what we can do.”
Behind them, Doug Barron is at 9-under, then a four-way tie for fifth at 8-under between Dicky Pride, Mike Weir, Tom Gillis, and Thongchai Jaidee, who began Saturday with the lead, at 7-under. Four are tied at 7-under and and seven more are tied at 6-under.
Among those in the logjam at 6-under include Fred Couples and Jim Furyk, among others. We mention them, one, because of their star power, and two, because the 2019 Principal Charity Classic saw Kevin Sutherland erase an 8-shot deficit on the final day, which led to him prevailing in a two-hole playoff.
Anything is possible with 18 holes to go, is the thing here. Herron understands that.
“Hopefully we just keep it going,” he said, “and keep the putting stroke smooth.”
This is Herron’s first time playing in the Principal Charity Classic, but his family actually has a cool history with the state of Iowa (because, of course, there’s always an Iowa tie).
Herron is originally from Minnetonka, and developed a love for ice-fishing in the winters. He learned to play golf while working on a course in Wayzata, where he was given the nickname “Lumpy” during his first day.
“What’re you gonna do, you know?” Herron said. (He’s fully leaned into it, by the way. His Twitter handle is @PGALumpy.)
Herron comes from a family of golfers. His father, Carson Herron, golfed in the 1963 U.S. Open. His sister, Alissa, won the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 1999 and is a three-time Minnesota Amateur champion.
His grandfather, Lee Herron, played in the 1934 U.S. Open. He was also a one-time Sioux City resident who won the 1927 Iowa Amateur in Davenport — but only after he lost in the finals three years earlier.
“Iowa’s new golf king is a like-able chap,” one reporter wrote after Lee Herron’s triumph. “He is a member of the Sioux City Country Club and has always ranked as one of the leading golfers in the western part of the state.
“After he completed his victory Saturday he remarked that his homefolks would be surprised at his triumph for they had become accustomed to having him get the crown within his grasp, only to lose it.”
Tim Herron played at New Mexico, then turned pro in 1993. He produced a modest career, winning four events on the PGA Tour (three of them before 2000) and turning in a sixth-place finish at the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. In February 2000, he was ranked No. 29 in the world.
He made his PGA Tour Champions debut in 2020, shortly after his 50th birthday. He prepped his arrival with a hype video where he smacks the ball off a tee and then puts glasses on so he can track it. John Daly said he had a great personality.
“He’s going to fit this tour just perfect,” Daly said last year.
Herron’s first year on the 50-and-over tour was choppy, both in results (T-42, T-60, T-18) and because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He and many others went five months between competitions. His best finish came last September, when he tied for 12th at the Sanford International in South Dakota.
Here he is now, the leader after two days in Des Moines. Herron recorded a 5-under 67 on Friday, which put him in a six-way tie for fourth. He notched three birdies on his first five holes Saturday to sit at 8-under midway through Saturday.
Then came the rough-to-green birdies on Nos. 10 and 11, then another birdie on No. 12. He added two more birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 and another one on No. 18. His 9-under 63 is just one shot off the Wakonda course record (62, which is what Sutherland carded on Sunday in 2019).
Through 36 holes, Herron has avoided virtually all lumps here at the Principal Charity Classic — at least so far. The crown, his first as a member of the PGA Tour Champions, is within his grasp.
Sunday won’t be easy, but he has given himself the opportunity after a good day on Saturday. He said he was focused on one shot at a time and refused to get ahead of himself. He hopes for a repeat performance on Sunday.
“You play way more bad rounds than good ones,” Herron said, “so you have to enjoy the good ones.”
