By Art Spander
Special to NewsdayDUBLIN, Ohio -- Steve Stricker had another one of those "how did that happen,'' afternoons Saturday for a second straight round in the Memorial Tournament, Jack Nicklaus' baby at his Muirfield Village club in the suburbs of Columbus.
After a hole-in-one on the eighth hole Friday, Stricker knocked in a sand wedge for a 2 on the par-4 second and a short putt for a 3 on the par-5 fifth, which in a stretch of seven holes over two days gave him three eagles.
His front-nine 31 wobbled off to a back-nine 38, but his 69 was good enough for a 12-under par 68-67-69 -- 204 and a three-shot lead over Jonathan Byrd after 54 holes. Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe were another shot back in third.
Tiger Woods isn't here, and Phil Mickelson barely is. He's tied for 25th, 10 shots back of Stricker, so Byrd was asked if maybe a change is under way in the game in the United States.
"I tell people Tiger has kind of given us a window,'' said Byrd, who won the season's opening event, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. "I think Tiger's situation, his injuries, he would not say he's playing his best, he's giving us some time to get experience and win some tournaments. And it's exciting to see so many guys having a chance. I do think American golf right now has a lot of faces, and for a while, it was just one face.''
Stricker, a more pragmatic sort, disagrees.
"I think it's always going to be Tiger and Phil,'' was Stricker's observation.
"They're the drawing power. They're the guys, the face, I think, of American golf. Not to say we can't jump in there and grab some of that, too. But those guys, they're big time. We just kind of live in their little world.''
So far, they're living large. Of the top 23 players heading into Sunday's final round, all but six are Americans. They include Shaun Micheel, who won the 2003 PGA Championship, and Dustin Johnson, who could be this country's next great player.
Luke Donald, the Englishman who is the new No. 1 in the world rankings, is eight shots back, and Charl Schwartzel, the South African who won the Masters, is nine adrift.
The last three majors -- South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open; Germany's Martin Kaymer, the 2010 PGA Championship, Schwartzel, this year's Masters -- were won by non-Americans, causing some distress on this side of the Atlantic.
But Byrd sounded unconcerned. "There's a lot of talented guys out here right now,'' he said. "Guys playing with a lot of confidence, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. A ton of confidence, and they're young."
Stricker, 44, is not so young. He lost his game a few years ago and was voted Comeback Player of the Year, not once but twice. "I can't believe where I am today,'' he said. "And it's a good thing, because I keep striving to get better.''
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