Golfers with Augusta-area ties in contention at Bay Hill

ORLANDO, Fla. — Saturday was moving day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

For the handful of Aiken-Augusta pros who teed it up at Bay Hill this week, it was a pretty positive day.

Kevin Kisner, Luke List and Charles Howell all made moves into the top 10. Masters Tournament champion Patrick Reed, who played at Augusta State, went the other way with 76.

For Vaughn Taylor, Brian Gay and Scott Brown, who all missed Friday’s cut, they moved up the Florida coast to TPC Sawgrass to start preparing for next week’s Players Championship.

For Kisner, who last won in 2017 at Colonial, this is his time of year to shine. He’s enjoyed previous success at Bay Hill, the Players and the Match Play.

After making a couple of early bogeys, Kisner bounced back to shoot 70 and is tied for third.

“I like the greens, it’s a lot like what I grew up on at Palmetto,” the Aiken native said. “Firm and fast has always been my cake around the PGA Tour. If you’ve got to plot your way around and grind, I seem to be near the top.”

List, the latest addition to the stable of PGA Tour players who call the Augusta area home, made one of the biggest moves Saturday. A day after stumbling down the stretch, he birdied his final two holes to shoot 68 and climb up to a tie for sixth.

A nagging elbow injury has kept him from playing his best golf.

“Honestly, not great,” he said Friday afternoon. “I had no expectations coming in so it’s nice to make the cut. I’ve been hurt a little bit, not playing my best golf. If you had asked me at the beginning of the week where my game is at, if I would take playing the weekend, honestly I would have said yes.”

List wound up in Augusta thanks to his wife, Chloe Kirby, who grew up in Evans. The two met in California.

“When she got pregnant with our first little one we kind of knew we were going to get back East eventually,” List said. “We decided to move to Augusta and we really like it so far.”

List played in the 2005 Masters as an amateur, where he earned the silver medal for finishing as runner-up in the low amateur competition. He also made an ace in the Par-3 Contest on the 7th hole.

Getting back to the Masters as a professional has eluded him so far. His best shot came last year at the Honda Classic, when he lost a playoff to Justin Thomas.

“I’ll never count it out, but obviously you’ve got to play some good golf and soon,” List said of reaching the Masters. “That would be amazing if it happens, but I’ve got bigger issues to worry about right now.”

Howell, the Augusta native who is already in the Masters, shot 69 and is tied for sixth and will play with List. A win today in his adopted hometown would be huge. Plus, it would be special to have his name affiliated with one of the golfers he admired growing up.

“He was larger than life and it’s just great to see all the guys still come back and support the event because Arnold would have just loved every minute of it,” Howell said.