Alex Springer leads the Watson Challenge after the second round

Alex Springer says he’s a little starstruck to be leading golf icon Tom Watson after the second round of the Watson Challenge on Saturday, but he hasn’t shot an 8-under 136 just by studying the man for whom the annual tournament is named.

Springer has played well, too. He birdied Nos. 3, 4, 6, 10, 11 and 16 on Saturday in the second round of the tournament, whose goal is to identify the best golfer in the Kansas City area.

Those results have helped Springer secure a lead on Watson and Kansas golfer Andy Spencer, who are tied for second at 6-under at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park.

“I’m trying not to get caught up in it,” Springer said. “It’s awesome. A few of the holes you kind of get caught watching him and saying, ‘Wow, that’s awesome. Good swing, incredible rhythm.’ But at the same time, you’re playing in a tournament, and you want to beat him.”

Still, Springer has done enough through two outings this weekend to attract praise from Watson himself.

“It’s fun to play with kids that remind me of me when I was a kid,” Watson said of Springer and Spencer. “I like their competitive nature. I like the way they play their game. Their attitude on the golf course — I like it. They have the ability to play different shots, and that’s important.”

Watson, who led after Friday’s first round, birdied holes Nos. 3, 7 and 12 on Saturday, but bogeys on the final two holes contributed to his second-place standing.

“That wasn’t very good,” Watson said. “It was kind of a sour finish. It was a struggle out there. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and when the wind blows like this, there’s some teeth in this golf course. I negotiated OK.”

For Springer, an Olathe native, it’s his first time playing the tournament as a professional. He competed in the 2016 and 2017 events, when he finished sixth and fifth, respectively, but he played those tournaments as an amateur. Now, as a pro, he’s eligible for the $10,000 prize.

That, though, hasn’t changed much for Springer.

“It’s still a golf tournament,” he said. “It’s filled with the best amateurs and the best professionals in the area. You treat it the same, whether you’re an amateur or a professional.”

Springer, who played at Central Missouri, turned pro in the fall of 2017. Since then, he played in the PGA Tour Canada’s Mackenzie Tour in 2018.

That year, he earned some experience at the Nicklaus Golf Club, competing in the 2018 KC Golf Classic. He failed to make the cut, but to Springer, the familiarity with the course has made the difference this weekend.

“That’s helped a lot, too,” Springer said. “I remember some of the spots where you don’t want to miss it, or some good leaves.”

He had to deal with wind gusts that exceeded 15 mph, another weather consideration on top of the delays that pushed back the start times both Friday and Saturday. Even so, Springer moved from second to first by the time Saturday’s second round came to and end.

To do so, Springer said he didn’t change his approach.

Play the best golf you can, he told himself. Shoot the lowest score you can.

He did alter one part of his approach, though, on Saturday: refusing to peek at the leaderboard. Most times, he likes to know where he stands, so he knows whether he should take a more aggressive approach or if he has a few shots to work with.

Not the case on Saturday. Didn’t even look at the board.

“It was tough out there today,” Springer said. “It wasn’t really anything in particular. There weren’t any leaderboards until the 17th green, but I wasn’t really paying attention.”

If there’s one thing Springer is paying attention to, it’s Watson.

He was keeping an eye on Watson anyway, but Springer couldn’t help but laugh on a few holes. He’d out-drive Watson by 50 or 60 yards — at age 69, Watson has lost some strength — but Watson would birdie, while Springer and Spencer would make par.

So it goes playing with one of the best golfers of all time.

“It humbles you,” Springer said. “It’s cool to see his timeless golf swing.”

This story was originally published June 22, 2019 at 8:33 PM.