John Daly chipping in on his final hole to make the cut on the number was just one of many dramatic stories at the Wyndham Championship on Friday as players hopes of making the playoffs for the FedEx Cup came true or were shattered.
Meanwhile there is a packed leaderboard at the Czech Open where the players had to complete round 2 this morning,with round 3 just getting underway, I have news of our Canadians at the LPGA's Safeway Classic in Oregon and on the Nationwide Tour in Kansas City and of course on the Champions Tour where Freddie Couples leads the Senior Players Championship.
European Tour
Mikeal Lundberg birdied his closing hole this morning to establish a one-shot lead at the midway stage of the Czech Open. Having bogeyed the sixth hole – his 14th – in fast-fading light on Friday evening to drop back to -7, the Swede returned to Prosper Golf Resort in Čeladná, the Czech Republic, earlier today.
Lundberg who has been relegated to the Challenge tour, made a birdie putt from 15 feet on his last hole (9th) to finish on -8 to carry a one stroke lead over Spaniard José-Manuel Lara into the third round, which is just underway at 4.30am EST.
Lundberg said: “My season so far has been really poor, so I’m very happy to find some form here this week. I changed coaches last week, we made a few changes, and the swing already feels a lot better. Sometimes when you make changes it takes a while to get used to them, but the changes we made felt good straight away. It’s still not 100 per cent, but we’re getting a lot closer now. My putting has also improved, so hopefully I can keep it going over the weekend.”
Lara (68) is 2nd at -7 , and two Englishmen, Gary Boyd (67) and Oliver Wilson (67) are 3rd at -6 alongside Ireland’s Damien McGrane (71).
Current scoreboard click http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2011/tournamentid=2011059/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y
PGA Tour
While a very unorthodox but talented Tommy Gainey has stretched his lead to 3 shots at -12 after his 66 yesterday, it is the story of who made the cut and who didn't that is most compelling to me..
Camilo Villegas started the week at 125 but moved up 8 spots with his 64 yesterday to make the cut. Ernie Els was the big mover and a late entry with his 66 which has him T2 at -9 and a jump of 38 spots from 126th in the Fed Ex race. Remember Ernie was ranked #1 heading into these playoffs last year, and this year he doesn't even have a top 10..
Then there are those heading the other way like Matt Jones from Australia who has fallen to 129th at -2, and defending champion Arjn Atwal who has MC (73,72) to continue his poor season (MC 5 of his last 7 outings) and now has to sit nervously all weekend to see if he squeaks in.
There are story lines with nearly every golfer, for example Paul Casey 65,67 is T6 at -8 and projected to now finish at 123rd with it all to play for this weekend.
All our guys MC and only David Hearn is poised to make the playoffs
CUT 118 David Hearn 69 72 141
CUT 218 Chris Baryla 69 71 140
CUT 146 Matt McQuillan 69 70
For a full scoreboard and projections click http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/
Champions Tour
Freddie Couples (66) has a 1 shot lead after 2 rounds of the Senior Players Championship, the Champions Tour's final major of the season at this hilly Westchester GC in New York state.
He's at -8 playing in his first event since undergoing non-traditional back treatment six weeks ago in Germany and for the life of me I can't find much info on it except it involves some blood work, massage and manipulation.
Peter Senior (69) is 2nd at -7 and Corey Pavin (69) is 3rd at -6. John Cook (68) is 4th at -5 one stroke ahead of defending champion Mark O'Meara (70) is at -4 along with first-round leader Jeff Sluman (73) and Morris Hatalsky (67).
Canucks Jim Rutledge T43 74,71 and Rod Spittle T57 74,73..
For the full scoreboard click http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/s507/
Nationwide Tour
This is not being televised so here is part of the Joe Chemycz report from Kansas City
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- The Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate is not putting up much of a defense in this week's Midwest Classic and the Nationwide Tour pros are taking full advantage of the wide fairways and soft greens. The scoreboard is awash in red ink and personal bests are being set at a torrid pace.
Australia's James Nitties and two-time winner J.J. Killeen share the 36-hole lead with 14-under 128 totals. Nitties carded a career-best 63 in Friday's second round to take the morning lead. Killeen, looking for his third win in four weeks, added an afternoon 6-under 65 to his opening 63 to grab a piece of first place.
Brian Vranesh, who set a career-best with his 63 on Thursday, shot a 67 and holds down third place at 12-under, two back of the co-leader. Veteran Scott Dunlap was on "59 watch" during his back nine but settled for an 11-under 60 when he rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on his final hole. Dunlap's career-low score came in his 239th start and his 712th round on Tour. He is at 11-under 131 and tied for fourth with Nick Flanagan (63), Troy Kelly (64), Jason Kokrak (66) and Monday qualifier Chris Thompson (67).
Canucks Richard T Lee 65,68 -9 T15 and Bryan DeCorso 66,69 -7 T32
Full scoreboard click http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/h100/
LPGA tour
2010 Vare Trophy winner and Rolex Rankings No. 5 Na Yeon Choi fired a 6-under 65 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Safeway Classic.
Choi got off to a hot start in her round. After making a birdie on the second hole, she recorded seven consecutive birdies from No. 5-11 on the Ghost Creek Course at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club to get to eight-under par to drop to 6-under. Choi remained there until the 18th hole when she three-putted for a double bogey. Despite the blip at the end of her round, Choi leads Grace Park by two shots heading into today
Canucks T26 at +1 72, Alena Sharp, Lori Kane and Lisa Meldrum, T46 +2 Jessica Shepley and Stephanie Sherlock, T62 +3 Adrienne White.
Full scoreboard click http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Leaderboard.aspx
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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