CROMWELL, Conn. — Defending champion Fredrik Jacobson is in a familiar spot at the Travelers Championship.
For the second consecutive year, Jacobson was 9-under par 131 for 36 holes, following his opening 65 with a 66 Friday. And for the second consecutive year, bad weather pushed back the completion of the second round to today.
The Swede is trying to join Phil Mickelson, the 2001 and 2002 winner, as the only players to successfully defend a title at River Highlands.
“Any tournament is tough to win,” Jacobson said. “To win two in a row is probably tougher. But you know, you have the thing going for you that you have some good memories to draw from, so hopefully that allows a little bit to increase your chances.”
Charley Hoffman opened with a par and birdied the next five holes to move within a stroke of the lead before rain suspended play for the day. Nathan Green also was 8 under when the horn blew at 3:19 p.m. He finished nine holes.
“It was a nice five-hole run,” Hoffman said. “Obviously, I wish I probably could have kept it going a little longer, but obviously in a good frame of mind heading into tomorrow.”
It was the second weather delay of the day. The first lasted 70 minutes.
Jacobson played before the rain hit the course. He started on the back nine and followed up two birdies with an eagle on the 13th hole. He hit his second shot 240 yards over the water and onto the green, and made a 40-foot putt on the par 5.
“It’s going to be tough to drive it the way I did the last two rounds last year, where I didn’t miss the fairway,” Jacobson said. “So, I’m not going to chase that. But yeah, probably I have been playing about the same as I did the first couple days of last year.”
Blake Adams had a 64, the best round of the day, to join Stuart Appleby and Roland Thatcher at 7 under. Appleby had a 65, and Thatcher shot a 67.
Adams had five birdies on the back nine.
“I think I finally woke up,” said Adams, who bogeyed the final two holes in the first round for a 69. “I was just kind of making some silly bogeys all day yesterday and early this morning, and I finally got rid of those silly errors and made some birdies.”
Appleby, who has played 13 tournaments and missed eight cuts this season, had seven birdies in shooting his best round of the year.
First-round leader David Mathis fell back to 3 under with a 73 that included a double bogey at 16, where he need three putts on the par-3 hole, and a bogey on 17. The threesome pairing of U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, Masters champ Bubba Watson and reigning PGA champion Keegan Bradley were a combined 2 under par Friday, after shooting a combined 10 under in the first round. Simpson was 5 under overall after a 69, Bradley 4 under after his second consecutive 68, and Watson 3 under after a 71.
Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) was 1 under through nine holes and 4 under overall. Bryce Molder (Conway) shot 67 and was 2 under.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Sjoholm leads by two
PULHEIM, Germany - Joel Sjoholm twice chipped in for eagle to shoot a 6-underpar 66 Friday to lead by two strokes at the halfway mark of the BMW International Open.
Former Ryder Cup player Paul McGinley, looking to end a seven-year winless run, shot a 70 to share second place with three others.
John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) shot 73 and was tied for 42nd at 3-under.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
Herman grabs lead
WICHITA, Kan. - Jim Herman shot a 7-under-par 64 on Friday to take a two-shot lead at the Wichita Open.
Herman shot 33 on the front nine, then made par on No. 10 before reeling off five consecutive birdies for a 31 coming in.
Robert Damron (65) and Joseph Bramlett (64) were tied for second at 10 under.
Scott Gardiner (Farmington) shot 67 and was tied for fourth at 9 under. Glen Day (Little Rock) shot 67 and was tied for 10th at 8 under.
Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) shot 68 and was tied for 15th at 7 under. Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot 69 and was tied for 25th at 6 under. David Lingmerth (Fayetteville) shot 69 and was tied for 56th at 4 under. Brenden Pappas (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot 74 and missed the cut.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Cochran in front
SAINTE-JULIE, Quebec - Russ Cochran shot a 6-under-par on 66 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Montreal Championship.
The 53-year-old left-hander, a three-time winner on the senior tour, had seven birdies and one bogey.
Michael Allen, the tour leader with two victories, was tied for second with Jerry Pate, Rod Spittle and 2010 champion Larry Mize.
John Cook, the winner last year, opened with a 71.
WOMEN’S
AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS
Ramsey, Kim advance
NESHANIC STATION, N.J. - Ashlan Ramsey and Kyung Kim advanced to the 36-hole final in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, each winning two matches Friday at Neshanic Valley.
The 16-year-old Ramsey, from Milledgeville, Ga., beat Grace Na 3-and-1 in the morning quarterfinals, and edged Kim Kaufman 1-up in the semifinals.
Kim, an 18-year-old from Chandler, Ariz., topped Lakareber Abe 1 up in the quarterfinals, and edged Alice Jeong 3-and-2 in the semifinals.
The tournament is limited to players who don’t hold privileges at any course that doesn’t extend playing privileges to the general public.
Leaderboard PGA TOUR Travelers Championship At TPC River Highlands (Par 70, 6,841 yards) Cromwell, Conn.
NOTE 77 players did not finish the round Fredrik Jacobson................65-66-131 Blake Adams......................69-64-133 Roland Thatcher.................66-67-133 Stuart Appleby....................68-65-133 ARKANSAN Bryce Molder......................71-67-138 CHAMPIONS Montreal Championship At Vallee du Richelieu Vercheres (Par 72, 6,894 yards) Sainte-Julie, Quebec Russ Cochran.......................33-33-66 Jerry Pate.............................34-34-68 Michael Allen........................35-33-68 Rod Spittle............................33-35-68 Larry Mize............................34-34-68
PGA EUROPEAN BMW International Open At Gut Larcenhof Golf Course (Par 72, 7,228 yards) Pulheim, Germany Joel Sjoholm......................67-66-133 Paul McGinley....................65-70-135 Chris Wood........................65-70-135 Fabrizio Zanotti...................64-71-135 Danny Willett......................65-70-135 ARKANSAN John Daly............................68-73-141 NATIONWIDE Wichita Open At Crestview Country Club Course (Par 71, 6,959 yards) Wichita, Kan.
Jim Herman........................66-64-130 Robert Damron..................67-65-132 Joseph Bramlett.................68-64-132 ARKANSANS Scott Gardiner....................66-67-133 Glen Day.............................67-67-134 Ron Whittaker....................67-68-135 Tag Ridings........................67-69-136 David Lingmerth.................69-69-138 x-Brenden Pappas..............69-74-143 x-Missed the cut
Sports, Pages 19 on 06/23/2012