AVONDALE, La. - Lucas Glover made an 18-foot birdie putt on his final hole Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Boo Weekley after the second round of the Zurich Classic.
Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open winner, shot a 5-under-par 67 to reach 12 under at TPC Louisiana.
“I’ve been hitting it good for a couple months and finally started making some putts,” Glover said. “I mean, I was hitting it as good as I can hit it. But at the same time, if you putt poorly …”
Weekley had a 68. He holed out with a wedge from 105 yards for an eagle on the par-4 10th, his first hole of the round.
“I couldn’t tell it went in because it’s got a little bit of an upper lip in the front of it,” Weekley said. “I saw it bounce, and then I didn’t see it no more. Then the people in the background started hollering and whooping, I was like, ‘Wow, that really went in.’ I didn’t believe it.”
D.A. Points was 10 under after a 68. Morgan Hoffmann was three strokes back at 9 under after a 69, and Ernie Els had a 69 to reach 8 under. Els lost a playoff to Jason Dufner last year in the event.
“I like the course,” Els said. “I obviously played well here last year and I’m just trying to set that same game plan and really wait for the course to come to me.”
Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) shot a 69 with four birdies and a bogey for a 139.
Guan Tianlang, the 14-yearold Chinese amateur playing on a sponsor exemption, followed his opening 72 with a 69 finish at 3 under to make the cut. He tied for 58th two weeks ago in the Masters after becoming the youngest player to make the cut at Augusta National, and said Thursday that he will play in a U.S. Open qualifier in two weeks in Dallas.
“I think I played a very good round today,” Guan said. “I made a lot of birdies and a couple of good up and downs.”
Bubba Watson, the 2011 winner, rebounded from an opening 73 with a 65 to reach 6 under.
“It was good,” Watson said. “Yesterday, I played really scared. I’m trying to play good. When you do that you don’t hit quality shots and you just struggle.”
Dufner was 3 under after a 71. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) missed the cut of 141 by a stroke despite shooting a 69 with five birdies and two bogeys. Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) also had a 142 after a 72 with two birdies and two bogeys. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) finished at 149 after a 74 with three birdies and five bogeys.
Glover missed the cuts in three of his past four events, mainly because of putting problems.
“Obviously, making a lot of them to make that many birdies,” Glover said. “But a few hiccups today, but you get that here. You get out of position, and it’s hard to make par. But luckily I’ve been in position more than not. So I’m pretty pleased with my play.”
He’s working with putting instructor Dave Stockton Jr.
“We’ve been working for about seven months,” Gloversaid. “Used a little bit of, or took what he gave me, and took some of my own stuff with my setup just to get comfortable and stable and still doing what we work on.”
Glover had 49 putts in the first rounds, 11 on the front nine Friday when he made the turn in 4-under 32. He birdied the first two holes with putts of 3 and 6 feet, and added birdies on the fifth and 11th holes.
He got to 12 under with a short birdie putt on the 13th, but a poor chip from the right side of the green on the par-3 17th green led to bogey. He then rebounded with the 18-footer on the par-5 18th.
“Getting off to a good start at this course is pretty important because 17 coming in, nine coming in, depending on which side you play first, I had about an 8-footer on 2, after a good bunker shot then a tough read,” Glover said. “I had the break going one way, the green going the other, and I made that one. That was a good feeling to birdie the first two, two good reads, two good strokes and I just kind of felt like that got me going.” LPGA TOUR Leader survives bogeys
IRVING, Texas - Germany’s Caroline Masson bogeyed three of her last four holes for an even-par 71, leaving her with a one-stroke lead after the second round of the inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout.
Masson was 7 under overall at Las Colinas Country Club. She opened with a bogey-free 64 Thursday. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda was second after a 70.
South Korea’s Inbee Park, the No. 1 women’s player in the world, was third at 5 under along with Moriya Jutanugarn, an 18-year-old LPGA Tour rookie from Thailand,and Kathleen Ekey.
Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) had a 70 with three birdies and two bogeys for a two-day total of even-par 142. Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway), with a 72-146, and Karen Stupples (Arkansas State), with a 69-148, missed the cut.
Masson was 10 under and up by four strokes before her drive at No. 15 went left and rolled right across the sloping fairway into the water. She missed the fairway again at Nos. 16 and 18, with her first and seconds shots on the final hole both stopping behind trees.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Faxon-Sluman on top
SAVANNAH, Ga. - Brad Faxon and Jeff Sluman teamed to shoot a 10-under-par 62 in better-ball play to take the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf.
Faxon had seven birdies at the Club at Savannah Harbor.
Champions Tour points leader Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman were second.
Eight-time major champion Tom Watson and Andy North were 8 under along with the teams of Craig Stadler-Kirk Triplett and Tom Kite-Gil Morgan.
EUROPEAN TOUR Two share lead
SEOUL, South Korea - Australia’s Wade Ormsby and Thailand’s Arnond Vongvanij shared the lead in the suspended second round of the rain-plagued Ballantine’s Championship.
Ormsby had a 5-under-par 67 at Blackstone Resort to match Arnond (69) at 7 under.
Play was stopped Friday for more than an hour because of an electrical storm after the first round was delayed Thursday by fog and rain. More than half the field has to complete the second round today.
The tournament is sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.
WEB.COM TOUR Putnam up by one
VALDOSTA, Ga. - A bogey-free 5-under-par 67 sent Michael Putnam into the lead of the South Georgia Classic by a stroke Friday.
Four players were a shot behind Putnam’s 8-under 136. Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) was at 142 after a 71 with two birdies and a bogey. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) was another two strokes back after a 74 with three birdies, two bogeys and a triple bogey, making the cut on the line.
Former Razorback Brenden Pappas, who had a 72 for 146, missed the cut.
Leaderboard PGA ZURICH CLASSIC At TPC Louisiana (Par 72, 7,425 yards) Avondale, La.
Lucas Glover .............................. 65-67-132 Boo Weekley .............................. 65-68-133 D.A. Points ................................. 66-68-134 Morgan Hoffmann ..................... 66-69-135 Ernie Els ..................................... 67-69-136 ARKANSANS Ken Duke .....................................70-69-139 x-TagRidings ...............................70-72-142 x-David Lingmerth ......................73-69-142 x-Scott Gardiner ..........................75-74-149
LPGA NORTH TEXAS SHOOTOUT At Las Colinas Country Club Par 71, 6,410 yards Irving, Texas Caroline Masson ........................64-71-135 Carlota Ciganda ..........................66-70-136 Moriya Jutanugarn .....................71-66-137 Kathleen Ekey .............................70-67-137 Inbee Park ..................................67-70-137 ARKANSANS Stacy Lewis .................................72-70-142 x-Stacy Prammanasudh .............74-72-146 x-Karen Stupples.........................79-69-148 x-missed the cut - Complete scores, Page 7C
Sports, Pages 19 on 04/27/2013