Verizon Heritage:Brian Gay charged into the halfway lead at the Verizon Heritage as former Open champion Todd Hamilton made a timely return to form. The American shot a five-under-par 66 at Harbour Town Golf Links thanks to six birdies on the front nine that got him out in 30. A bogey at the 11th was the only blemish as Gay fell back to nine under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of fellow American Hamilton.
“The front nine was awesome, I got hot with the putter and made five in a row there on the front,” Gay said. “I played real solid on the back. The wind was tough and swirling a lot, and I hit a lot of tough shots. I was just lucky to get it close to the hole.”
Hamilton had scored his first top-20 finish of the campaign last week with a tie for 15th at The Masters having made the cut for only the third time in 10 starts in this the final season of his five-year exemption on the US PGA Tour for winning the 2004 Open at Troon.
The American’s bid to retain his card via the money list got a big boost on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, however, when he shot a bogey-free, five-under-par second-round 66.
That sent him into the early clubhouse lead at eight under for the first 36 holes, and he will start the third round in second place.
“I was allowed a five-year exemption for winning The Open in ‘04 and this is the final year for that,” Hamilton said. “So I need to do something.
“I felt like this was going to be a good year. And getting off to a slow start, I think that’s when I started thinking, man, you better start doing something and not waste your opportunity.
“You’ve got one year of a free pass left, you better start getting after it.”
One shot further back is Germany’s Alex Cejka, who posted a level-par 71 having shot an opening 64 on Thursday to secure the first-round lead.
Cejka began his second round poorly with back to back bogeys, his first of the week, on his third and fourth holes having started from the 10th tee.
The German had a birdie at the par-five 15th, his sixth, and moved to within a stroke of Hamilton with a second successive birdie at his seventh, only to fall back to six under par with a bogey at the par-three 17th, where he had sunk a 47-foot putt the previous day for birdie.
Two birdies and a bogey followed on his inward nine to keep Cejka on seven under and in a tie for third place alongside American Lee Janzen, who carded a
70.
Rod Pampling of Australia posted a 68 for the second day in a row to reach midway at six under and in fifth place while former US PGA champion Davis Love III was on five under following a 67.
Rory Sabbatini of South Africa was in the clubhouse with a 68 that took him to four under in a five-man group.
Spanish veteran Jose Maria Olazabal opened with a three-under 68 and the two-time Masters champion followed that with a second-round 71 to stay at three under at the halfway mark in a group including Tom Lehman and Ernie Els, who also hit a 71.
Els’ South African compatriot Trevor Immelman slipped down the leaderboard with 74 having shot a 66 on day one and will resume on Saturday at two under, as will England’s Greg Owen, who shot a 71 and Jeev Milkha Singh of India.
English duo Paul Casey and Luke Donald both carded 70s to move to one over while Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy undid a good round with a double bogey at the par-four 18th that sent him down to one over with a 71.
Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson birdied his last hole to make the cut on the line at two over but compatriot Carl Pettersson and American former US Open champion Jim Furyk were among those finishing on the wrong side of the mark at three over.
England’s Brian Davis was sent packing at four over while another Swede, Daniel Chopra also has the weekend off following a 76 that took him to five over.
Scotland’s Martin Laird added a 76 to his opening 77 and finished 11 over for the week.
