RBC Heritage. Three Tied at the Top, in Storm Hit Harbour Town.

Play has been suspended for the day with three players tied at the top of the leaderboard at the RBC Heritage on the Harbour Town Golf Links, at the rain affected end of the day. Kevin Streelman, Charley Hoffman and Steve LeBrun are at -6 under par for the competition.

Steve LeBrun, Kevin Streelman and Charley Hoffman / Lecka / Getty Images

In the wet, windy and difficult conditions Kevin and Charley both had second rounds of -1 under par, 70 for their totals, with Steve LeBrun shooting a second round -3 under par 68.

Luke Donald also had second round of -3 under par, and shares T4 with Bill Haas, who came home in -2 under par for the day, both of them at -5 under par.

The next group of players, seven in all, are at -4 under par, they are all handily placed to go forward in this competition tomorrow. They are; Johnson Wagner, Rory Sabbatini, Graeme McDowell, D.H. Lee, Pat Perez, and two Aussies, Stuart Appleby and Marc Leishman. All these players are in the clubhouse, but the cut line has still to be determined  with 17 players still to complete their second rounds. The current cut line is at +1 over par, but could easily move to +2.

Pat Perez said his trying to stay calm;

” I’m trying to stay level, which is always, for me, trying to stay on a high, I’ve really worked hard on it this year. I don’t have the ups and downs. It’s hard, especially for me, because I’ve done it my whole life. But to say, that’s not going to bring me down, let’s try to make 5 instead of 6. And the next hole it’s basically done. I didn’t think I’d make a lot of birdies, but I seem to be hitting it closer than I ever have out here.”

One of those players teetering on the current cut line at +1 over par is Jesper Parnevik, and he is on the 18th hole with an agonising five foot putt left for his par. If he misses that tomorrow, he would drop to +2 over and that would move the cut to that number as well.

Obviously there are other players on the course who could make a birdie and change things back again, it will be a very interesting early start tomorrow.

Of those who have definitely missed the cut are; Vijay Singh +4, Ernie Els +4, John Daly +10, those are just a couple of the higher profile guys who have struggled in this competition.

RBC Heritage. Davis Deserves Lead.

Brian Davis deserves the lead at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, after his super opening round of -6 under par 65.

Brian Davis / Lecka / Gett Images

Brian Davis leads the RBC Heritage after the opening round, and once again is in contention in this event which he lost in spectacular fashion in 2010 at Harbour Town when he called a penalty on himself, and consequentially lost out out to Jim Furyk. Brian wants to win this tournament, so that people remember him for winning rather than conceding.

“I’d like to do something else in this tournament so I don’t get remembered just for that. People do remember it, but for me, I’m just trying to move on from that, and trying to win a golf tournament. I wasn’t worried about my score or about my misses, I was just playing.”

Tied in second place at -5 under par are Charley Hoffman and Kevin Streelman.

Charley thinks he has at last learned to play this course;

” I had zero success early here. I didn’t have the patience to play this golf course. Now I know which side of the fairways to hit it on, and now I can hit it on that side of the fairways sometimes.”

Personally I hope Brian Davis can go on and win his first PGA Tour event, he feels that Harbor Town owes him one.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s play, should be very interesting. Luke Donald has made a good start to this event, currently at -2 under par.

 

 

 

 

Valero Texas Open. Billy Battles On.

Billy Horschel battles on at the top of the leaderboard at the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio,  AT&T Oaks Course.

Billy Horschel / Cohen / Getty Images

Billy Horschel shot a third round -2 under par 70, to lead the field at the Valero Texas Open by a comfortable two shots with a -10 under par total. Billy is full of confidence, and is no shrinking violet when it comes to making statements about his ability;

” I’ve never been star struck out here, I respect all the veterans out here. I respect everyone that’s put their time in out here. But at the same time, I’m as confident as I’ve ever been, and I feel just as good as anyone else in the world right now. I didn’t even know I fell out of the lead until someone just told me,  I couldn’t care less whether I was leading after eight holes or whether I’m leading right now. I knew that I was playing well. I’m trying to stay loose, I think I’ve learned in the past that the looser I am, the more it helps.”

Tied in second place at -8 under par are Jim Furyk and Charley Hoffman, Jim with a third round of -3 under par and Charley had a -2 under par score on the day. Jim will partner Billy for the final round, thanks to the former U.S. Champion’s consistent form from tee to green, Jim hit fifteen greens in regulation, a remarkable feat as the San Antonio wind switched to the South for the first time during the tournament.

“It was funny to wake up and have the wind the dead opposite. What I was hitting hybrid into Thursday and Friday, I’m hitting 9-iron today.  I’m glad I got a couple rounds under my belt before that wind switched.”

Sharing fourth spot at -6 under par, are Ryan Palmer, with a -4 under par 68 round today; Bob Estes, -3 under par  69, and World Number two Rory McIlroy, scrambling home with -1 under par round of 71. Rory is now four shots off the lead and will need a really low round tomorrow if he is to contest this title. It seems unlikely as he only managed to get on seven out of the fourteen 14 fairways, this was for the second time in the tournament, continuing his trend of up-and-down play this year after an off-season equipment change.

” It was a tough scoring day, It was hard to really go low under par. I probably should have been a couple better, but at the end of the day, it’s still a solid round, and I still have a chance coming into tomorrow.”

Bob Estes is not even thinking about the Masters, just tomorrow;

” I don’t like talking about it, I’m just thinking about tomorrow. There’s plenty to stress out about, think about, playing in this wind. It’s just course management, a lot of guys, when the wind is blowing, they have trouble keeping it down or playing the right shot, and sometimes you have to play some pretty good defense. You play too aggressively in certain places and you hardly have a chance to two-putt or get it up and down.”

If the wind does blow at up to 25 mph tomorrow, I guess anything could happen, but I don’t expect Billy Horschel to let another victory chance slip through his fingers.

Valero Texas Open. Billy Horschel Bounces Back.

Billy Horschel bounced back from last weeks disappointment at the Shell Houston Open, to lead after the second round of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.

Billy Horschel / Halleran / Getty Images

Billy Horschel is two shots clear of the field in San Antonio, courtesy of his second round of -4 under par 68, for a tournament total of -8 under par. Last week at the Shell Houston Open Billy finished tied in second place, his last round of -6 under par just one shot off the lead, and this week is continuing to show his recent good form.

There are three players within one shot of the lead, Daniel Summerhays, Steven Bowditch and Charley Hoffman. Charlie always seems to play well in San Antonio, but not sure why, maybe its the Mexican food;

” I don’t know, I played good over at La Cantera when it was played over there, and ever since it’s moved here to TPC  I’ve played well also. I hit a bunch of fairways and gave myself an opportunity to make a lot of birdies, hopefully I can keep this going this weekend.”

Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy are in a group of players who are at -5 under par, three shots off the lead. Jim only arrived here the night before the pro-am and only managed to get in four holes before rain and lightning halted play at the AT&T Oaks Course. Jim has two drivers in his bag this week and hopes the gamble works out well enough to give him encouragement to take them to Augusta National next week. He tried to get some information on-line;

”  Tried to go online to get an idea where guys were hitting balls off the tee. I wanted to give it a practice run, I’m having a hard time. I may have to switch shafts out. I’ll make a couple of adjustments and try to play through it. There aren’t many birdies at Augusta anymore either. If they lengthen it out another 400 yards, there would be no birdies at Augusta.”

Rory showed his greenhorn credentials in the desert, searching for a miss-placed tee shot off the fairway he discovered that the cactus on this course may be smaller than the ones that soar up through the Arizona desert, but they spike you just as hard. He said of the incident;

” I shouldn’t have been there anyways, so I guess it was deserved, getting a, whatever it was,  off the cactus.”

Rory thinks he is in fine shape for this tournament, and Augusta, after reaching two par fives here in two shots;

“I think that shows where my game is, those two par fives are probably the toughest to hit in two with how small the greens are. It shows that my ball-striking is there. If I can keep hitting shots like that into par fives, I’ll be doing OK.”

Humana Challenge, Scott is Not Stalling

Scott Stallings / Getty Images

Scott Stallings took a stranglehold on the Humana Challenge with his third round -9 under par, 63, which now gives him a five shot cushion over the field.

There are five players tied in second place at -17 under par, they are, Roberto Castro, Stewart Cink, Chucky three Sticks, John Rollings and the blond bombshell Charley Hoffman. There are a further eight contestants another shot back at -16 under par, but barring a calamity this title belongs to Scott Stallings.

Scott spoke about his aggressive approach to this tournament;

“I stayed aggressive, playing with John Rollins was a huge help. He’s a good guy and he was an easy guy to club off of. We made a lot of birdies the last couple days, and so we kind of fed off each other. I guess you can say it’s conservatively aggressive, like No. 8.  I hit a really good drive and had 8-iron. But just because I had 8-iron to a par 5, I fired it in the middle of the green, had a 20-footer and was happy to make it. I’ve been smart when I got out of position.”

Roberto had shared the lead after each of the first two rounds, but felt he was a little out of rhythm today;

” I got a little out of rhythm on the back, but still hit enough good shots to feel good about it.”

Anyone who wants to take this title has to out play Scott Stallings, and he is in no mood to let things slip from this healthy position.

Travelers Championship @ TPC River Highlands, 2nd Abandoned

     

The second round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut was under a  rain delay suspension, with Fredrik Jacobson currently leading the way, when play was finally abandoned for the day. Fredrik was able to complete his second round before the rain interrupted play, finishing the day with a -4 under par round of 66, to give him a tournament total of -9 under par.

Wether he will remain as the second round leader is in doubt, as there are still some players who will have to complete the round before the third round can start. Most notable among these golfers is Nathan Green, who is only one shot adrift of the current lead, but he still has nine holes left to complete his second round.

Another who could have a say in the second round lead is Will Claxton, he has not even started his second round, so anything is possible. I would hazard a guess that Will hopes to get some golf in today, or the possibility of completing two rounds in one day looms on the horizon.

Charley Hoffman was having a good day until the suspension, and wishes he could have continued, he was 5 under through his first six holes on the back nine;

“It was a nice five-hole run. Any time you can make a bunch of birdies, no matter at the beginning of the round, end of the round, middle of the round, it’s a good feeling.”

First round leader David Mathis slumped to a second round +3 over par, leaving him at -3 under par for the tournament.

Of the three Major winners contesting this title, Webb Simpson had a second round of -1 under par, for a total of -5 under par. Keegan Bradley had  a -2 under par round, for -4 under par total, and Bubba Watson slumped to a +1 over par round and a tournament total of -3 under par.