Two eagles boost Clark
2008-08-31 08:57
Norton - South African Tim Clark, inspired by two eagles, opened a one-stroke lead with a sparkling nine-under-par 62 in the Deutsche Bank Championship second round on Saturday.
Five off the pace at the start of another day of low-scoring at the TPC Boston, he briefly raised hopes of a magical 59 before bogeying the last two holes for a 14-under total of 128.
"It just was strange," Clark told reporters after equalling
his lowest score on the PGA Tour. "I felt good all day and just
kept making birdie after birdie after birdie.
"And then on the front nine, my back nine, a couple eagles
really boosted the round. For a while there, there was
certainly a chance of 59."
That left him one ahead of first-round leader Mike Weir of
Canada (68), with American Ben Curtis (65) and 2004 champion
Vijay Singh (66) of Fiji a further stroke back.
The heavyweight trio of American Jim Furyk (65), Spaniard
Sergio Garcia (64) and South African Ernie Els (65) were among
a group bunched at 11 under.
Clark, yet to win on the PGA Tour, raced to the turn in
five-under 30 after teeing off at the par-four 10th in damp,
overcast conditions.
He picked up another shot at the first before hitting a
three-iron to eight feet at the par-five second to set up his
first eagle.
The 32-year-old also eagled the 290-yard, par-four fourth
when he rolled in a 22-foot putt after his drive ended up
narrowly short of the green.
Another birdie followed at the seventh when he struck a
wedge approach to two feet and he needed to pick up one more
shot to become the fourth player to fire a 59 on the PGA Tour.
Lipped out
However, Clark bogeyed the tricky par-three eighth after
missing the green to the right and also dropped a shot at the
ninth when his par putt lipped out from nine feet.
"Once my putt on eight missed, that was the end of the
dream," he said. "That hole was always going to be tough but I
felt I hit a good (par) putt there.
"But I'm certainly not disappointed. I've still got 36 more
holes to play and a lot of golf left. Disappointed about the 59
but I need to keep going if I'm going to win this tournament
because the scores I think are only going to stay low."
American Al Geiberger was the first player to break 60 on
the PGA Tour, shooting a 13-under 59 in the second round of the
1977 Memphis Classic.
Chip Beck did likewise in the third round of the 1991 Las
Vegas Invitational before David Duval repeated the feat in the
fifth and final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Classic.
Weir, who took control of the second event in the FedExCup
playoff series with a sizzling 61 in the first round, was
delighted to recover from two bogeys in his first four holes.
"It wasn't a great start but there's lots of golf to be
played and I just kept telling myself that," the 2003 US
Masters champion said. "I knew I was playing fine."
The cut fell at three-under 139 with title-holder Phil
Mickelson scraping through right on the number after shooting a
70.
British Open champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland, twice
US Open winner Retief Goosen and European Ryder Cup hopefuls
Paul Casey and Ian Poulter were among those who missed out.