US NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

It's a Peoples' Game: Soon-to-be senior

David sets pace with 23-putt 65

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
David Peoples turns 50 next January and is looking forward to a long and productive career with his peers on the Champions (Seniors)Tour.
For now, the soon-to-be senior is honing his game with a younger crowd on the Nationwide Tour and faring quite well. The veteran showed the youngsters how it's done by firing a 7-under 65 in the second round of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup to take the 36-hole lead at 10-under 134. Craig Barlow (65), Ryan Armour (66) and Jeff Gove (67) share second place at 8-under 136.
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Round 2 scores
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Tom Gillis (66) is alone in fifth place, three behind the leader.
Veteran Bob May (69), Michigan rookie Brian Stuard (71), John Kimbell (69), Canadian Chris Baryla (66) and Ron Whittaker (71) are next at 6-under 138, four back of Peoples. First-round leader Brad Iles of New Zealand had six bogeys and a double-bogey en route to a 4-over 76. He is at 3 under and tied for 24th.
"If I can compete with these kids then I can compete with (the players on the Champions Tour)," said Peoples, peering to the future. "I'm trying to be as patient as I can but this is a hard game. Sometimes you get it going and sometimes you don't."
Peoples has regained a putting touch that had abandoned him several years ago but now resurfaced after a great deal of effort. He needed only 23 strokes on the greens Friday, giving him 50 for his first two days at the Pete Dye Golf Club.
"That's what I've struggled with in the past," he said. "It was the thing that was holding me back. Before, when I was putting bad, I felt like I was the worst one out there."
Hard work has paid off recently for Peoples, who tied for seventh at the Melwood Prince George's County Open three weeks ago and now holds a 36-hole lead for the first time on any Tour since The Honda Classic in 2003.
"I heard Nick Price say last week that confidence isn't something you wake up with," he said. "I don't feel confident until I see something good happen."
It took Peoples all of two holes Friday to gain some confidence. Rolling in a birdie putt of 40-45 feet will do that, regardless of your age.
"At 40-plus feet, you're not expecting to make those," he said. "You're in three-putt range there. Even when you two-putt from that distance you feel like you did a good job."
He followed up with two immediate birdies that measured less than seven feet. Another birdie from 12 feet came just before the turn. After a bad tee shot resulted in a lone bogey on his 10th hole, Peoples ran off four consecutive birdies.
"It was a great day putting," he said. "I made a lot of good saves in between the birdies."
Gove has been making a lot of everything this year. The Washington native is No. 8 on the money list and has been in contention several times, resulting in four top-10 finishes but no victories. His day would have been a little better if not for a double-bogey at No. 9.
"I made a mess of that hole," he said. "I just reminded myself that I'm playing good and I tried to get back to that."
Gove settled down and made three pars before he sandwiched four birdies around a single bogey in his closing six holes to grab a share of second place heading into the weekend.
Joining him is Barlow, an 11-year PGA TOUR member who has been plagued by wrist and hip injuries over the past two years and is finally feeling healthy.
"I didn't have a great career on the TOUR but I felt like I was getting better every year," he said of his career that has earned him nearly $5 million. "Looking back at it, I tried to play through a couple injuries and those guys are too good to be trying to compete with when you're injured."
Barlow was on the shelf for six months from last September to this February as he healed from a muscle tear in his hip. The recovery has been slow but the results are coming.
Barlow sprinkled eight birdies into his round to get into position for the weekend.
"I haven't putted this good all year. Last week I played just as good and putted awful and missed the cut," he said of a 72-69 effort at the Fort Smith Classic. "I have not been doing the little things right. The bottom line is that I've been trying too hard. I was trying to be perfect. I think I lost a little bit of trust in myself. You just have to believe in yourself. I was free as a bird today. Today was the first day all year I felt free."
Second-round notes:
• Ian Leggatt and Tom Carter were disqualified prior to the start of the second round. They both signed incorrect scorecards for the first round.
• Jim McGovern withdrew during the round due to a hip injury. Garrett Willis withdrew during the round due to a back injury.
• A total of 71 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 1-under 143.
• Won Joon Lee had two eagles in Round 2 -- both on back-nine par-5s (Nos. 14 and 17).
• Matt Hansen tied a Nationwide Tour record for the most birdies in a row to finish a round. Hansen reeled off six in a row (Nos. 13-18) to close his day and shoot 66. His first-round 8-over 80 kept him from making the cut. Hansen is the fourth player in the Tour's 20-year history to make six straight to finish a round, the last being Jay Don Blake at the 2005 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open.
• Tom Gillis opened his round with five consecutive birdies.
• Several players had birdie streaks of four in a row: David Peoples (Nos. 2-5); Jeff Gove (Nos. 2-5); Brennan Webb (Nos. 14-17); Tyler Leon (Nos. 17-2); Zoran Zorkic (Nos. 12-15)
• Players, caddies and officials are wearing black ribbons this week in memory of Beth Smith, wife of Chris Smith, and Shirley Kendall, mother of Skip Kendall. Both women were victims of car accidents and passed away last weekend. Smith was killed in a car accident Sunday near the family home in northern Indiana and the couple's two children were also seriously hurt. Players also have the option of replacing their name on their caddie bibs with Chris Smith's name to show further support for his family as they deal with the tragedy. All 141 players in the field donned Smith's nametag to start the round on Friday.