Friday, April 29, 2011

RUSSELL KNOX TRAILING IN RAIN-HIT NATIONWIDE TOUR EVENT

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
VALDOSTA, Georgia -- Not a single cloud was in the sky on Friday at the South Georgia Classic presented by First State Bank & Trust Co. and plenty of golf was played at the 7,781-yard, par-72 Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, the Nationwide Tour's longest course. A total of 50 players were able to finish 36 holes before darkness halted play at 8:13 p.m. ET.
Michael Letzig, Mathew Goggin and Jon Mills are currently tied for the lead at 6-under. Letzig collected seven birdies through 17 holes -- offset by a double bogey and one bogey -- of the second round while Goggin has yet to start his second lap around the track. Mills wasted little time after his 7:30 p.m. second round tee time, making birdie on each of his first three holes. The trio is one stroke ahead of 10 others.
A better perspective of the leaderboard won't come into view until the early afternoon on Saturday when the entire field has completed 36 holes. Thursday's delays from the storms caused the afternoon groups of the first round to start Friday morning at 8:50 a.m. then promptly begin their second round at 2:20 p.m.
Roughly half the field was able to start the second round. The other half will resume Saturday morning at 7:50 a.m.
"I'm putting well," said Letzig, who drained multiple putts outside of 15 feet in the second round. "When you're making those putts in builds your momentum. You start to do everything good. It definitely feels good to be rolling the ball well."
When Letzig returns in the morning to complete his round he'll only have one hole to finish but his group was seconds away from avoiding the early wake-up call.
"We were trying to hurry," he said. "Frank (Lickliter) holed his sand shot for birdie on our 17th hole then started running to the next tee. Unfortunately the horns blew before he could hit his tee shot."
Goggin, who won the Panama Claro Championship earlier this year, did not let Thursday's delays affect his performance in the first round.
"You can't get involved on whether we play or how late we're going to play or if you're going to finish," said the three-time Nationwide Tour winner. "I've been around long enough now to just chill out and do what you're told really."
The nine-year PGA TOUR veteran struggled last year on TOUR -- making just 13 of 28 cuts -- but his game is coming around.
"I got my equipment all sorted out," said Goggin. "I couldn't get the shafts right and I sort of changed the line on my irons. That made a big difference. I went to a new Taylor Made driver and I'm hitting it a lot straighter and a little longer. I got off to a great start and that gave me a lot of confidence. You really never know how it's going to go, but a win kick started the year I guess."
Eight-time Major League Baseball All-Star John Smoltz received a sponsor's exemption, making his first start in a PGA TOUR co-sanctioned event. The 43-year-old who carries a +2 handicap posted a 12-over 84 in the first round. Smoltz's second-round tee time is tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
• A total of 100 players did not complete round two. They will return on Saturday and resume play at 7:50 a.m. Following completion of the round, the field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties. Third round tee times will run from approximately 2:45-4:45 p.m. with play in threesomes off both the 1st and 10th tees.
Russell Knox shot a first-round, one-over-par 73. The man from Inverness needs to pull up his socks if he is to beat the cut in his second outing on America's No 2 tour.

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