COLLINS SHOOTS A 60 AND CUT IS SIX-UNDER ON WEB.COM TOUR

from the US TOUR WEB.COM WEBSITE
By Laury Livsey, PGA TOUR staff
SANDY, Utah -- Early Friday morning, three players went out and tied the Utah Championship 18-hole record. Alex Cejka, Ashley Hall and Jamie Lovemark all shot 9-under 62s. 
Then Chad Collins teed off and the fireworks began. Collins tied the nine-hole Web.com Tour scoring record with a front-nine 27, he flirted with shooting 59, settled for 60 and took a three-stroke lead heading into the weekend. Tied for second are Lovemark, Adam Hadwin and first-round co-leader Brian Prouty.
Collins, a Cloverdale, Indiana, native torched the par-71 Willow Creek Country Club layout, making seven birdies and an eagle to go with his lone par. 
The 9-under 27 tied the Tour mark originally set by Notah Begay III at the 1998 Dominion Open and later matched that same season by Doug Dunakey at the Miami (Ohio) Valley Open. Earlier this season, Chesson Hadley shot a 27 in the final round of the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
“It was just one of those days that kept rolling along. I kept making putts, then I go to the next hole and try to make another one,” Collins said. “That opening nine was, I don’t know, it was special."
Forgetting Willow Creek is a par-71 course, Collins thought he needed to birdie the final two holes to get to 59. “I hit a terrible 7-iron on eight, my second-to-last hole, and put it in the bunker. I had a really tough bunker shot and was able to get that up and down.
“Then Marco (playing partner Dawson) said, ‘You need to get one more. Let’s get one more.’ And I was like, Yeah, that’s right. Par is 71,” Collins continued. It kind of boosted me up again."
On his closing hole, his approach shot landed and spun to the front of the green. His birdie attempt was a little off line and short, just missing on joining Begay, Dunakey and Jason Gore in the Web.com Tour 59 club. “I gave myself an OK opportunity on the last hole. I just couldn’t get another to fall, from 30 feet, whatever it was.”
Collins’ consolation over his six consecutive pars to end his round after he made it to 11-under was the 36-hole lead he holds. In early June, he battled in the final round at the Mid-Atlantic Championship in Potomac, Maryland. He eventually tied for third at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm.
“I’m excited,” Collins said about his halfway-point lead. “It kind of reminds me of Maryland a few weeks back, being out there near the lead and tied for the lead and playing with Michael Putnam the last round. It’s where you want to be.”
With Willow Creek yielding historic low scores over the first 36 holes, Collins knows what’s lurking behind him. One of those players is Lovemark, whose best finish this season is a tie for 18th at The Rex Hospital Open in June. 
“I’ve been playing well for a long time. It hasn’t been showing,” he said. “So on the range, I tried to shorten (my swing) a little today, and it worked really well.”
In the mix again are two players who battled in their last starts, at the United Leasing Championship. Ben Martin won the tournament in a playoff, an extra session that included Hall.
With Hall’s 62 and Martin shooting a 63 Friday, both players are tied for fifth, four off Collins’ record-setting pace. Joining the duo are Cejka, Kevin Foley and Peter Tomasulo, who shot a 62 of his own in the afternoon.
“My finishes have steadily gotten better throughout the year, so I’m trying to keep that pattern going,” said Martin. “Obviously I’ve only won once, but I would say it might get easier the second time. Now that I’ve accomplished that goal, and now that I’m again in that position, I know I can do it. Hopefully it gets easier.”The cut came at 6-under, the lowest number in tournament history. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, the cut was 4-under. For the previous two Utah Championships, the cut was 3-under. Sixty-three players will play the weekend at the Utah Championship.

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE