IT'S STILL ANYBODY'S NORTHERN TRUST OPEN 2014
SOUTH KOREAN BAE LEADS BY ONE
FROM BADDELEY AND GARRIGUS
FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
LOS ANGELES -- Sang-Moon Bae is off to another great start at the Northern Trust Open. The next step is a better finish.
Bae shot a five-under 66 for nine-under 133, giving him a one-stroke lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus when the second round was suspended by darkness.
Baddeley, who won at Riviera three years ago, birdied his last four holes for a 65. Garrigus had a 67.
Dustin Johnson, who led after the first round at five-under 66, opened with two birdies but never got any closer. He had a 70 and joined Jim Furyk (68) among those three shots behind.
SCOTSWATCH: Martin Laird made the cut with 70-73 for 143 but Russell Knox missed out with 75-73 for 148.
The 27-year-old South Korean was tied for the lead going into the weekend at Riviera last year but struggled to a 76 in the third round and never got back into contention.
"It was really, really good experience, and I learned a lot," Bae said. "I improved a lot from last year."
He wound up winning the HP Byron Nelson Championship a few months later for his first US PGA Tour victory.
Patience surely will be required at some point over the weekend on what has shaped up as one of the best weeks of weather at Riviera -- an abundance of sunshine and only a trace of wind.
Despite what would appear to be pristine scoring conditions, no one has reached double digits under par this week, a testament to one of the toughest golf courses on the US PGA Tour.
"It's a strong course, especially when it's dry and firm like it is," Baddeley said. "If you miss it out of position, it's really hard to get the ball up-and-down. Today was good, because I made a couple good saves but coming in, I had some good looks and made them."
And while Bae is in the lead, the tournament remains wide open, with the leading 22 players separated by only five shots.
One of them is Johnson, who dropped shots on the 12th and 15th holes and missed several "good looks" inside 12 feet. He is at 6-under 136.
"I played pretty solid today, just hit a couple of bad drivers on the back. But that's going to happen," Johnson said. "But I still had a lot of really good looks at birdie and just couldn't capitalize on any of them."
Among those missing the cut was Matt Kuchar, who failed to qualify for the weekend for the first time since the 2012 US PGA Championship. His streak of 30 straight cuts made was the longest active on the tour , though still behind the record 142 by Tiger Woods.
Baddeley was in the middle of the pack until he hit his approach on the 15th hole to about 8 feet.
The Australian followed with a short birdie putt on the par-3 16th, rolled in a birdie putt from 15 feet on the par-5 17th and finished it off with a 25-foot birdie on the 18th.
Garrigus has made the cut only once in four previous trips to the Northern Trust Open. He decided to bring a new attitude, and it seems to be working.
"I have pretty good willpower, so as soon as I stepped on the first hole this week, I'm like, `I absolutely love this place.' ... And I'm really starting to like it," Garrigus said.
Not so fortunate was Fred Couples, who had a tiny cut on the tip of his left thumb that opened up to the size of a dime, making it difficult for him to hang onto the club.
Couples has gone his entire World Golf Hall of Fame career without wearing a glove.
Asked if it bothered him, he said, "Yeah. I couldn't hit the ball." Couples made his 32nd appearance in this tournament, but at 2-over 144 was certain to miss the cut.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71) Players from USA unless stated
133 Sang-Moon Bae (S Korea) 67 66
134 Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 69 65, Robert Garrigus 67 67
135 Charlie Beljan 67 68
136 Brian Harman 67 69, William McGirt 69 67, Dustin Johnson 66 70, Jim Furyk 68 68
SELECTED SCORES
139 Lee Westwood (England) 69 70 (T23)
140 Francesco Molinari (Italy) 67 73 (T32)
141 David Lynn (England) 70 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spainb) 71 70 (T40)
142 Ian Poulter (England) 72 70, Justin Rose (England) 70 72 (T55).
143 Martin Laird (Scotland) 70 73 (T69)
CUT FORECAST (143 and better to qualify)
145 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 72 73, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 73 73, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 75 70.
148 Brian Davis (England) 75 73, Russell Knox (Scotland) 75 73, Louis Oosthuizen (S Africa) 72 76
149 Matt Kuchar 74 75.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND, THIS EVENINGS UPDATES FROM THE THIRD ROUND
CLICK HERE
Remember California is about 10 hours behind
UK time.
FROM BADDELEY AND GARRIGUS
FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
LOS ANGELES -- Sang-Moon Bae is off to another great start at the Northern Trust Open. The next step is a better finish.
Bae shot a five-under 66 for nine-under 133, giving him a one-stroke lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus when the second round was suspended by darkness.
Baddeley, who won at Riviera three years ago, birdied his last four holes for a 65. Garrigus had a 67.
Dustin Johnson, who led after the first round at five-under 66, opened with two birdies but never got any closer. He had a 70 and joined Jim Furyk (68) among those three shots behind.
SCOTSWATCH: Martin Laird made the cut with 70-73 for 143 but Russell Knox missed out with 75-73 for 148.
The 27-year-old South Korean was tied for the lead going into the weekend at Riviera last year but struggled to a 76 in the third round and never got back into contention.
"It was really, really good experience, and I learned a lot," Bae said. "I improved a lot from last year."
He wound up winning the HP Byron Nelson Championship a few months later for his first US PGA Tour victory.
Patience surely will be required at some point over the weekend on what has shaped up as one of the best weeks of weather at Riviera -- an abundance of sunshine and only a trace of wind.
Despite what would appear to be pristine scoring conditions, no one has reached double digits under par this week, a testament to one of the toughest golf courses on the US PGA Tour.
"It's a strong course, especially when it's dry and firm like it is," Baddeley said. "If you miss it out of position, it's really hard to get the ball up-and-down. Today was good, because I made a couple good saves but coming in, I had some good looks and made them."
And while Bae is in the lead, the tournament remains wide open, with the leading 22 players separated by only five shots.
One of them is Johnson, who dropped shots on the 12th and 15th holes and missed several "good looks" inside 12 feet. He is at 6-under 136.
"I played pretty solid today, just hit a couple of bad drivers on the back. But that's going to happen," Johnson said. "But I still had a lot of really good looks at birdie and just couldn't capitalize on any of them."
Among those missing the cut was Matt Kuchar, who failed to qualify for the weekend for the first time since the 2012 US PGA Championship. His streak of 30 straight cuts made was the longest active on the tour , though still behind the record 142 by Tiger Woods.
Baddeley was in the middle of the pack until he hit his approach on the 15th hole to about 8 feet.
The Australian followed with a short birdie putt on the par-3 16th, rolled in a birdie putt from 15 feet on the par-5 17th and finished it off with a 25-foot birdie on the 18th.
Garrigus has made the cut only once in four previous trips to the Northern Trust Open. He decided to bring a new attitude, and it seems to be working.
"I have pretty good willpower, so as soon as I stepped on the first hole this week, I'm like, `I absolutely love this place.' ... And I'm really starting to like it," Garrigus said.
Not so fortunate was Fred Couples, who had a tiny cut on the tip of his left thumb that opened up to the size of a dime, making it difficult for him to hang onto the club.
Couples has gone his entire World Golf Hall of Fame career without wearing a glove.
Asked if it bothered him, he said, "Yeah. I couldn't hit the ball." Couples made his 32nd appearance in this tournament, but at 2-over 144 was certain to miss the cut.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71) Players from USA unless stated
133 Sang-Moon Bae (S Korea) 67 66
134 Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 69 65, Robert Garrigus 67 67
135 Charlie Beljan 67 68
136 Brian Harman 67 69, William McGirt 69 67, Dustin Johnson 66 70, Jim Furyk 68 68
SELECTED SCORES
139 Lee Westwood (England) 69 70 (T23)
140 Francesco Molinari (Italy) 67 73 (T32)
141 David Lynn (England) 70 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spainb) 71 70 (T40)
142 Ian Poulter (England) 72 70, Justin Rose (England) 70 72 (T55).
143 Martin Laird (Scotland) 70 73 (T69)
CUT FORECAST (143 and better to qualify)
145 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 72 73, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 73 73, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 75 70.
148 Brian Davis (England) 75 73, Russell Knox (Scotland) 75 73, Louis Oosthuizen (S Africa) 72 76
149 Matt Kuchar 74 75.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND, THIS EVENINGS UPDATES FROM THE THIRD ROUND
CLICK HERE
Remember California is about 10 hours behind
UK time.
Labels: US PGA TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, February 14, 2014
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