Cameron Percy shares halfway US Senior Open lead
Cameron Percy hits his tee shot at the 4th during round two – image Darren Carroll PGA of America
A stunning approach to the dangerous final hole of the Congressional Country Club in Maryland has led to a birdie and a share of the halfway lead for Cameron Percy at the Senior PGA Championship.
Percy led by one after his opening 67, and although he bogeyed his opening hole today, he recovered for an opening nine of 34 to lead although bogeys at the 10th and 15th had him trailing Vijay Singh by one playing the last. His approach to the green, semi-circled by water, finished three feet from the hole, and the resultant birdie saw him join Singh at the top of the leaderboard, although, late in the day, Y.E.Yang birdied four of his last five holes to make it a trio at the top.
The three golfers lead by two over a large group of seven golfers at 4 under, Percy surrounded by a host of major champions including Singh, Yang and Padraig Harrington with other major champions such as Justin Leonard, Darren Clarke and Angel Cabrera very much within striking distance.
“It was really hard to start with, and then it kind of felt like the wind settled down a bit,” said Percy. “Then I, actually, had some good holes downwind, and didn’t get up-and-down on 9. 10, I hit a terrible shot and didn’t get up-and-down. Then I three-putted 11, which was a really tough pin.
“I missed out on birdieing 9 and 11 which would have given me a nice little buffer there. Then I had a good chance on 12 and it spun off. I could have put a bit of a gap on them, but I didn’t. But that’s golf.”
Percy was asked how he might spend his time before tomorrow’s third round and indicated he might get some work done on a small injury he suffered today.
“I’m not going to be doing much. I’ll go to the physio and he can put me together. I hit a shot on 16 and — there’s no first cut, so my ball was against this kind of stuff. I thought I could hit it, but obviously I couldn’t because I nearly killed someone. It only went like 120 yards. I hit a 5-iron into 16, and I hit it on the 14th green, and I tweaked something, so I’ll have to go to the physios and see what they can do for that.”
The three golfers lead by two over a large group of seven golfers at 4 under, Percy surrounded by a host of major champions including Singh, Yang and Padraig Harrington with other major champions such as Justin Leonard, Darren Clarke and Angel Cabrera very much within striking distance.
Percy has yet to win on the PGA Tour Champions, but he has opened up that opportunity in what is the most significant event in over fifty golf.
Of the other Australasians, Scott Hend remains within striking distance and just six off the lead despite his second round of 74, while Mark Hensby and US-based Australian teaching professional Mick Smith are another shot back with Brendan Jones.
Andre Stolz is 2 over and eight from the lead, while Richard Green is at 3 over, and Steve Alker just made the cut on the number.
