Simpson Leading At Minus-19; Two At Minus-18
by special report to The Chattanoogan
posted October 17, 2008
) Photo by PGA Tour. Arjun Atwal fired a 60 on Thursday and trails by 1 in the Chattanooga Classic at 18-under par. |
Clark fired a 67 on Thursday and finished at minus 7 entering Saturday's round. Mitchell, the former McCallie star and University of Georgia player, finished at 6-under (70-68).
The other four Chattanooga-area players did not make the cut -- Gibby Gilbert finished at 141 (71-70), LaFayette's John Kimbell finished at 141 (74-67), former North Sand Mountain High School player Heath Jones finished at 144 (73-71) and UTC's Jonathan Hodges finished at 147 (76-71).
PGA REPORT
By Mark Williams, PGA TOUR Staff
Webb Simpson continued to weave his magic at the Chattanooga Classic Friday, zipping around the Black Creek Club course with an 8-under 64, tying the lowest 36-hole score in Nationwide Tour history at 19-under-par 125.
Simpson owns 20 birdies and a bogey through his first 36 holes.
Tied for second, one stroke back, at 18 under are Scott Stallings (62) and Arjun Atwal, who shot a tournament-record 12-under 60, the lowest round on Tour this year.
Bill Lunde (62) and Matt Weibring (66), a Dallas, Tex., native, are tied for fourth at 15 under. Two veterans, Skip Kendall (67) and Tom Gillis (64), finished at 14 under, tied for sixth.
Simpson, playing in the penultimate group of the day, arrived at the course to find himself seven shots behind Stallings, who had already finished his second round.
"It made me think the scores were going to be low and there were plenty of birdies to be made," said the Wake Forest graduate. "I wasn't too worried. I was playing well so I just stuck to my game plan."
Simpson made nine birdies and a lone bogey at the 12th hole, Friday's most difficult hole, when he drove into the rough and had to lay up on the 458-yard par 4.
"It's pretty cool," he said about tying the 36-hole record. "I have a number in mind for the four days. I think I'll keep it a secret."
After returning to Black Creek Club early Friday morning to par his one remaining hole of the opening round, which was halted by darkness, Stallings, a 23-year-old rookie, went out and played the best golf of his life.
He made eight birdies and an eagle in a flawless round that was never threatened by a bogey. The three-foot putt Stallings holed for eagle after a gorgeous 5-iron from 200 yards at the 14th hole was nearly matched at the par-5 18th.
"You don't want to leave a 6-footer, straight up the hill for eagle, short, right in the jaws," said a slightly frustrated Stallings. "I just fell in love with the line and forgot to hit it. I really had no idea where I was. The first time I looked at the leader board was the last hole."
Stallings is playing in only his second Nationwide Tour event. His first was last year's Knoxville Open in his hometown, where he received a sponsor's invitation and missed the cut.
"It's such a transition going from college to professional," said Stallings, who won seven times while at Tennessee Tech. "I've had some good rounds in a row but nothing like this. I didn't have any of those 50- or 60-foot putts for birdie. A couple of times I hit away from the flag and just two-putted."
Atwal pulled out of Wednesday's pro-am with a bad back, didn't have a practice round and didn't even know if he was going to start the tournament.
"I showed up Thursday and took a lot of pain-killers," said the Calcutta, India, native.
Atwal, No. 34 on the money list, started at the 10th hole and got away to a slow start with pars at the first four holes. Three birdies in a row on holes 14-16, and another three in a row at holes 18-2 had him 6 under for the day before closing with six consecutive birdies and a back nine of 28.
"I honestly thought I was 8 or 9 under, I had no idea," said Atwal. "My caddie said I had a chance at 59 and I hit it to a foot at the eighth. On the last I hit it right at the flag," he said of the 166 yard 7-iron to four feet, which he holed for his 12-under 60.
Lunde started his round birdie, bogey before stringing together five consecutive birdies on hole Nos. 4-8. A hybrid from 238 yards on the final hole to five feet capped his round with an eagle but the highlight came at No. 12.
"I made a bomb at 12 -- I couldn't even start to tell you how long it was, probably 90 feet, so things were going my way," said Lunde, who won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitation with a score of 5-under 279. "There you're doing everything you could to make pars. Here you're doing all you can to make birdies. It's two completely different styles of golf."
Gillis is starting to find his groove again after contracting a staph infection on his way back from the British Open, where he finished tied for 58th earlier this year. His bogey-free round featured a stretch of eight birdies in 11 holes and the former European Tour veteran is feeling more comfortable with his game.
"I was nervous all last week, even in the qualifier," said Gillis, referring to his tie for 13th at the WNB Golf Classic after a first round 66. "I guess I haven't been there in a while and I didn't have a lot to draw on. It was a lot of work but I don't feel that way this week."
Gillis hasn't been able to work out and doesn't have as much stamina as he usually would, so he hasn't practiced as much.
"When you're not prepared as well as you think, your expectation level goes down," he explained. "Then you free yourself up. You can twist yourself in knots on that practice range. We've all done it."
Simpson will sleep on the lead with only one thought in his head.
"I've just got to keep going low."
Pretty simple, really.
Second-Round News & Notes: Garrett Willis, who suffered a foot injury, and Ewan Porter withdrew before the start of the second round. ... Peter Tomasulo (67) scored a double eagle at the par-5 18th hole, the first on the Nationwide Tour this year and the third in tournament history (Nathan Green-2005, Edward Loar-2007). Tomasulo used a 19-degree hybrid club for the 239-yard shot. ... Michael Boyd (69), who played in the final group at last week's Midland CC, made a hole-in-one at the 188-yard 17th hole. It was only the second ace in tournament history (Matt Kuchar, 2006) and the 25th on Tour this year. ... Michael Putnam (62) and Jeff Brehaut (63) both made two eagles at the fourth and 14th holes. ... Chad Ginn (64) started at hole No. 1 with six consecutive birdies, tying Luke List (2006) with the most consecutive birdies in tournament history. ... 13 players shot nine-hole scores of 31 or better on Friday. ... Marc Leishman (66), last week's winner, rallied with 31 on his final nine holes to make the cut by one stroke. ... Adam Mitchell (68), who was a semifinalist at the U.S. Amateur this year, holed an 8-foot putt on the final hole to make the cut, which came at 6-under 138 with 67 players advancing to the weekend. It was the lowest cut this year. ... After beginning the tournament with a double bogey, Bobby Clampett (67), playing on a sponsor's invitation, is 9 under par, tied for 22nd. ... The second-round scoring average was 69.525. ... Hole No. 12 was the most difficult hole of the day averaging 4.220. ... Both the forst and the 10th tees will be used to start Saturday's round beginning at 10:10 a.m. with the leaders teeing off at 12:05 p.m.
Thursday's Results
$ Pos Start Ctry First Name / Last Name Rnd2 Thru To Par R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
86 1 1 Webb Simpson SC P -8 F -19 61 64 -- -- 125
- T2 5 Scott Stallings SC P -10 F -18 64 62 -- -- 126
34 T2 T15 Arjun Atwal SC P -12 F * -18 66 60 -- -- 126
4 T4 T27 Bill Lunde SC P -10 F -15 67 62 -- -- 129
20 T4 T2 Matt Weibring SC P -6 F * -15 63 66 -- -- 129
99 T6 T15 Tom Gillis SC P -8 F * -14 66 64 -- -- 130
46 T6 T2 Skip Kendall SC P -5 F * -14 63 67 -- -- 130
61 T8 T27 Chad Ginn SC P -8 F * -13 67 64 -- -- 131
29 T8 T27 Hunter Haas SC P -8 F -13 67 64 -- -- 131
88 T8 T6 Matt Hansen SC P -6 F * -13 65 66 -- -- 131
47 T8 T57 Michael Putnam SC P -10 F -13 69 62 -- -- 131
14 T8 T2 Kris Blanks SC P -4 F -13 63 68 -- -- 131
39 T13 T74 Jeff Brehaut SC P -9 F -11 70 63 -- -- 133
52 T13 T40 Won Joon Lee SC P -7 F -11 68 65 -- -- 133
25 T13 T6 Ricky Barnes SC P -4 F * -11 65 68 -- -- 133
157 T13 T15 Bob Heintz SC P -5 F * -11 66 67 -- -- 133
1 T13 T27 Brendon de Jonge SC P -6 F -11 67 66 -- -- 133
87 T18 T6 Geoffrey Sisk SC P -3 F -10 65 69 -- -- 134
31 T18 T15 Matt Every SC P -4 F -10 66 68 -- -- 134
13 T18 T27 Peter Tomasulo SC P -5 F * -10 67 67 -- -- 134
22 T18 T15 Matt Bettencourt SC P -4 F * -10 66 68 -- -- 134
219 T22 T40 Bobby Clampett SC P -5 F * -9 68 67 -- -- 135
53 T22 T74 J.J. Killeen SC P -7 F * -9 70 65 -- -- 135
110 T22 T15 Michael Boyd SC P -3 F * -9 66 69 -- -- 135
94 T22 T6 Blake Adams SC P -2 F * -9 65 70 -- -- 135
62 T22 T6 Gary Christian SC P -2 F * -9 65 70 -- -- 135
24 T22 T6 David Branshaw SC P -2 F -9 65 70 -- -- 135
233 T22 T40 Kevin Johnson SC P -5 F * -9 68 67 -- -- 135
118 T29 T57 Paul Gow SC P -5 F -8 69 67 -- -- 136
15 T29 T15 Aron Price SC P -2 F * -8 66 70 -- -- 136
100 T29 T27 Todd Fischer SC P -3 F -8 67 69 -- -- 136
21 T29 T15 Chris Tidland SC P -2 F * -8 66 70 -- -- 136
288 T29 T40 Darren Angel SC P -4 F -8 68 68 -- -- 136
18 T29 T6 Scott Gutschewski SC P -1 F * -8 65 71 -- -- 136
5 T29 T57 Scott Piercy SC P -5 F -8 69 67 -- -- 136
174 T29 T57 Tommy Gainey SC P -5 F -8 69 67 -- -- 136
38 T29 T57 Daniel Summerhays SC P -5 F * -8 69 67 -- -- 136
82 T29 T27 Brendan Steele SC P -3 F * -8 67 69 -- -- 136
240 T39 T74 Michael Clark II SC P -5 F -7 70 67 -- -- 137
37 T39 T27 Scott Dunlap SC P -2 F * -7 67 70 -- -- 137
41 T39 T6 Bryce Molder SC P E F -7 65 72 -- -- 137
27 T39 T40 Bubba Dickerson SC P -3 F -7 68 69 -- -- 137
17 T39 T92 Spencer Levin SC P -6 F -7 71 66 -- -- 137
40 T39 T57 D.A. Points SC P -4 F * -7 69 68 -- -- 137
65 T39 T40 Fabian Gomez SC P -3 F * -7 68 69 -- -- 137
- T39 T109 David Peoples SC P -7 F -7 72 65 -- -- 137
77 T39 T27 Keoke Cotner SC P -2 F -7 67 70 -- -- 137
98 T39 T27 Jim Herman SC P -2 F * -7 67 70 -- -- 137
111 T39 T6 Ian Leggatt SC P E F -7 65 72 -- -- 137
19 T39 T92 Marc Leishman SC P -6 F -7 71 66 -- -- 137
85 T39 T27 Scott Gardiner SC P -2 F * -7 67 70 -- -- 137
59 T39 T40 Chris Smith SC P -3 F -7 68 69 -- -- 137
28 T39 T92 Justin Hicks SC P -6 F * -7 71 66 -- -- 137
78 T54 T74 Scott Parel SC P -4 F -6 70 68 -- -- 138
10 T54 T40 Colt Knost SC P -2 F -6 68 70 -- -- 138
140 T54 T92 Kris Cox SC P -5 F -6 71 67 -- -- 138
194 T54 T15 Brock Mackenzie SC P E F -6 66 72 -- -- 138
12 T54 T57 Casey Wittenberg SC P -3 F * -6 69 69 -- -- 138
106 T54 T74 Kim Felton SC P -4 F * -6 70 68 -- -- 138
70 T54 T109 Brad Fritsch SC P -6 F * -6 72 66 -- -- 138
117 T54 T74 Steve Wheatcroft SC P -4 F -6 70 68 -- -- 138
71 T54 T74 Chris Nallen SC P -4 F -6 70 68 -- -- 138
112 T54 T57 Mark Brooks SC P -3 F -6 69 69 -- -- 138
137 T54 T92 Tom Carter SC P -5 F * -6 71 67 -- -- 138
213 T54 T40 Bob Burns SC P -2 F -6 68 70 -- -- 138
9 T54 T92 Rick Price SC P -5 F -6 71 67 -- -- 138
- T54 T74 Adam Mitchell SC P -4 F * -6 70 68 -- -- 138
The following players failed to make the Cut: -6
176 - T92 Jason Caron SC -- -- -- 71 68 -- -- 139
26 - T109 Roger Tambellini SC -- -- -- 72 67 -- -- 139
8 - T74 Jeff Klauk SC -- -- -- 70 69 -- -- 139
6 - T109 Darron Stiles SC -- -- -- 72 67 -- -- 139
122 - T74 Andrew Buckle SC -- -- -- 70 69 -- -- 139
68 - T57 Rich Barcelo SC -- -- -- 69 70 -- -- 139
42 - T15 Alex Prugh SC -- -- -- 66 73 -- -- 139
121 - T40 Anders Hultman SC -- -- -- 68 71 -- -- 139
115 - T57 Steve Pate SC -- -- -- 69 70 -- -- 139
16 - T74 Brendon Todd SC -- -- -- 70 69 -- -- 139
36 - T27 Chris Anderson SC -- -- -- 67 72 -- -- 139
83 - T57 Jason Schultz SC -- -- -- 69 70 -- -- 139
56 - T40 Cameron Percy SC -- -- -- 68 71 -- -- 139
139 - T40 Chris Parra SC -- -- -- 68 71 -- -- 139
49 - T92 Kyle Reifers SC -- -- -- 71 68 -- -- 139
- - T92 Joseph Sykora SC -- -- -- 71 68 -- -- 139
92 - T92 Jeff Gallagher SC -- -- -- 71 69 -- -- 140
30 - T57 D.J. Brigman SC -- -- -- 69 71 -- -- 140
69 - T27 Sebastian Fernandez SC -- -- -- 67 73 -- -- 140
151 - T129 Camilo Benedetti SC -- -- -- 74 66 -- -- 140
- - T120 Philip Pettitt SC -- -- -- 73 67 -- -- 140
45 - T120 Josh Broadaway SC -- -- -- 73 67 -- -- 140
67 - T109 Gavin Coles SC -- -- -- 72 68 -- -- 140
51 - T15 Tee McCabe SC -- -- -- 66 74 -- -- 140
- - T74 Billy Andrade SC -- -- -- 70 70 -- -- 140
- - T57 Loren Personett SC -- -- -- 69 71 -- -- 140
119 - T129 John Kimbell SC -- -- -- 74 67 -- -- 141
32 - T74 Bryan DeCorso SC -- -- -- 70 71 -- -- 141
204 - T74 Andrew Bonhomme SC -- -- -- 70 71 -- -- 141
84 - T40 Craig Bowden SC -- -- -- 68 73 -- -- 141
44 - T74 Vance Veazey SC -- -- -- 70 71 -- -- 141
57 - T92 Fran Quinn SC -- -- -- 71 70 -- -- 141
48 - T120 Oskar Bergman SC -- -- -- 73 68 -- -- 141
23 - T40 Ryan Hietala SC -- -- -- 68 73 -- -- 141
210 - T57 Jay Delsing SC -- -- -- 69 72 -- -- 141
102 - T92 Gibby Gilbert III SC -- -- -- 71 70 -- -- 141
90 - T40 Bradley Iles SC -- -- -- 68 73 -- -- 141
81 - T74 Dave Schultz SC -- -- -- 70 71 -- -- 141
104 - T40 Jason Enloe SC -- -- -- 68 73 -- -- 141
177 - T92 Tyler Aldridge SC -- -- -- 71 71 -- -- 142
63 - T92 Esteban Toledo SC -- -- -- 71 71 -- -- 142
97 - T92 Jon Turcott SC -- -- -- 71 71 -- -- 142
95 - T109 Wade Ormsby SC -- -- -- 72 70 -- -- 142
2 - T15 Jarrod Lyle SC -- -- -- 66 76 -- -- 142
120 - T74 Tripp Isenhour SC -- -- -- 70 72 -- -- 142
124 - T109 Jim Rutledge SC -- -- -- 72 70 -- -- 142
54 - T134 Joe Daley SC -- -- -- 75 68 -- -- 143
- - T109 Christopher Gray SC -- -- -- 72 71 -- -- 143
64 - T57 David McKenzie SC -- -- -- 69 74 -- -- 143
58 - T74 David Hearn SC -- -- -- 70 73 -- -- 143
91 - T57 Jonathan Fricke SC -- -- -- 69 75 -- -- 144
- - T120 Heath Jones SC -- -- -- 73 71 -- -- 144
55 - T57 Henrik Bjornstad SC -- -- -- 69 75 -- -- 144
50 - T40 Garth Mulroy SC -- -- -- 68 76 -- -- 144
- - T129 Audie Johnson SC -- -- -- 74 70 -- -- 144
146 - T120 Tom Byrum SC -- -- -- 73 73 -- -- 146
113 - T109 Kelly Grunewald SC -- -- -- 72 74 -- -- 146
93 - T92 Miguel Angel Carballo SC -- -- -- 71 75 -- -- 146
89 - T129 Keith Nolan SC -- -- -- 74 72 -- -- 146
108 - T134 James Love SC -- -- -- 75 71 -- -- 146
76 - T120 B.J. Staten SC -- -- -- 73 73 -- -- 146
123 - T120 Rob Bradley SC -- -- -- 73 73 -- -- 146
101 - T92 Ben Bates SC -- -- -- 71 75 -- -- 146
43 - T120 Garrett Osborn SC -- -- -- 73 74 -- -- 147
- - 136 Jonathan Hodge SC -- -- -- 76 71 -- -- 147
11 - T109 David Mathis SC -- -- -- 72 75 -- -- 147
66 - 141 Dustin Bray SC -- -- -- 79 69 -- -- 148
80 - T120 Bret Guetz SC -- -- -- 73 75 -- -- 148
182 - T137 Scott Gordon SC -- -- -- 77 73 -- -- 150
74 - T109 Chris Kirk SC -- -- -- 72 78 -- -- 150
- - T139 John M. Kelly SC -- -- -- 78 72 -- -- 150
- - T129 Kelvin Burgin SC -- -- -- 74 76 -- -- 150
116 - T137 Nick Malinowski SC -- -- -- 77 75 -- -- 152
254 - T139 Brett Bingham SC -- -- -- 78 74 -- -- 152
160 WD 142 Garrett Willis SC Withdrawn 66 -- -- -- 66
96 WD 143 Dicky Pride SC Withdrawn 74 -- -- -- 74
33 WD 144 Ewan Porter SC Withdrawn 79 -- -- -- 79
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)
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