Stuart Appleby unleashed big drive after big drive during his sixth consecutive round in the 60s at the 84 Lumber Classic to open a one-shot lead on Friday.
Appleby's 6-under 66 on the long but not especially trouble-filled 7,416-yard Mystic Rock course put him at 11-under 133 after two rounds. Cameron Beckman's 65 and Chris Smith's 66 put them at 134, two shots better than Craig Barlow, Joey Sindelar and Carl Pettersson.
With the wind behind them on most tees and wide fairways to grab every long drive that wasn't badly hit, Appleby and Smith applied John Daly's theory of golf: Grip it and rip it.
PHOTO: AP
"There's tons of room out there," Smith said. "You've got to hit it hard out there. ... I went out and I was swinging -- there are some holes on the course that I tried to hit my driver harder than I hit it all year.''
Smith, 161st on the money list and playing for a high finish that would allow him to keep his US PGA Tour card for next year, decided he had nothing to lose by using his driver as if he was in a long hitter's contest. His 367-yard drive on the 598-yard No. 5 allowed him to hit a 1-iron on his second shot, and he hit to 2 feet before dropping an eagle putt. He birdied the 545-yard 8th after an even longer drive, taking advantage of a downslope beyond a bunker to drive it 387 yards, leaving him a 136-yard sand wedge on his approach.
Appleby has averaged 320.5 yards with his driver through two rounds, but Smith was even longer on Friday with a 341-yard average.
"The fairways are fairly generous here," Appleby said.
"Enough players are finding enough pin locations."
Appleby, who tied for second last year, had what appeared to be a relatively easy 3-footer for par and a two-shot lead on No. 18. But he missed it badly, leaving him a bogey putt nearly as long, and he settled for a one-shot edge.
Defending champion Vijay Singh and Stewart Cink are seven behind, and Jim Furyk and Fred Couples missed the cut. So did Daly, the unofficial tournament host, a year after he finished in a 13th-place tie.
Daly is sponsored by 84 Lumber, and the lumberyard's billionaire founder, Joe Hardy, is so close to Daly the golfer calls him Dad. Daly also appears in nearly every print and TV ad for the event, which started as the Pennsylvania Classic in 2000 before being renamed following its move to the Pittsburgh area in 2003.
Phil Mickelson, 11 off the lead at even-par 144, flirted with missing the cut for the first time all year, but just made it.
With more recognizable names near the bottom of the leaderboard than the top, Smith and Beckman are among those looking to the 84 Lumber as a route to keeping their cards. Beckman, 181st on the money list, kept his card two years ago with a fifth-place tie at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort event, and he also tied for 13th last year.
Chris DiMarco, the 2000 winner, is seven off the lead.
Top-seeded Retief Goosen tied his own World Match Play record with an overwhelming 12 and 11 victory over Mark Hensby and will play US Open champion Michael Campbell for a place in the final.
Campbell drew level with Steve Elkington at the 35th, winning at the 37th with a par to secure his place in Saturday's semifinals.
In the other semifinal, Paul McGinley will play Angel Cabrera after McGinley comprehensively beat third-seeded Ryder Cup teammate Luke Donald 9 and 8 and second-seeded Cabrera, who won the British PGA on this same Wentworth course in May, beat Jose Maria Olazabal 4 and 3.
Goosen, the world's fifth-ranked player, set the record when he beat Jeff Maggert by the same 12 and 11 margin last year.
His victory over Hensby allowed him to reach the semifinals for the first time in six attempts.
Goosen led by nine holes after the morning round and had a chance of a 13 and 11 victory but missed a 10-foot putt at the 25th.
"I've been lucky so far. I've had two guys who didn't play so well."
He beat Kenneth Ferrie 8 and 7 on Thursday.
Hensby's putter, which helped him to a 2 and 1 victory on Thursday over Colin Montgomerie, turned cold Friday. He missed at least six times from six feet or less during the morning.
Campbell led early against Elkington, but the Australian moved in front at the 10th and held the lead until the 32nd. At one stage he was 5-up.
Sweden's Maria Hjorth shot a course-record 7-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the opening round of the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic on Friday.
A member of the losing European Solheim Cup team last week, Hjorth had an eagle and seven birdies at Cedar Ridge Country Club to beat the course record of 65, set in the first round last year by Christina Kim and matched in the third round by Dorothy Delasin.
Karine Icher and Michelle Ellis were tied for second after opening 67s. Defending champion Annika Sorenstam had an inconsistent round and finished in a three-way tie for fourth at 68. Paula Creamer, the 19-year-old rookie who led the US team to a 15-12 victory at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Indiana opened with a 69.
Hjorth said she's been playing well and hopes the solid play will carry through the tournament.
"I've been playing really well the last couple of months," she said. "Of course, it inspires you, you go out there and you really want to perform even better because of the loss last week. You still have to go out and do what's required."
Sorenstam, who won last year at Cedar Ridge and won at Tulsa Country Club in 2002, also started on the back nine, but she didn't find her rhythm until halfway through the round, when the sun finally broke through clouds.
She stumbled through her first nine holes and erased a score of 2 over with three straight birdies starting at No. 2.
"I've been there before," said Sorenstam, who chuckled over a scorecard that also included three bogeys. "You've just got to keep on grinding. I proved it again to myself that you just can never give up."
She completed her round with three birdies in the last four holes.
Creamer, who ranks No. 3 in the world, opened with a birdie at the 10th and reached 2 under with another birdie at the 13th. She gave both strokes back with bogeys at the 17th and third, but closed out the round with consecutive birdies at Nos. 8 and 9.
Bob Gilder tied the tournament and course record with an 8-under 64 for a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the Constellation Energy Classic.
Gilder needed only eight putts on the front nine at Hayfields Country Club and finished with just 22 for his lowest round on the Champions Tour since 2003 at the Emerald Coast Classic, his last victory.
Tom Watson and Dan Pohl were tied for second after opening 66s. John Bland, John Jacobs, Larry Nelson, Hajime Meshiai and D.A. Weibring were another shot back, and former major league pitcher Rick Rhoden and two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange were in a group at 4 under.
Gilder got to 8 under through No. 14 and putted for birdie on each of the last four holes, but failed to break the tournament record shared by five players.
"I think I made more putts today than I've made all year," said Gilder, a seven-time winner on the Champions Tour. "It was fun, that's for sure."
Lee Trevino, playing in his first event since January because of back pain and after undergoing minor surgery in May, opened with an 80.
Australia's Scott Strange fired an eight-under-par 64 yesterdayday to take a one stroke lead heading into the final round.
Strange shot eight birdies to equal the course record at Chung Gung Golf Club near Taipei and record a three-day total of 13-under 203.
Thai newcomer Chapchai Nirat made seven birdies against one bogey for a 66 and remains in contention at 204.
Brunei Open Terry Pilkadaris and fellow Australian Adam Blyth enter the final round two strokes off the pace after firing scores of 70 and 68 respectively.
Overnight leader and local favorite Chang Tse-peng (72), compatriot Lu Wei-lan (67) and Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant (68) are tied three strokes off the paces at the US$300,000 tournament.
Strange opened his third round with birdies on the first and third holes before picking up four successive shots from the fifth.
He highlighted his round with an 18-foot putt on the fifth hole before draining a 20-footer on six.
"It could have been a bit lower but I'm still very happy. I played quite nicely in Singapore last week but got beat at some of the tough holes," said Strange, who won this year's Myanmar Open. "I'll try to put in a good swing on my first tee shot tomorrow and take it from there."
Strange equaled the Chung Gung course record set by Taiwan's Yu Chin-han in 1987.
"Whenever you shoot a 64 you've got to be happy. It's nice to tie the course record and we'll see how things go tomorrow," he said.
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