Rocco Mediate edged closer to his first PGA Tour victory in eight years by grabbing a three-shot lead in Friday’s second round of the Frys.com Open in San Martin.
A stroke in front of the chasing pack overnight, Tour veteran Mediate fired a sparkling six-under-par 65 for a 13-under total of 129 at CordeValle Golf Club.
Mediate, 47, needed a total of only 23 putts as he ended a sunny day three ahead of Japan’s Ryuji Imada, who carded a 67.
Former world No. 1 David Duval fired a bogey-free 65 to lie four shots off the pace, level with fellow American Dean Wilson (64).
US Ryder Cup player Rickie Fowler (65) and Swede Henrik Stenson (67) were among a group of five bunched at eight-under in the third of five events in the PGA Tour’s Fall Series.
Mediate, who won the most recent of his five Tour titles at the 2002 Greater Greensboro Classic, was delighted to be in a good position to end his victory drought on the US circuit.
“I want it,” he told reporters. “I want to be able to go out tomorrow and see what I got. I like to have attention, but I just want to see what I can do out there.”
Having opened with a blistering 64 that included a hole-in-one, Mediate experienced a measure of self-imposed pressure overnight in his bid to maintain form.
Mediate drained a monster 40-foot putt at the par-five 12th for his first birdie of the day after playing the back nine first.
Out in three-under 33, he conjured another magical shot when he holed out with a seven-iron from 158 yards to eagle the par-four fourth.
The cut fell at level-par 142 with former major winners Trevor Immelman, Mark Brooks and Tom Lehman among those missing out.
PORTUGAL MASTERS
Reuters, VILAMOURA, Portugal
A flawless 10-birdie round of 62 catapulted Ryder Cup Italian Francesco Molinari into Portugal Masters contention in exhilarating fashion on Friday.
Molinari had been so upset with himself after carding a two-over 74 in the first round he said he felt like kicking a door.
Instead he bettered his career-best score by a stroke to come within a shot of the Oceanica Victoria course record.
A splendid day on the greens, in which he took only 25 putts, helped Molinari up the leaderboard.
The cut came at a staggering four-under 140, only two worse than the all-time tour record.
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