Luke Donald shot a 4-under 66 on Friday for his 10th straight round at the Byron Nelson Champions in the 60s and took a one-stroke lead over a trio led by defending champion Brett Wetterich.
Donald was at at 7-under 133 through two rounds, just ahead of Wetterich (68), Fredrik Jacobson (67) and first-round leader Sean O'Hair (69).
It's the first time Donald has led at the end of any round at the Nelson, where 16 of his 20 career rounds over six tournaments have been under par.
PHOTO: AFP
"Yeah, I suppose it's a course I just enjoy," Donald said. "You don't have to overpower it, you don't have to be ultra-long to be successful. It's more about placing it. I have good thoughts and good feelings about this place when I play here, and it shows."
Kent Jones (66) and Scott Verplank (68) were two strokes back, and Vijay Singh (67) was in a group of five players at 4 under.
`Lord byron'
This is the first time the tournament has been played without Byron Nelson, the champion golfer known as "Lord Byron" and in 1968 the first to have a PGA Tour event named after him. He died on Sept. 26 at age 94.
During the third round yesterday afternoon, play was due to stop for a moment of silence in honor of Nelson.
Donald took over sole possession of the lead with a 43-foot chip from the edge of the green at the 196-yard 17th. That was a hole after he missed his only fairway and had to settle for par at the 554-yard 16th, the easiest at the TPC Four Seasons.
Bogey-free
Wetterich's bogey-free round came at Cottonwood Valley, the course across the street that hosted its final Nelson rounds on Friday. The tournament is returning to a one-course format next year after a multimillion-dollar design at the TPC.
This is the first time in three years that Wetterich wasn't tied for the lead after the second round. He had a stretch of 10 straight pars between his only birdies at Nos. 2 and 13.
"It was slow, but at the same time, I didn't feel like I was playing that bad," Wetterich said. "I'm happy where I'm at."
Donald, who has four top-10 finishes this season, also holed a 25-foot chip for birdie at the 426-yard 12th hole.
"With the greens being a little inconsistent, it's easier to not putt at all if possible," Luke said. "Two chip-ins obviously on the back nine kept my momentum going."
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