Sun, Oct 16, 2016 page12

• Piercy keeps the lead until darkness at Safeway Open

  • AP, NAPA, California
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  Scott Piercy keeps finding ways to score even when he is not making a lot of putts.

  Piercy pitched in from 40 yards for eagle on the par-five ninth hole on Friday, helping him keep a two-shot cushion at the rain-delayed Safeway Open until it became too dark to continue.

  A steady rain that fell on Silverado for most of the bleak day halted the second round for 2 hours, 36 minutes as water began to pool on the tee boxes and the corners of the greens. The delay meant the second round could not be completed until yesterday morning.

  

  The US’ Scott Piercy walks onto the second hole during the second round of the Safeway Open in Napa, California, on Friday.

  Photo: AFP

  Bill Haas had a two-under 70 in the morning and finished 36 holes on eight-under 136.

  Piercy, who opened with a course-record 62, made only one of his four birdie chances until his eagle at No. 9, and he followed with a 10-foot birdie on the next hole to reach 14-under par.

  He missed a five-foot birdie on the 12th hole, his last of the day.

  Johnson Wagner was at 12-under and had a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-three 15th when he decided to wait until morning. Paul Casey, who opened with a 64, recovered from two bogeys late on his front nine with three birdies over his next four holes. He was 11-under through 12 holes, ending his day with a 35-foot birdie putt.

  “In my mind, I wanted to shoot three-under on the front,” Piercy said. “And luckily, I was able to do that.”

  Piercy converted only one of four reasonable birdie chances, making a 7-foot putt on the par-five fifth hole. The next par-five was into the wind, though he was mildly surprised that a 3-wood came up so short of the green in the first cut.

  “I had a good angle, though, kind of shooting straight up the green,” he said. “When you make it from 40 yards, it’s luck. I hit a good shot. I landed it pretty much where I wanted to and it reacted good. Whenever it goes in, that’s a bonus.”

  No one from the afternoon starters finished the second round, which was to resume at 7:45am. The third round was to be played in threesomes off both tees, though more rain was in the forecast for the weekend.

  Haas was hopeful of at least staying close to the leaders. That depended on Piercy, Wagner and Casey, and perhaps a few others.

  Haas was one of the “replacements” for Tiger Woods, in this case taking the spot that had been set aside for Woods in the early-round groups. Haas does not know why he was chosen. He just considered it a treat to be able to watch the exploits of Phil Mickelson and the rhythmic swing of defending Emiliano Grillo.

  And they were able to watch Haas post the lowest score from the group.

  Haas was at eight-under 136, the low score among those who finished 36 holes. Mickelson had another 69 and was at six-under 138. Grillo played bogey-free after the delay for a 70 and was at five-under 139.

  Woods had planned to play at Silverado and even entered the tournament on Friday. The PGA Tour decided to arrange the groups so that Woods played with Mickelson and Grillo. Woods, however, withdrew on Monday saying that his game was “vulnerable” and not where it needed to be.

  Haas took that spot in the group, and all three have put on a good show.

  Grillo had a 35-foot birdie putt that he left 10 feet short on the 11th hole, his second of the round, when the rain was at its worse. He made it through the back nine without any more mistakes, and then ran off three straight birdies on the front nine.

  Mickelson returned from the rain delay in much worse shape. The driver slipped out of his hands on his first shot at the par-four 13th and led to a snap-hook out-of-bounds. He managed to make a 10-foot putt to escape with bogey.

  Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung finished the second round with an even-par 72.

  Additional reporting by staff writer
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