Campbell, Perry share Masters lead
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 US Masters | Round Two | 11 Apr 2009
First round leader, Chad Campbell, has been joined at the top of the leaderboard by veteran Kenny Perry at the completion of the second round of the 2009 Masters, Perry’s final nine of 33 moving him into the share of lead at the halfway stage.
Both Campbell and Perry were out in the morning groups on day two and again Campbell started well. Admittedly it was not the fast start he made in round one but when he birdied the dangerous 10th he had moved to four under for the day and 11 under for the tournament. At that point Campbell threatened to split the tournament apart. He led his eventual 36 hole co-leader by five but bogeys at the 11th, 12th and 17th holes and being unable to birdie either of the two par fives on the back nine would cost him a sizeable lead.
Still, for Campbell, who has a 3rd place finish to his name at the Masters he is well placed to improve on that record.
“Today we played the first four holes or so without much wind and the wind picked up quite a bit, probably blowing around 15 or so, said Campbell. “It was a little bit different direction from what little we had yesterday and made it quite a bit tougher it. Dried the greens out pretty quick and definitely made putting more difficult.”
“He’s an awesome player,” added Campbell referring to his co-leader Perry. “He’s one of the best drivers there is out here; probably, possibly the best driver of the ball we have. He’s just a great player. He’s a great friend of mine, too, so I’m glad to see him playing well. You know, obviously last year, he showed what he can do when he gets on a roll. He’s definitely going to be tough to beat.”
For 48-year-old Perry, if he is able to go on with it this weekend, he would not only win his first major championship but he would become the oldest player ever to win a major championship, surpassing the previous best of 46 when Nicklaus won the Masters in 1986.
“Yeah, that was probably one of the greatest rounds I’ve ever played, to be honest,” said Perry. “I just didn’t have any nerves. I was so comfortable out there today. I don’t know why. I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t know how I’ll feel tomorrow or Sunday.”
“But it was just easy. I mean, I knew I was going to hit the fairway. I had a confidence in my head. I knew I was going to drive it right down the middle of the fairway and I knew I was going to be able to attack the pins. We had to really pay attention to what we were doing out there. The winds were swirling. I have a great caddie, Freddie, he knows my yardage and my irons. We’ve been together seven, eight years now. We have seven wins together.”
Argentina’s Angel Cabrera’s quest for the 36 hole lead was halted by a bogey at the par five 15th but he birdied the last in round two and is just one behind the lead. Cabrera has, in the main, played this tournament well and of course is already a major champion and so plays the weekend knowing he has the capacity to win at the elite level.
Todd Hamilton has been missing in action in terms of his tournament performances virtually since his 2004 Open Championship win at Royal Birkdale but he recovered from a slow start today to be at 6 under and alone in 4th position just three behind the lead.
South African grinder Tim Clark who already owns a runner up finish at Augusta is in the thick of things at 5 under and alone in 5th position while Anthony Kim heads those at 4 under following his birdie record equalling round of 65. Kim is playing in his first Masters but the brilliant American set a new record for the number of birdies in any one round at Augusta National when he produced 11 in his second round of 65.
The group at 4 under also includes Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk, Garcia moving from obscurity to contention with three birdies in his final four holes while Furyk struggled a little for his round of 74 after the brilliant opening 66.
Amongst the large group at 3 under and still very well placed are Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, Vijay Singh and the leading Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
Those at 2 under and very much in the hunt include two of the pre tournament favourites, Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington.
Woods struggled again on the greens but is still striking the ball well enough to be a factor if he can start converting some of his opportunities while Harrington will rue an unlucky experience at the 15th.
Harrington was standing over his five foot birdie putt when a gust of wind caused him to walk away. Unfortunately, because he had grounded the putter prior to walking away, he was deemed to have caused the ball to move. He incurred a one shot penalty but fortunately made the putt for par.
Ogilvy has quietly gone about his business over the opening two days and is well placed to move into contention over the weekend. He leads the Australians by one over Aaron Baddeley with Robert Allenby at even par and Stuart Appleby at 1 over also making it into the field of 50 who have made the 1 over cut or better.
Adam Scott again disappointed by missing the cut by one while Greg Norman flirted with the cutline for much of the day before dropping four shots in his last five holes to miss by two.
New Zealanders Danny Lee and Michael Campbell finished at 11 over although their performances were complete opposites.
After his opening round of 74 yesterday, Lee was brilliant in getting his tournament score back to even par by the turn today before a quintuple bogey 9 at the 10th hole saw him implode. His performance to that point however in just his first visit to Augusta provided further evidence of what we can expect as his professional career gets underway in the next week or so.
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