Senden takes lead at Buick
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 Buick Open | Round Two | 01 Aug 2009
John Senden has the lead at the halfway mark of the Buick Open, adding a second round of 66 to his opening 64 and at 14 under he leads by two over Michael Letzig and by three over Vaughn Taylor.
With consecutive missed cuts in his last two starts, Senden is well placed to emulate the feats of his fellow countryman Nathan Green, who last week won the Canadian Open after he too had missed his previous two cuts.
Letzig is in his second season on the PGA Tour after a superb rookie season in 2008 when he accumulated earnings of more than US$1 million. His second season has been highlighted by many cuts made but until last week’s Canadian Open he had not recorded a top ten in 2009.
At Glen Abbey, Letzig trailed by only one into the final round before finishing 8th. Clearly he has found something with his game and is again well placed to improve on his previous best PGA Tour finish when runner up at the Ginn sur Mer Classic late in 2008.
The talk of the day was the hot start made by Tiger Woods. After an opening round of 71 had left him well off the pace, Woods made a brilliant start to round two when he moved to seven under through seven holes. The possibility of a sub 60 round was very much in the thoughts of all but although he continued to play well, he eventually finished with 63. At 10 under par however he is within just four of Senden’s lead and has telegraphed his intentions.
Also in the group at 10 under with Woods is another Australian, Greg Chalmers, who has begun to play very well in recent weeks. Chalmers’ back nine of 30 in yesterday’s opening round has created a good opportunity for him.
James Nitties is at 9 under, Stuart Appleby, Matt Jones and Marc Leishman are at 8 under, Aron Price at 7 under, Nathan Green at 5 under and Jason Day and Mark Hensby at 4 under.
