Goosen leads at Firestone
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2010 Bridgestone Invitational | Round One | 06 Aug 2010
Retief Goosen leads the WGC Bridgestone Championship in Akron Ohio by one shot over Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard at the halfway stage, adding a second round of 66 to his opening round of 67.
Goosen bogeyed the par four 18th for the second time in two days, but he had done enough to take a narrow lead into the weekend.
It has been 16 months since Goosen won an event anywhere but he has performed well enough in recent events to suggest another win, even against this strong field, is not beyond him. Since his last victory he has recorded 17 top tens so there is plenty of evidence to suggest he could capitalise on his great start over the final two days.
“It’s a good course, said Goosen after his round. “Every part of your game needs to be good here, driving especially. It’s a good driving golf course. You need to hit it on the fairway, otherwise you’re struggling. I think the difference is here is I’m putting pretty well. I didn’t drive it so good yesterday but caught a few breaks, and today I drove it a bit better. But the putting has been pretty good the last two rounds.”
“I’ve been playing quite consistent this year, which is quite nice. I’ve just not been really winning. Obviously you want to win. But I’ve had a lot of top 10s this year, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s that No. 1 that counts. This would be a great event to get my first win for the year. I don’t think I’m going to be too far off the lead by the end of the day, and we’ll see what I can do around here on the weekend.”
Mickelson recovered from a double bogey at his 14th hole with two late birdies for a round of 68 and at 6 under he is not only eyeing the title this week but the increasing likelihood that he will take over as the world number one. A top four finish by Mickelson this week will see Tiger Woods replaced at the top of the world ranking.
“You know, it would be — obviously it would be cool,” said Mickelson referring to the possibility of being world number one for the first time. “I’m not going to say it wouldn’t. It would be something I would love to do and ultimately be regarded as No. 1 according to the rankings and so forth. And I know that I’ve got a great opportunity this week. I know that I’m playing well, and this is my best opportunity. I try not to think about it.
Woods has struggled throughout his opening two rounds and at 6 over he is languishing in 72nd position in the field of 80.
World number three Lee Westwood succumbed to his ongoing calf injury and withdrew early in his round. There are now genuine concerns about Westwood being ready in time to play the Ryder Cup.
There has been little to get excited by in the 2010 season of Justin Leonard but this week offers hope for the 12 time PGA Tour event winner.
Adam Scott heads the Australians at 4 under par and in a share of 7th position. Geoff Ogilvy is at 2 under and Jason Day in his first start in the event is next at 1 under and in 24th position.
