Flanagan, Coles lead US Bank
IN: News | US PGA | US Bank Championship (2008) | Round Three | by Bruce Young | 20 Jul 2008
Australians golfing fortunes gained even further strength today when just three hours after Greg Norman had established a 54 hole lead at the Open Championship, Nick Flanagan and Gavin Coles shared the lead at the completion of 54 holes at the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
A non-exempt player on the PGA Tour, Coles has mixed his time this season with events on the Nationwide Tour, where he won the first event of the North American season in Louisiana. But for a messy double bogey at the last in Memphis earlier this year, when sharing the lead with one hole to play, Coles may well have already been a PGA Tour winner also in 2008 but he has another chance tomorrow.
Flanagan, who was such a standout success on the Nationwide tour in 2007 earning Battlefield Promotion to the PGA Tour as early as August, has struggled in 2008 at the higher level. With earnings of just US$234,000 to date and just one top ten in the minor event in Mexico, he needed something to start happening. This week it looks as if it just might.
“It’s different,” said Flanagan after his second round yesterday referring to the USPGA Tour. “The second year out on the Nationwide I knew the golf courses and I knew where to stay and travel arrangements and things like that, and then I’m doing that all over again this year, out on the main Tour.”
“It’s just learning the golf courses. It’s really been a bit of a struggle for me this year, just a few swing problems and I haven’t been hitting it anywhere near as well as I did last year, so it’s good to kind of get that form back and hopefully go out there this week and give it a bit of a run.”
“I’ve been playing good tee to green and not getting anything out of my rounds the last three weeks,” said Coles after round two. “Today the putter decided it would behave itself. It found the hole a few times, and consequently I made a few birdies.”
For either player, tomorrow is a huge day career wise as it will guarantee security for them on the PGA Tour for the next two years at least.
Coles and Flanagan lead by one over Canadian John Mills, Ken Duke, George McNeil and first round leader, Richard.S. Johnson.
For either player, tomorrow is potentially a huge day career wise as victory will guarantee security for them on the PGA Tour for the next two years at least.
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