Tommy Armour III birdied his last two holes to retain a share of the lead with fellow American Bob Estes in the weather-hit Ginn sur Mer Classic golf tournament second round at Port St Lucie, Florida, yesterday.
Armour rolled in a 8m putt at the eighth before tappingin from inside 1m at the ninth for a five-under-par 68, joining Estes on 14-under 132 at a rain-drenched Tesoro Club. Estes also birdied his final hole for a 68, draining a 3m putt at the par-four 18th to stay in the hunt for his fifth PGA Tour title.
Heavy afternoon showers swept across the course, forcing play to be suspended with 64 golfers yet to complete the second round in the penultimate Tour event of the season. For the second day in a row, players were allowed to lift, clean and replace golf balls on the fairways because of the damp, muddy conditions.
Swede Daniel Chopra, helped by four consecutive birdies from the par-four sixth, shot a sparkling 66 to climb into third spot at 13 under. That left him three ahead of Australian rookie Michael Sim (67) and Americans Steve Lowery (66) and Sean O'Hair (68). Lowery signed off in style, holing out from 100m at the ninth for an eagle two.
New Zealander Grant Waite, who shot a one-under-par 72 in the first round was four-under at the 14th hole when play was halted. The halfway cut was projected to fall at one-under 145.
Among those likely to miss out were former major champions Shaun Micheel and Larry Mize.
