Friday's golf: Jimenez, Ames set pace at Senior British Open
St. Andrews, Scotland — Miguel Angel Jimenez and Stephen Ames were sharing the lead on 9-under when darkness ended play early in the second round of the Senior British Open on Friday.
Ames is among 18 players who must return on Saturday morning to complete their rounds. The Canadian golfer has one hole to go.
Earlier, pony-tailed Spaniard Jimenez fired a 5-under 67 for a total of 135, one better than American pair Jeff Sluman (68) and Kirk Triplett (71), and defending champion Bernhard Langer (69).
Among three players in the clubhouse on 137 was three-time winner Tom Watson, who remarkably shot his age by posting a 68. On the same 7-under overall mark were Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden and Vijay Singh of Fiji.
“I have been playing well and I attribute it to practicing quite hard before I came here,” Watson said. “I shot 68 on the Old Course under pretty good conditions and I’m very pleased.”
Jimenez’s round was highlighted by an eagle-birdie-birdie run from the 14th.
“I played … super golf,” he said. “It was very difficult with very strong winds on the first nine holes, and then on the back nine I played solid. It would mean a lot to win the Senior Open, especially here at St. Andrews, but some of the top players in the world are here.”
Triplett said he had no strategy for the historic links layout and simply planned to react according to the daily conditions.
“You can take the yardage book and throw it away most of the time”, he said. “Whatever comes, you’ve got to figure out how to play it. I really enjoy links golf. I just haven’t ever been very good at it.”
To the delight of the crowd, Scottish pair Sandy Lyle (66) and Colin Montgomerie (68) were among a group on 5-under 139.
“Yesterday, my putter let me down badly,” said Lyle. “I had chance after chance after chance. Today, though, I played very tidy golf.”
Montgomerie was less pleased with his performance.
“I was 4-under through eight,” he said. “Had 10 more chances, missed them all. So very poor really. No positives at all. It’s all negative in my world.”
Play was delayed for 85 minutes at the start of the round due to thick fog.
PGA
Keegan Bradley played the last four holes in 6 under, making two of his three eagles, to pull within a shot of the lead in the RBC Canadian Open at Oakville, Ontario.
Bradley holed putts of 10 feet on the par-3 15th, 20 feet on the par-5 16th, 27 feet on the par-4 17th and 20 feet on the par-5 18th — after hitting an approach from 159 yards. He made a 7-footer on No. 2 for the first eagle.
Playing alongside leader Kevin Tway at Glen Abbey, Bradley closed birdie-eagle-birdie-eagle for a 9-under 63. He also eagled the par-5 second hole.
Tway birdied the final hole for a 65 to get to 13 under. He’s trying to win for the first time on the PGA Tour in the event his father won 15 years ago at Hamilton for his last victory.
Whee Kim had a 65 to match Bradley at 12 under.
LPGA
Tiffany Joh, who is chasing a maiden LPGA Tour victory, shot a 4-under 67 to stay in front after the second round of the Ladies Scottish Open at Gullane, Scotland.
The 31-year-old American picked up five birdies and one bogey, her first of the week, to register a 13-under aggregate of 129.
U.S. Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn produced a joint best-of-the-day 65 to get within three strokes of the lead on 132, along with Amy Yang (66) of South Korea.
“I had pretty low expectations for today,” overnight leader Joh said. “I probably would have taken anything under par, but on the first hole, right away we made a 45-footer, and I just started laughing.
“I didn’t even know what to say. So, yeah, it was a really good start and I guess I just kept rolling with it.”
Europe
At Hamburg, Germany, Bryson DeChambeau reeled off four birdies in the last seven holes to shoot a 4-under 68 and remain top of the leaderboard after the second round of the European Open.
The 24-year-old American, who led overnight, finished with a 10-under total of 134. He is one stroke ahead of Richard McEvoy of England (65) and Matthias Schwab (67) of Austria.
U.S. Masters champion Patrick Reed (66) shared fourth spot on 136 with Romain Wattel of France (69) and David Drysdale of Scotland (67).
“I’m absolutely satisfied,” DeChambeau said. “The wind made playing pretty tough out there and I was fortunate enough to hit it in the right spots, miss it in the right spots, get a couple of lucky breaks and take advantage of them when I needed to.
“It wasn’t my best form … it was a little frustrating off the tee today. I thought I’d worked something out yesterday, and it worked a little bit, but I’ve got to go back to the range and work a little harder.”