Villegas consolidates lead

Course record for Furyk while Garcia scores hole-in-one

Last updated: 6th September 2008

Camilo Villegas 6/9/2008

Villegas: Halfway leader

Second-round leaderboard
USA unless stated
C Villegas (Col) -9
J Furyk -8
P Mickelson -7
F Jacobson (Swe) -6
B Gay -6
DJ Trahan -6

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A 66 from Camilo Villegas allowed the Colombian to remain in the lead at the halfway stage of the weather-affected BMW Championship in St Louis.

Villegas's four-under-par round followed his opening-round 65 and allowed him to consolidate his position at the top of the leaderboard, one stroke ahead of Jim Furyk.

Ahead of an appearance in the Ryder Cup, meanwhile, Furyk gave himself a confidence boost on Saturday after shattering the course record at the Bellrive Country Club with a magnificent 62.

The former US Open champion carded one eagle, seven birdies and one bogey, with Furyk starting his climb up the leaderboard thanks to an eagle at his 11th hole, the par-four second, where he holed out from 114 yards.

He subsequently birdied his final five holes to come home in only 28 strokes.

"Through 10 holes I didn't see a 62 coming," Furyk said. "Then I holed out a wedge and a whole bunch of putts go in.

"Hopefully I can keep it going this afternoon. It's going to be a marathon, because the ground is wet and it's like walking on sand."

Elsewhere, Sergio Garcia recorded the first hole-in-one of his career but he ended his opening 36 holes five strokes off the pace.

The Spaniard used a five-iron to ace the par-three third from 205 yards, but he did not fully capitalise in going on to shoot a two-under-par 68.

Indeed, Garcia's round ended on a low note when he missed a six-foot putt to pick up a bogey at the par-four 18th.

"I've had seven (aces) but that's my first one in competition as an amateur or professional," Garcia said.

"That was very exciting for me. I've been close many times but you don't expect to make it all the way from 205 yards."

Scotland's Martin Laird trailed by eight strokes, with Irishman Padraig Harrington nine behind.

Bad weather

Earlier, attempts to cope with bad weather brought by the remnants of Hurricane Gustav saw play beginning at 7am local time.

However, it was halted 30 minutes later due to fog. Competition resumed after a 90-minute delay, but the tournament was thrown even further behind schedule.

Due to Thursday's washout, both the second and third rounds were scheduled for Saturday, but the delay means there is no chance the entire field will complete the third round before darkness.

Officials hope to get the final groups through about 14 holes, before completing the third round early on Sunday.

In fact, the situation was such that the first groups started their third rounds even before some players had completed their opening 36 holes.

The final third-round group was scheduled to tee off at 3.50pm local time on Saturday (9.50pm UK time).