Jim Furyk opens up commanding lead at WGC-Bridgestone
Saturday 8 August 2015 23:56, UK
Jim Furyk continued his bid to atone for a number of near misses at Firestone as he opened up a commanding four-shot lead at the halfway stage of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
The American veteran carded a second consecutive four-under 66 to put daylight between himself and the elite field, while Ireland's Shane Lowry led the chasing pack along with Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.
Furyk has no fewer than nine top-10 finishes in the event and lost a memorable seven-hole play-off against Tiger Woods in 2001, and he also double-bogeyed the final hole of the 2012 edition to gift the title to Keegan Bradley, but he will be looking to go one better this week after maintaining his form of the first round.
The 45-year-old carded seven birdies and three bogeys, including one at his final hole which opened the door for the field, and he revealed afterwards that a few useful tips from father and coach Mike had paid off.
He told Sky Sports 4: "I think I've found a way to get the ball in the hole. I drove the ball better today, but I definitely hit my share of poor golf shots, just managed to put them in good spots and get up and down when I needed to. I also made a lot of birdies, I think 13 in two days, and that covers up some mistakes as well."
Lowry and Watson both matched Furyk's 66 with six birdies and two bogeys, with Johnson carding a 67 which featured four birdies and a bogey in an entertaining last six holes.
Lowry finished 77th in the 80-strong field on his debut in 1999 - the year he won the Irish Open as an amateur - and was 48th in 2013, but said: "This is one of the courses I came to when I had just turned pro and when you come back six years later I am definitely a much better player. My mental game and maturity is a lot better as well.
"At this stage in '09 I was 16 over par so it's a big difference."
G-Mac struggles
First-round leader Danny Lee, Sweden's Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell were five off the pace on three under, Stenson carding four birdies and three bogeys in his 68 and McDowell following his opening 66 with a disappointing 71.
"I started on the back nine and did not play very well to be honest," McDowell said. "I didn't hit many fairways and was scrambling and scrambling and hung in there incredibly well.
"I actually hit it well on the second nine but made a silly six on the second when I was 25 feet away for eagle, putted it up and it came back off the green."
Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth produced one of the shots of the day at his final hole, hitting a low running approach from an awkward lie to three feet before converting the putt to cap a 68.
Spieth, who needs a win this week to knock Rory McIlroy off the top of the workd rankings, moved to two under alongside European Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.
But the 22-year-old has already got his sights set on the US PGA Championship next week as he bids to become only the third player in history after Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods to win three majors in a calendar year.
"To cap off an incredible year with some more magic would be really cool," he said. "There's a special place in the history books for players who have won three in one year - it's a really short list."
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