Day two of the Kaulig Companies Championship was another test for the experienced field on Firestone as two bolters would emerge to challenge the defending champ Stricker and Kenny Perry at the top of the scoreboard.
Schwab Cup 2nd ranked this season, New Zealander, Steven Alker came from way back to grab the overnight lead by one (-7) after a fine five-under second round 65. Swede, Robert Karlsson too made a charge, his four-under good enough to tie with Perry tied third on -4.
Joint top after day one with Stricker was Duffy Waldorf, who was one of those to feel the force of Firestone on his second turn around. Among the last of the groups on course to tidy up day two, the Californian started his charge off the 10th with a metronomic eleven pars on the bounce. It was his back nine that would do the damage for the twice Champions Tour winner though. An unfortunate run of four bogeys in five holes saw him drop back to even par heading into Saturday on a tie for 17th.
Leading the way into Saturday, Alker’s day couldn’t have been more different. The only blot on the copy, a double on the par-4 fourth, which was anomalous as four birdies would quickly wipe that from the memory. The back nine was bogey-free for the spritely 52-year-old, with birdies on both par-3s on the home stretch as well as a third on the par-4 11th.
Alker was asked whether such a difficult course suits his game: “Yeah, a little bit. You know, length is there, it’s long enough to play this golf course,” he said. “And then as I say, driving’s not my strong suit, so yeah, I think it does as long as you roll the ball well. You know you’re going to miss greens around here; you know you have to make some saves. Just yeah, just be sharp with everything.”
Darren Clarke had a more difficult second round with just one lonely birdie out there on the par-5 16th. This was cold comfort, coming after four bogeys, three on his front nine including the first and the par-4 ninth. Clarke sits on +2, tied with Miguel Angel Jiménez, in 28th spot.
One man who knows Firestone better than most and looking to retain his title is Steve Stricker. Beginning on the 10th he would start fast with an opening pair of birdies. His only bogey of the day came on the par-4 17th, but the 17-time Tour champion would grab that back on the par-5 second before parring his way home to sit two clear in solo second on -6.
Asked to give his assessment of the day, Stricker summed up his second round: “Yeah, it was a good ball-striking day. I let a few get away really on the greens and that’s been my bugaboo so far this year. Some good putts and then some head scratchers that I don’t know where it’s coming out of. Sometimes I don’t know which barrel it’s coming out of when I’m putting those four- and five-footers. So been working hard this week at it and we’ll see how it goes this weekend.”
Asked that, given his experience around Firestone, he had a formula on how to approach the weekend: “Some good scoring again. We have great conditions. Course is soft, it’s a little bit easier to keep the ball in the fairways, and the greens are holding and they’re receptive and they’re pure. Someone could shoot a good round. But it’s a tough place, you know it’s a tough place. You’ve just got to keep plugging along, hitting in the fairway, knock it on the green, give yourself an opportunity. As you can tell, the scores aren’t very low, so a good score goes a long way here.”
If Firestone took its frustrations out on Jose Maria Olazabal in round one, it had Mark Calcavecchia in its crosshairs on Friday. A bruising five doubles and eight singles for the 64-year-old Floridian. A good red-and-reset for Saturday’s return to action.
The leading trio head out for round three at 16.21 Irish time on Saturday in what could be a blockbuster third round on Firestone. Clarke, meanwhile, will begin his third assault on the south course with Jiménez and Mario Tiziani in what could be another entertaining three-ball for day three of the Kualig Companies Championship.
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