Saturday 23 June 2012

Jacobson Leads Delayed Travelers




Defending champion Fredrik Jacobson led the way after play was suspended due to inclement weather at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

Rain and thunderstorms battered TPC River Highlands for much of the day, causing a stoppage of over an hour early in the day and forcing the players off the course for good at 3.19pm local time. Play was officially called off at 6.30pm.

Jacobson was among the 76 players to complete their second rounds, with 77 more needing to resume on Saturday.

And in a direct echo of last year's event, he led at the halfway stage on nine under par after following up his opening 65 with a 66 on Friday.

Starting at the 10th, an opening par preceded two birdies and an eagle, though he immediately gave one shot back at the 14th.
Two more birdies followed on the front nine before a closing bogey left him just one shot ahead.

'It feels good to have some birdie chances,' he told pgatour.com.

'You play the US Open, I like that kind of golf but you play for four days and you grind it out. It's nice to have a couple of holes where you feel like if you hit the shot you have some good chances to make birdies.'

Tied for second on eight under are Australian Nathan Green, three under for his front nine on Friday despite starting with two bogeys, and Charley Hoffman, who carded five successive birdies from the 11th to be five under through six holes when the weather cut him off in his prime.

'It was a nice five-hole run,' he said. 'Any time you can make a bunch of birdies, no matter at the beginning of the round, end of the round, middle of the round, it's a good feeling.'

Blake Adams and Roland Thatcher were joined at seven under by Stuart Appleby, whose 65 was the Australian's best round of the a difficult season by three strokes.

England's Brian Davis was six under along with Marc Leishman and Tommy Gainey.

Overnight leader David Mathis was unable to replicate his form from the opening day, though, as he carded a three-over par 73 to slump back to three under for the tournament.

US Open winner Webb Simpson was in the clubhouse on five under following a 69 on Friday, with his playing partners and fellow major winners Keegan Bradley (68) and Bubba Watson (71) four under and three under respectively.

The second round will resume at 7am (1200BST) on Saturday and the third round will begin immediately after the cut, which is projected at level par at this early stage.


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