Adam Scott Has Magical Round
His 10-under par one shot off course record.
By Dave Weissman, Columbus Wired

While Saturday is moving day towards Sunday’s final round, the Friday of a tournament is cut down day. This means that some guys will not make any money for their efforts of the past two rounds.

Two Australians, Adam Scott and Rod Pampling, are tying to give this tournament a serious international flavor. Early in the day, Scott shot a 10-under par 62 to take the lead after the second round. He missed the course record of 61 by John Huston in 1996.

Pampling, one of the leaders after the first round shot a 4-under par to place him one shot behind the leader at 11-under par.

The afternoon rounds saw Bubba Watson and Aaron Baddeley carding some pretty impressive scores. Both started the day at 6-under par. Watson took over the lead after the 12th hole put him at 12-under par. He birdied the first three holes on the back nine, until a hiccup on thirteen left him at 11-under. He made a birdie on fourteen to get back to 12-under par but a bogey on fifteen took him back to 11-under.

Sean O’Hair, who started the round tied for first place at 7-under went out late in the afternoon and carded a 3-under par for a total 10-under which left him only two shots out of the lead.

Scott finished last year’s tournament tied for 4th place with his best round being a second round 66.

He birdied nine of the first twelve holes and felt very comfortable out there even with a bogey on 16, which would have tied the record. He credits his putting for his great round. “The greens were so perfect, hardly a spike mark, and I just got the putter rolling,” he said. “I kept hitting a lot of good shots in there and giving myself a lot of chances.”

Pampling kept pace with Scott and was pleased with his round of 68, putting him two shots better than Ryan Moore and Aaron Baddely who are tied for third.

“Midway through the back nine, I made a nice second shot into 13, and that just gave me the confidence to play on in, and from there we played really solid,” Pampling said.

The course for Moore played a bit harder on the back nine as winds picked up slightly. “It makes a course like this definitely play more difficult,” he said. “A hole like fifteen, I had to hit a 3-wood as good as I possibly could and I still didn’t get there.”