Tight at the Top
(Port St. Lucie, Fla.) — Conditions were prime for scoring for the second-straight day of the Titleist & FootJoy Club Professional Championship of Canada at the PGA Golf Club’s Ryder Course and players weren’t shy about taking advantage.
Low winds, humid temperatures and receptive greens allowed players to take dead aim once again on Tuesday, with 32 competitors shooting second round scores of even par or better.
First round co-leader Danny King of The Performance Academy at Magna shot a second round 3-under par 69 and now leads the championship at 10 under with just 18 holes remaining.
King is searching for this third PGA Club Professional Championship victory—he captured his first two in 2005 and 2006. The legendary Gar Hamilton and Yvan Beauchamin have each the won the tournament four times.
With the victory, the 44-year-old also has an opportunity to become the No. 1-ranked player on the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC and earn 2011 Player of the Year honours.
“It would be phenomenal to have my name on that trophy once again,” King said about what it would mean to hoist the trophy for a third time. “It’s been a couple years since I won it, so it would be awesome; just incredible.”
King won’t be able to put it in cruise control on Wednesday, as a slew of talented players are right on his tail.
Chris Barber (The Landings Golf Course and Learning Centre), Graham Gunn (Orleans Teaching Academy), Roger Beale (Royal Westmoreland) and Eric Landreville (Belle Vue Club de Golf) are all at 9 under, while Scott Allred (Elbow Springs Golf Club), Brett Burgeson (Country Hills Golf Club) and Marc Girouard (Diamont Club de Golf) are at 6 under. Chris Wehrle (Whistle Bear Golf Club), Lance McCullough (The Ridge Course at Cordova Bay) and Martin Plante (Balmoral Club de Golf) round out the top 10 at 5 under.
Gunn, who won this championship in 2000, was the low-man on Tuesday, firing a 7-under par 65.
“You can’t get caught trying to beat anybody,” Gunn said about his mindset heading into Wednesday’s final round. “All you can do is play as well as you can and if that happens to be good enough than that’s great, but if the other guy makes a few more putts and plays really well than he should win.”
Team Ontario, which featured Wehrle, Bruce Rogerson (Brantford Golf & Country Club), King and last year’s winner Brian Hutton (Southbrook Golf & Country Club), finished atop the Inter-Zone Team Championship at 19-under par, besting the Ottawa Zone by a shot. Team Alberta rounded out the top three after finishing 13 under.
With the field cut to the low 70 players and ties (71players at 9 over or better) final round action will begin Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. with the final group off at 10:57 a.m.
Seventy-five players used SkyCaddie SGX rangefinders on Tuesday. SkyCaddie is the official rangefinder of the PGA of Canada.
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For the full leaderboard, click HERE
For final round tee times, click HERE
For Inter-Zone Team Competition results, click HERE
********************
Follow the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada all week long on the PGA of Canada’s website, Twitter feed and YouTube page.
********************
For more information contact:
Low winds, humid temperatures and receptive greens allowed players to take dead aim once again on Tuesday, with 32 competitors shooting second round scores of even par or better.
First round co-leader Danny King of The Performance Academy at Magna shot a second round 3-under par 69 and now leads the championship at 10 under with just 18 holes remaining.
King is searching for this third PGA Club Professional Championship victory—he captured his first two in 2005 and 2006. The legendary Gar Hamilton and Yvan Beauchamin have each the won the tournament four times.
With the victory, the 44-year-old also has an opportunity to become the No. 1-ranked player on the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC and earn 2011 Player of the Year honours.
“It would be phenomenal to have my name on that trophy once again,” King said about what it would mean to hoist the trophy for a third time. “It’s been a couple years since I won it, so it would be awesome; just incredible.”
King won’t be able to put it in cruise control on Wednesday, as a slew of talented players are right on his tail.
Chris Barber (The Landings Golf Course and Learning Centre), Graham Gunn (Orleans Teaching Academy), Roger Beale (Royal Westmoreland) and Eric Landreville (Belle Vue Club de Golf) are all at 9 under, while Scott Allred (Elbow Springs Golf Club), Brett Burgeson (Country Hills Golf Club) and Marc Girouard (Diamont Club de Golf) are at 6 under. Chris Wehrle (Whistle Bear Golf Club), Lance McCullough (The Ridge Course at Cordova Bay) and Martin Plante (Balmoral Club de Golf) round out the top 10 at 5 under.
Gunn, who won this championship in 2000, was the low-man on Tuesday, firing a 7-under par 65.
“You can’t get caught trying to beat anybody,” Gunn said about his mindset heading into Wednesday’s final round. “All you can do is play as well as you can and if that happens to be good enough than that’s great, but if the other guy makes a few more putts and plays really well than he should win.”
Team Ontario, which featured Wehrle, Bruce Rogerson (Brantford Golf & Country Club), King and last year’s winner Brian Hutton (Southbrook Golf & Country Club), finished atop the Inter-Zone Team Championship at 19-under par, besting the Ottawa Zone by a shot. Team Alberta rounded out the top three after finishing 13 under.
With the field cut to the low 70 players and ties (71players at 9 over or better) final round action will begin Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. with the final group off at 10:57 a.m.
Seventy-five players used SkyCaddie SGX rangefinders on Tuesday. SkyCaddie is the official rangefinder of the PGA of Canada.
********************
For the full leaderboard, click HERE
For final round tee times, click HERE
For Inter-Zone Team Competition results, click HERE
********************
Follow the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada all week long on the PGA of Canada’s website, Twitter feed and YouTube page.
********************
For more information contact:
About the PGA of Canada:
Established in 1911, the PGA of Canada is the second oldest and third largest professional golf association in the world. The PGA of Canada is a non-profit Association comprised of 3,700 golf professionals across the country. The Association’s mandate is to develop, promote and support our Members as experts in the game and business of golf and, in so doing, serve both its Members’ needs and those of the golfing public through the Association’s varied programs and events. The Association consists of the National Office located in Acton, Ont., and nine Zone Offices across the country. For more information please visit, www.pgaofcanada.com
About Acushnet:
The Titleist & FootJoy brands have a tradition of excellence that have always been predicated on providing golfers with quality and performance superior golf equipment. The Canadian PGA Golf Professional has a tradition of excellence devoting their careers to helping golfers improve and enjoy the game. Together, Acushnet and the Canadian PGA Golf Professional share a successful relationship of providing the golfer with best in class products and services. For more information, visit www.titleist.com and www.footjoy.com
The Titleist & FootJoy brands have a tradition of excellence that have always been predicated on providing golfers with quality and performance superior golf equipment. The Canadian PGA Golf Professional has a tradition of excellence devoting their careers to helping golfers improve and enjoy the game. Together, Acushnet and the Canadian PGA Golf Professional share a successful relationship of providing the golfer with best in class products and services. For more information, visit www.titleist.com and www.footjoy.com