The winds picked up in Round 2 of PGA Tour sa国际传媒鈥檚 sa国际传媒 Island Savings Open on Friday and so, too, did the scores.
Firm greens and windy conditions 鈥� with gusts up to 50 km/h 鈥� created some chaos at Uplands Golf Club a day after the 156 players posted strong opening scores in Round 1.
There were just 22 rounds under par on Friday with South African Don McGuigan鈥檚 4-under 66 the best of the day (after his opening 73). But he was still well back of American Matt Marshall, who remained in the lead with an even-par 70 to go with his 63 on Thursday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 getting tough out there,鈥� Marshall, of Arizona, said after his round. 鈥淭he wind started picking up, the conditions changed. It was a little wet to start with and then it started to firm up again so you really had to make an adjustment.
鈥淎ll of a sudden it dried out and greens got firm again and you had to make that adjustment mid-round, and that鈥檚 never easy to do.鈥�
Marshall has a two-stroke lead on England鈥檚 David Skinns (65-70) and Americans Joe Panzeri (64-71) and former PGA Tour player Tyler Aldridge (67-68).
Monday qualifier Fergal Rafferty of Ireland (66-70) continues to hang in, tied for fifth with Surrey鈥檚 Devin Carrey, who carded his second straight 68.
North Vancouver鈥檚 Eugene Wong handled the conditions just fine, turning in a gutsy 3-under 67 in the gusts, as did American Creighton Honeck to sit at 137, tied for seventh with Abbotsford鈥檚 Nick Taylor, Riley Wheeldon of Comox, Regina鈥檚 Kent Eger and Sean Shahi, Scott Petersen and Stephen Gangluff of the U.S.
鈥淭o get close to the pins was very hard because the greens were getting firm and fast,鈥� said Wong. 鈥淒ownwind, with front pins, it鈥檚 very hard to hold the green.
鈥淭he most grinding part are the putts because there are a lot of subtle breaks that you can鈥檛 see.鈥�
The 22-year-old Wong, who played four Canadian Tour events last season and won twice, credited caddy Parker Lilly, an assistant pro at Uplands with helping him with that end of his game.
鈥淵ou can hit darts at the pin, but because they鈥檙e so firm, they鈥檙e pretty hard to play right now,鈥� added Wong. 鈥淚 think I鈥檓 in perfect position, a little bit behind the leader, and hopefully the next two days I鈥檒l catch up.鈥�
sa国际传媒 boys littered the leaderboard with four of the top 10 hailing from the host province.
Locally, Nanaimo鈥檚 Darren Griff is 2-under 138; Gorge Vale assistant pro Edd Boudreau (140); and Cory Renfrew (141) all made the cut of 1-over 141. Amateur Kevin Carrigan of Royal Colwood just missed it with a bogey on his last hole.
鈥淪aturday is green light for everyone, really,鈥� said Renfrew, who had to wait to find out if he鈥檇 made it or not, right on the cut line. 鈥淵ou try and make as many birdies as you can [today].鈥�
An amazing 21 players are within five shots of the lead.
鈥淚 really think I could have easily been four shots better, which is frustrating because, as I said, I thought I had a chance this morning to separate myself from the rest of the field and just didn鈥檛 execute,鈥� said Marshall.
The field was cut to 56 players who will begin teeing off at 8:40 a.m. today.
