Chris Smoth maintains lead after albatross

Chris Smith walked out of the scoring tent after his round on Friday at the $425,000 BUY.COM Dayton Open with a Cheshire cat grin.

It wasn't because he was 10 under par and heading home for the second consecutive day as the leader of the tournament. His double eagle on No. 1, his 10th hole of the day, was the culprit.

"I had a double eagle today," said Smith, who was more eager to talk about his shot than his lead. "That's my first one ever. That was fun. I was a kid in a candy store when I made that shot."

Smith, who fired his second consecutive 67 Friday, leads Jaxon Brigman (68) by three strokes entering Saturday's third round at the Golf Club at Yankee Trace. Ian Leggatt (69) is in third at 6 under, while Jim McGovern (67), Don Walsworth (68), Sonny Skinner (70), Mark Carnevale (69) and Steve Runge (69) trail the leader by five strokes.

Smith's shot of the day came after a 363-yard drive on the par-5, 504-yard first hole. He pulled a 52 degree lob wedge out of his bag and knocked it in from 141 yards.

"It just was a good shot that got a little luck to it and happened to trickle in," said Smith, who didn't return home from his daughter's ballet recital in Indiana until after 2 a.m. Friday. "When you can pick up three shots to par on one hole, it helps your game out quite a bit."

Smith arrived home after the 169-mile, three-and-a-half hour drive, just in time to do a load of laundry and take Abigail to the recital after Thursday's 67 at the 7,139-yard course.

"It was impressive," he said. "They had 275 girls running around last night. I spotted my daughter out there. It was worth the drive. I was a little bit tired today, but we had a lot of fun last night and it was more of an experience than I can get out here, for sure."

Like Smith yesterday, Brigman experienced a two-stroke clubhouse lead. His 68 Friday included four birdies and gave him the first bogey-free round of the tournament.

"I was happy about it," said Brigman, who saved par four different times after landing in greenside bunkers. "I didn't hit my irons as well as I would have liked to today, but I kept getting the ball up and down and didn't make a bogey."

The high winds and heat the golfers have encountered through the first two rounds have not seemed to bother the native Texan who played his collegiate golf at Oklahoma State University.

"[Being accustomed to the conditions] definitely helps me," Brigman said. "I've hit a lot of these shots that I'm having out here. The fairways are running just like they would at home, so I can control the ball, keep it down and get a lot of roll with my drive. So that's very beneficial to me, since I am not a long hitter."

McGovern's move into contention comes on the heels of his successful attempt at U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying, which was played Tuesday and Wednesday at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J. The qualifier carried over an extra day when heavy rains hit the course and suspended play, which left McGovern and a few others scrambling to get from New Jersey to Ohio in time for Thursday's opening round.

"I don't know the golf course," said McGovern, who sank seven birdies on the way to his 67 on Friday. "I had never seen it prior to yesterday (Thursday). It was just one of those things. My caddie had been here a couple of times and I was really just trying to focus on hitting fairways and greens. I was not trying to be too aggressive, but I wanted to get more comfortable with the surroundings."

Walsworth, like Brigman, was bogey-free on Friday.

"I've only made one [through 36 holes], so that's the biggest thing," Walsworth said. "I've been making doubles and triples and it's been killing me."

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