Hill takes a two shot lead

Guy Hill fired a five-under-par 67 on Friday and is atop the leaderboard at 12-under par after two rounds of the Buy.com Louisiana Open. Spike McRoy, Rob McKelvey and 1993 winner R.W. Eaks share second place at 10-under heading into the weekend.

Hill hasn't won a tournament since the 1997 British Columbia Open in Canada and at that event also opened with rounds of 65 and 67, as he has done this week.

"I enjoy being in the lead because I like to play a mistake-free kind of game," said Hill. "It's still early. I've got to put together another 27 holes before we can start thinking about winning anything."

Hill started the day tied for the lead with Brian Kamm, but Kamm managed only a two-under 70 and is tied for fifth at nine-under with Ian Leggatt and Robert Gamez.

Hill struggled at the start of his round on Friday, as he was one-over after a bogey at the fourth hole. He followed it up with two straight birdies and added another at the ninth to make the turn in two-under 34.

"I misclubbed at number-four and made a bogey," said Hill. "That actually settled me down a bit and I started to focus more."

He followed up his birdie at the ninth with a bogey at par-five 10th, but birdied four of the last seven holes, including the 17th and 18th, to gain the lead. He made a six-footer for birdie on 17 and a tap-in on the par-three 18th.

"The last one I admit, I pulled," Hill quipped. "I was aiming 20 feet right of the hole and I just pulled it. That's the thing, though. If you can take advantage of good shots and good breaks, that's how you win golf tournaments out here."

Hill, who played a full season on the PGA Tour in 1998, started in only three PGA Tour events last season but recorded his best-ever finish with a tie for 10th at the Doral-Ryder Open.

Kamm, who played a bogey-free round for his share of the lead on Thursday, had six birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey on Friday for a 70.

A total of 69 players in the field of 144 made the three-under- par cut.

Todd Gleaton, who returned to the tour for the first time on Thursday after recovering from a serious injury from a one-car accident last May, withdrew. He shot an opening-round 88.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page