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Clarke takes narrow lead
Tim Clark posted a two-under
70 on Friday to grab a one-shot lead after 36 holes of the Buy.com Monterey Classic
at Bayonet Golf Course. His four-under-par 140 puts him ahead of Mike Heinen,
Chad Campbell and Tom Carter.
Clark was one of 17 players
to break par on Friday at Bayonet Golf Course and he broke into red figures early
with a seven-foot birdie putt at the third. At the fifth, Clark played a six-iron
20 feet from the stick to set up another birdie but a bogey at the ninth dropped
him to a front-nine, one-under 35.
The 25-year-old from South
Africa rebounded immediately after the miscue at nine. Clark roped a three-iron
to 12 feet at the par-five 10th which set up eagle but he squandered opportunities
to go lower.
At the 11th, Clark missed
a three-foot birdie try and at 15 he failed to convert a two-footer for birdie.
His drive at No. 16 found the rough and he was unable to get up and down for par.
"I missed two putts
that hurt a little," said Clark, who won twice last year. "I hit the
ball well and haven't missed any fairways. I've missed five putts inside of five
feet over two days."
Clark is playing in only
his second Buy.com Tour event of the season. He is a member of the PGA Tour but
has a medical exemption after tearing cartilage in his right wrist in February.
"It's still a little
weak," said Clark, who won twice last year on the Buy.com Tour and qualified
for the PGA Tour by finishing third on the money list. "I've practiced a
lot the last month but haven't been hitting that many balls."
Carter fired the lowest
round of the day with a five-under 67 and that was because he had the shot of
the day. At the par-five 10th, Carter roped a driver down the fairway and then
holed out a six-iron from 185 yards out for a rare double-eagle.
Heinen and Campbell each
posted rounds of even-par 72 on Friday. Heinen has four top-10 finishes on tour
this season while Campbell picked up two wins earlier in the year.
One more victory and Campbell
will get to ascend to the PGA Tour under the Buy.com Tour's "battlefield
promotion" stipulation, which allows a player who wins three times in a single
season to immediately move up to the big leagues.
Charley Hoffman, Tjaart
van der Walt, Deane Pappas and John Rollins share fifth place at two-under-par
142.
Jamie Rogers and Todd Fischer
are knotted in ninth at minus-one.
First-round leader Vic Wilk
struggled to a five-over 77 on Friday and fell into a tie for 15th at plus-one.
The 36-hole cut fell at
four-over 148 with 63 players qualifying for the weekend.
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