First-round leader
Brandt Jobe shot a 1-under-par 70 today and was tied with Charles Raulerson, who
had a 68, halfway through the $2.5 million Air Canada Championship.
Carlos Franco shot his second 67 and was alone in third, one shot behind the leaders
and one in front of a group of five. Eight golfers were another shot back after
two rounds at the suburban Vancouver Northview Golf and Country club course.
Jobe, who had an
opening-round 63, had three bogeys and was relieved to have survived the day still
atop the leaderboard.
"Yesterday,
it seemed I was making a lot of putts and getting the bounces," said Jobe, whose
coming off a career best fourth-place finish last weekend at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
"Today was kind of just the opposite. If I hit a shot a little bit off line, it
ended up in the worst place it could be. It was kind of battle out there for me
today."
Raulerson,
a former rail executive and PGA Tour rookie, has a career best finish of 21st
at the Buick Invitational in February.
He had three birdies on the back nine and capped his round with a par-saving 6-foot
putt.
Among one
of the last groups to tee off, he was surprised that, at 6 under, he was still
in reach of the lead.
"When
I got here, I figured somebody would be at 10, 11 or 12 under, and it just seems
that the conditions of the course firmed up that it played a lot difficult with
the pin placements," Raulerson said. "Is it a buzz for me (to be in first place)?
Would it be a buzz for you?
"Yeah,
it's great. Anytime you have a chance to do well, in golf or in business, it's
fun."
The group
at 135 included Fred Funk, whose 64 was the low score of the round, and U.S. Open
champion Payne Stewart, who capped his round of 67 with a birdie on 18. Also at
135 were Chris DiMarco, Richard Zokol and Kevin Pom-Arleau, a Monday qualifier
who's competing in his first PGA event.
At 6 under, the group included 1997 Greater Vancouver Open champion Mark Calcavecchia,
who had a 69, and Peter Jacobsen, who birdied his first two holes then made three
straight bogeys in a 72.
Eighty players made the cut at even-par 142.
Funk, who finished tied for fourth with Jobe last week, was 5 under on the back
nine, including a birdie at the par-3 11th and an eagle at the par-5 12th.
"It was a little bit of
a shaky start, but a real good beginning on the back nine really got the round
going," Funk said. "It seemed like every time I got into trouble, I made some
really good saves."
Stewart had birdies on four of his final six holes. On No. 18, he drew the biggest
applause of the tournament when, using a 6-iron from 174 yards, his shot skirted
the hole and left him with a tap-in for birdie.
"After
bogeying the 12th hole, that kind of left a sour taste in my mouth. I was proud
of the way I finished," said Stewart, who has eight top 20 finishes this season.
"I made four birdies coming in. I got myself right back in the golf tournament
and that's what I want to do. ... You always like to run away and hide, but I
don't think that's going to be the case right now. I think we're going to have
a great golf tournament."
