Brad Bryant and Tom Kite share lead at the Nature Valley First Tee Open
Brad Bryant grabbed the share of a lead with Tom Kite after carding a five-under par 67, in the second round of the Nature Valley First Tee Open, at Pebble Beach Golf Links, on Saturday, July 7, 2012.
Bryant, winless since his victory in the US Senior Open in 2007, played amazingly well, especially when he had a ruptured tendon in his right foot.
"It hasn't affected my golf swing much," Bryant said. "But I was never in very good shape to begin with. ... Today was a very fortunate day. I didn't drive the ball well, but I managed the course well".
The highlight of his performance on day two includes an amazing eagle on the par-four second hole. Apart from that, he recorded five birdies against two bogeys to take a three-stroke margin over Bobby Clampett, Peter Senior and Mark McNulty.
In the meantime, Kite recorded a three-under par 69 to reach atop the leaderboard. He has many good memories at Pebble Beach, as he won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am in 1983 and US Open in 1992 at the same venue.
This time, he is confident to repeat history with a display of consistent performance in the final round on Sunday.
If he succeeds in doing so, he will become the third oldest player in the history after Mike Fetchick and Gary Player to win a Champions Tour event.
According to him, his game was not good off the tee and missed many fairways, compared to his performance on Friday.
"I didn't play quite as well today tee to green as I did yesterday," said Kite, who won the last of his 10 Champions Tour titles in 2008. "But I made some nice recoveries. Beginning on the 11th hole, I began make some nice shots".
"I'm pleased to be playing well," Kite added. "It's nice to do something and feel like I have a chance. Fifty year olds keep winning. It's more difficult, but I'm on a golf course I know well and like a lot".
Meanwhile, John Cook, after playing nine holes on Saturday, announced his withdrawal because of a lingering neck injury.
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