Gary Christian remains in contention at the John Deere Classic
England’s Gary Christian, a 40-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour, followed a blistering opening day with a solid second round, carding a five-under par 66 on Friday to share the fourth position at the halfway point of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois.
Christian got off to a good start and carded three birdies against a lone bogey to go two-under par for the round by the back nine.
A spectacular eagle and a birdie on the front nine allowed him to settle just two strokes behind the leader Troy Matteson, who added 68 to his stunning 61 that he signed on Thursday.
“Just when you play the way you envision playing, that's all I did. Nothing more, nothing less,” said Christian, who has 30-plus professional wins on different mini tours.
“You read all the golf psychology books, and I played the way those chapters are set out. So that's the secret for me. I'm not going to overpower a golf course”.
“I'm going to do it by staying even keel, calm, and in control, hitting fairways, hitting greens, and making putts,” he added. “That's what I did. So it's been nice not to throw any shots away and gain a few with the putter”.
He has played a total of 18 events on the PGA Tour so far and succeeded in making the cut only 10 times. Moreover, his best finish came in the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation, where he tied for the 14th position.
Therefore, he now has a chance of recording the maiden top-10 finish of his PGA Tour career and can give a tough time to his rivals on top of the leaderboard.
In the meantime, Matteson continued his good form in the tournament and remained on top of the leaderboard with a one-stroke margin over Jeff Maggert and Brian Harman.
Maggert recorded the best score of the day after carding a bogey-free nine-under par 62 for a twelve-under par two-round score.
The defending champion Steve Stricker also remained in contention with a four-under par 67 and tied for the eighth position.
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