Hunter Mahan takes halfway lead at the AT&T National
Hunter Mahan fired a six-under par 65 in the second round of the AT&T National, to take the halfway lead at the Congressional Country Club, on Friday, June 29, 2012.
Mahan got off to a solid start and recorded five birdies against a lone bogey on the front nine of the course to go four-under par for the round.
Another two birdies over the final three holes allowed him to take a two-stroke lead over Brendon de Jonge, Jimmy Walker and Robert Garrigus.
"I hit a lot of good shots," Mahan said. "I hit so many fairways and greens, I made it easy on myself. This is a pretty punishing golf course if you get off line a little bit".
"I put myself in some great spots to make putts. And I felt like I played well on the back, when it was getting really hot and you're getting a little bit more tired".
Mahan linked his good performance with accuracy, as he only missed two fairways and three greens. Yet, he faced troubles over the last five holes when he had to save par a couple of times.
He came short on the 14th hole and decided to lag the ball to the hole. Therefore, he hit the ball and missed the hole by an inch when the ball rolled back to around two feet.
"I expected to hit it a little bit cleaner off the club face, but that how you shoot 65," he said. "Get good breaks like that".
He looked more pleased with his performance on the 17th hole. He made the worst swing of the day on the 17th tee and missed the green to the right. Yet, he managed to save the par through a beautiful chip shot landing close to the pin.
Meanwhile, the overnight leader, Bo Van Pelt, faltered on the second day and carded a two-over par 73 to slip down to tied for the 11th position.
The last week’s Travelers Championship winner Marc Leishman, the 14-time major winner and host of the event, Tiger Woods and Charley Hoffman were the other three players to join Pelt on the leaderboard with a two-under par overall score.
Tags: