Justin Rose takes halfway lead at Honda Classic – Golf News
England’s Justin Rose shot a consecutive four-under par 64 in the second round of the Honda Classic at the PGA National Champion Course, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on Friday, March 2, 2012, to share the halfway lead with Tom Gillis.
On the front nine, he was seen struggling and carded a couple of bogeys against same number of birdies to remain on level par.
However, the back nine witnessed him outshining his opponents with four birdies on the final eight holes that he played.
Rose said that he was not worried about his bogey shots as they were a part of the game. Moreover, the PGA National is famous for creating troubles for the players and forcing them to score high in the events they play.
Therefore, his performance in the round was satisfactory and he is confident to continue his form on the final 36 holes to be played.
"You can't play 36 holes around here and expect to come away without any bruises at all," Rose said.
Gillis, who played an error-free round of six-under par 64, carded a total of six birdies to finish atop the leaderboard.
According to Gillis, the fairways and greens on the course were helping him to make easy shots and there was no hole that forced him to struggle in making at least the par putt.
On the other hand, Davis Love III, who led the opening round on Thursday, faltered and went for a double bogey.
Moreover, he added two bogeys against his only two birdies to finish two-over par 72.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who is looking for a win in the event in order to replace Luke Donald atop the Official World Golf Rankings, continued to play with confidence and finished third with a three-under par score.
The highlight of the day included Brian Harman’s nine-under par 61 through a spectacular display of stroke play at PGA National.
He managed to score a total of eight birdies along with a superb eagle against his lone bogey to tie for the fourth place.
"Just to have a chance to do something special like that is really humbling and pretty cool," said Harman, who had opened with a 73.
He added, "I just got it rolling today - it was one of those days where everything bounced my way and I made a lot of putts".
His nine-under par score also broke the course record by three strokes that could have been even better if he did not have missed the birdie putt in the par-five last hole.
The 14-time major winner, Tiger Woods, was seen struggling again with his putting technique and carded a total of five birdies against one bogey and a double bogey to finish two-under par 68.
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