Nationwide Tour Championship R2
Colt Knost carded a 3-under 69 on Friday to share the second-round lead with Brendan Steele and Joe Affrunti. The finale of the Nationwide Tour, the Tour Championship, took place in South Carolina. The event was the last platform for all the amazing golfers
to earn their playing card for 2011. The top 60 players on the money list qualified for this event and only the top 25 players on the list attained the playing privileges for the PGA.
Steele and Affrunti posted 71 to match Knost at 7-under 137 on the Daniel Island Club’s Ralston Creek Course. Along with leading the second round of the championship, Knost is also known for winning the 2007 U.S Amateur Champion title. Steele, then, was
30th on the money list with Knost and Affrunti at 36th and 34th respectively.
Joe Affrunti, who was also leading after the first round as well, said that the windy conditions became an obstacle for him in the second round. Affrunti said that his ball striking was there in R2, as he hit 13 of the 18 greens as compared to only 10 out
of 18 in the first round. He said he would like to make a few more putts and with 36 holes.
The other star of the show, Knost, had amazing driving accuracy making 24 of the 28 fairways.
"We all have the same goal," Knost said. "If you say you're not nervous, you're lying. It's a big deal to get to the next level and I want to get back. I knew it was going to be tough going into today.” Colt posted eight birdies, five pars and five bogeys.
Brendan Steele, who just like Affrunti, was leading the first round said it was hard not to think about the money list. Looking at the way he was going, there was a slight possibility he went up five or six places. He said he had done a good job working
with his caddie and was not really paying attention to what was going on. Steele said that staying motivated towards one’s goals and yardages was all that could be done.
Brendan said that it was definitely difficult out there. In the two rounds passed, he made 27 of 36 greens ranking second in his accuracy. He said he felt like they (the players) were into the wind on every hole. Looking back at his performance, Steele said
he made a couple of strong par saves on the twelfth and thirteenth hole. He said he shot a couple of 10 to 12 footers for those two holes which were definitely the key to his round.
The Canadian player, David Hearn finished at 69 and was following Kevin Kisner and J.J Killeen by one stroke. Hearn was tied for fourth place with the Texan Killeen and South Carolina’s Kisner. The former Georgian Bulldog, Kisner, was eleventh on the money
list. He said he got off to a remarkable start and steadied his performance for the rest of the day and finished with a birdie on the eighteenth.
Hearn was number 27 on the money list due to the four top 10 finishes he had this year. The player made only one bogey throughout the two rounds and was proposed to move to the 22nd position. Following Hearn, John Mills was on the 28th
position on the money list. Mills strived hard during the second round but finished at four-over 76.
The two-time winner Hunter Haas, Florida resident Rob Oppenheim and Californian James Hahn were all tied for seventh place for 4-under-140.
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