Tim Matthews, Martin Jeppesen and J.R. Roth share lead at the Michigan PGA's Tournament of Champions
The scoring conditions were close to perfect on Wednesday, during the second round of the Michigan PGA's Tournament of Champions at Boyne Mountain Resort Alpine, and many players made the most of it.
On the contrary, Tim Matthews, who stunned his opponents with an opening-round 64, stumbled during the second round and posted a two-over par 74. Although he went over par for the round, he still remained on top of the leaderboard.
However, two other players, Martin Jeppesen and J.R. Roth, also joined him with a four-under par 68 each in the second round for a six-under par overall score.
Matthews started off with five straight pars, followed by a bogey on the sixth hole. Yet, he managed to recover from it with two consecutive birdies starting from the 11th hole. However, bogeys on the 14th, 15th and 17th hole forced him to share his lead
in the end.
One of the most interesting moments of his performance during the day includes his tee shot from the first tee.
He topped his ball in the air that landed not very far away from him. On that occasion, he amusingly said that it did not even get past the ladies' tee. Yet, he managed to save the par in the end.
"I was pretty unhappy about that at the time, but I didn't give up, which is something I've been working on," said Matthews, the 1986 Michigan Open champion from Scotts.
"When the frustration settles in, just battle through it and I did that. So, I'm happy with that and looking forward to tomorrow".
Meanwhile, Roth accepted that he was after Al Watrous' record of most wins (15) at the Michigan PGA major championships.
"I like to have something to play for," said Roth, a long-time pro in Flint and the Detroit area who now lives in New Mexico. "The money is great and everything, but I like to play for a little bit of history too".
He has already won the Tournament of Champions four times in his career so far with the last one coming in 2008. He now aims to add another major title this year with a consistent display of game in the final round.
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