Vaughn Taylor on top through halfway at Reno Tahoe Open: Highlights
The Reno Tahoe Open continued on the second day with American golfer Vaughn Taylor sweeping the field with his excellent putting, enabling himself to grab an outright lead through the halfway mark of the event. Taylor carded a solid round of a six-under,
66 on Friday, August 5 and is now on top of the summit with his aggregate of nine-under, 135.
The second day at the Montreux Golf & Country Club, Reno, Nevada turned out to be slightly windy and many of the players battled the tough conditions on the course which is built on a mountain top. Because of its height from the sea level, the lack of gravitational
force allows the ball to roll off a further 10 percent, which is often the decisive factor influencing the scores at Montreux GCC.
Taylor is followed by Will Mackenzie, who settled for an outright second, trailing by one shot.
“You need it to stay in the air in the altitude,” he said regarding the analysis employed in deciding the yardage before making the shot. “The caddie does all the math, and we decide on clubs together. It's too difficult to do on your own.”
Taylor started off his front nine with two consecutive birdies and pulled in a glorious eagle at par-five, 13th.
“It ended up about three or four feet from the hole and those are always nice to have for eagle,” Taylor said.
The 35-year-old American has won twice on the PGA Tour and interestingly, both victories have come at the Reno Tahoe Open. Taylor brings loads of experience with him about the course as well as the conditions and he is all set to grab the $3-million title
for a third time.
Three players are tied for the third place including the overnight leader Nick O’ Hearn, Hunter Haas and Steve Flesch. O’ Hearn, who shot a 65 yesterday, fell in for a disappointing second day, carding an even-par to fall behind the ranks.
No less than eight players are tied for the sixth spot including Notah Begay III, Robert Garrigus, Steve Elkington, Michael Thompson, Chris Riley, Jay Williamson, and Roland Thatcher with their aggregate scores of six-under, 138 each.
Begay who happens to be a close friend of Tiger Woods from their days spent at Stanford, was also the inaugural winner of the tourney in 1999 and this is the first time since 2009 At &T National that Begay has been able to make the halfway cut.
“I'm usually going home after the first two rounds,” Begay said after his second round of 67. “But it feels good. I played great. My putting has been fabulous.”
Some 75 players were able to make the cut with long-hitting John Daly among several others who failed to make it through in the weekend.
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