WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American Nick Watney withstood gusting winds and intermittent rain to edge one stroke clear in the Greensboro Classic second round in North Carolina on Friday.
Boosted by a birdie-birdie start, the 25-year-old Californian fired a one-under-par 71 at Forest Oaks Country Club to finish on top of a congested leaderboard at nine-under 135.
Compatriot Ryan Palmer, who spectacularly holed out with a wedge to eagle the par-four fifth on his way to a best-of-the-day 65, was tied for second with Australia’s John Senden (70).
Briton Greg Owen (69) was a further stroke behind at seven under, level with Americans Chris Couch (68), Tim Petrovic (69), Charley Hoffman (71), Ryan Moore (70) and Eric Axley (69).
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Watney, who has produced four top-10s in his second full season on the PGA Tour, was satisfied with his score in difficult conditions.
"With the wind and the rain, it definitely made it a little tougher to be aggressive and get the ball close," he told reporters.
"Starting off, I was swinging well and had a few more opportunities early but then didn’t hit it as well as I did yesterday.
"But I made a lot of good par saves so, all in all, not a bad day," added Watney, whose only bogey of the day came at the par-five 13th where he missed the fairway off the tee.
Texan Palmer, who opened with a 71, birdied five of the last eight holes to surge up the leaderboard.
KICK-STARTED ROUND
"It was one of those days where I knew I was hitting the ball good," he said. "To eagle number five from about 105 yards, that definitely kick-started my round.
"From there, I just kept hitting the ball solid. Even my missed shots were good. I had birdie putts when I was missing my irons, I made one putt from like 50 feet and a couple of 30-footers."
Palmer, who won his only PGA Tour title at the 2004 Walt Disney Classic, holed a 50-footer to birdie the 11th, sank a 20-footer at the 13th and a 30-footer at the par-three 17th.
John Rollins, who had opened with a 64 in near-perfect conditions on Thursday to share the overnight lead with Watney and fellow American Brent Geiberger, slipped back into a tie for 10th after returning a 74.
Geiberger, the 2004 champion, fared even worse. He dropped four shots in five holes en route to a 75 and a share of 21st place at five under.
The halfway cut fell at two-under 142 with 76 players qualifying for the weekend.
Among those missing out were former major winners Mike Weir, John Daly, Lee Janzen and Mark Brooks, Britain’s Justin Rose, 2003 champion Shigeki Maruyama of Japan and PGA Tour rookie Camilo Villegas of Colombia.
(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles)
