HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Brian Gay’s run of five straight birdies lifted him past a revived Todd Hamilton after two rounds of the Verizon Heritage on Friday.
Gay made six birdies on the front nine, including five in a row from the fourth through eighth holes to help him to a 9-under-par 66 and a one-stroke lead over former British Open champion Hamilton.
“That front nine was awesome,” Gay said.
First-round leader Alex Cejka followed his 64 with an even-par 71 and was tied at 7-under with two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, whose round of 70 featured an ace on the 17th hole.
Gay’s streak began when he rolled in an 18-footer for birdie on the par-3 fourth hole, then picked up steam with a 25-foot putt a hole later. His approach from a fairway bunker landed inside 5 feet for a third straight birdie at the sixth.
After a birdie putt inside 10 feet on the seventh, Gay closed the stretch with another sizeable putt of 20 feet to get reach 10-under. He had a chance from 15 feet on the ninth hole to keep things going, but settled for par.
He was well shy of the PGA Tour mark of eight straight birdies, accomplished many times. Last year, champion Boo Weekley and Jay Williamson each had streaks of five consecutive birdies at Harbour Town.
Gay made his only bogey on the 10th hole, then parred in to hold onto the lead.
Hamilton got going with three birdies over four holes of his starting nine. He put a pitching wedge about 3 feet away on the 13th for the first birdie, knocked in a 12-footer on the par-3 14th and then added an 8-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole.
Hamilton closed with a birdie for the second straight day, rolling in a 10-foot putt on the ninth.
Janzen, whose last tour win was that 1998 U.S. Open victory over the late Payne Stewart, continued his own try at shoring up his shaky playing status. Janzen’s finished outside the top 125 the past four years and missed the cut in four of his seven events this year.
The highlight was the hole-in-one on the breezy 17th that moved him to a shot off the lead. Janzen’s 8-iron tee shot took three hops, rolled against the pin and dropped in.
“It was just drawing a little bit, bounced right towards the hole and when somebody said, ‘Go in,’ I was just waiting for the reaction up on the green,” he said.
Two-time defending champ Weekley nearly shot himself out of the tournament early on. He made three bogeys and a double bogey when he four-putted the simple par-4 ninth from 14 feet away.
However, Weekley rebounded with three birdies coming in to finish 1-under, eight shots back.
“You never know what can happen on the weekend,” Weekley said.
Nelson leads Price at Outback
LUTZ, Fla. — Larry Nelson shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over Nick Price after the first round of the Outback Pro-Am.
Nelson got going with a chip-in for par at No. 13 at the Champions Tour event at TPC Tampa Bay. He then had birdies at Nos. 16, 1, 3 and 8.
“(No.) 13 was kind of the turning point of my day,” said Nelson, a winner of three majors on the PGA Tour. “I chipped it in probably from about 25 feet for par. (It) looked like I was going to double (bogey) there, but as difficult as this pin was, I actually chipped it in. That kind of kept things going for me.”
Mark McNulty and Mike McCullough had 67s, while Jay Haas shot a 68.
The last time the 61-year-old Nelson held first place outright was at the SAS Championship in September 2001. His last 65 was more than two years ago.
Nelson credits his score to a new putter, one he hadn’t tested previously.
“(Friday) was the best putting round in two years,” he said. “So I’m not going to practice anything (Friday) afternoon because I’m going to try to remember what I did (for today).”
Price started off with a bogey at No. 12, but then birdied No. 13. He had five birdies on his back nine, including four straight starting at No. 5.
Choi atop China Open leaderboard
BEIJING — South Korea’s Choi Ho-sung shot a 4-under 68 for a two-stroke lead after the second round of the China Open.
Choi was at 6-under 138, ahead of overnight leader Markus Brier, who followed a first-round 67 with a 73. Brier is tied for second with Chapchai Nirat (71).
Paul McGinley (67) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (70) were three strokes off the lead.
