PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico: Harris English matched the low round of his PGA career with a nine-under par 62 yesterday to grab a share of the lead after the second round of the OHL Classic.
The American, who captured his first PGA title earlier this year at Memphis, stood on 12-under 130 after 36 holes to share the top of the leaderboard with countryman Kevin Stadler and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson.
Karlsson and Stadler, each seeking their first PGA triumph although Karlsson has won 11 times on the European Tour, both completed play Friday as the $6 million tried to get back on schedule after storms disrupted play on Thursday.
Only 29 players managed to finish their entire second round on Friday at the Mayakoba resort.
English, who began his round on the back nine, birdied three of his first four holes, including the par-5 13th. He birdied the par-4 17th and then ran off three birdies in a row, ending the run at the par-3 fourth. English closed his round yesterday with birdies at the par-3 eighth and par-4 ninth to match the overnight leaders.
“Finally this tournament my putting has come around,” English said. “I went back to my old putter that I played with in college this week, just brought back some good memories and I’ve really been putting well this week.” Also making a run was New Zealand left-hander Tim Wilkinson, who fired a 63 on Saturday to join South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini on 133, three shots adrift. Starting on the back nine, Wilkinson began with three birdies and an eagle at 13. He then began a streak of birdies on every other hole, gaining strokes at 17, 1, 3 and 5 before concluding his round with his lone bogey at the ninth. AFP
