Troy Matteson finished a storm-swept day at the Viking Classic home and dry with the clubhouse lead, neck and neck with George McNeill.
Matteson birdied his final three holes of the day after a delay of nearly four hours, capitalising on the rain-softened fairways and greens in Madison, Mississippi to post his second straight 66 for a 12-under total of 132 after 36 holes.
McNeill was also 12-under when play was finally suspended for the day - but was still on 18 when play was halted.
He was 7-under for the day through 17 holes and was to resume play in the 18th fairway.
The day's delays added up to nearly six hours as the thunderstorms came through.
"It's kind of weird - I usually don't play that well coming off a rain delay like that," Matteson said.
"Somehow the greens are standing up to the rain. They're soft but they're very smooth.
"These are some of the best Bermuda greens we play all season and they've stayed very consistent with their speed."
The start was delayed two hours after storms overnight.
More storms halted play in the afternoon for almost four hours.
Players had been sent out to resume their rounds when more electrical storms brought them in for the day.
Australia's Peter Lonard, Tim Petrovic, Bobby Gates, Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge, South Korean Kang Sunghoon and John Mallinger had shared the overnight lead on 65.
Of the six, only Gates completed his round, carding a 3-under to drop two shots back.
Despite the backlog, tournament officials said they hoped to finish the event on Sunday (local time).
AFP
Tags: golf, sport, united-states First posted July 16, 2011 12:57:13
No comments:
Post a Comment