Bank of America Championship: Second-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff CONCORD, Mass. -- Can the third time be the charm for Tom Purtzer? The Scottsdale, Ariz., resident finds himself in a familiar position going into Sunday's final round. For the third successive time at this tournament, Purtzer will hold sole possession of the lead going into Sunday's round. He led John Jacobs and Walter Hall by two strokes in 2004 before Craig Stadler closed with an 8-under-par 64 to win by four strokes.  Keith Fergus is one of three Houston Cougars tied for second. (Jim Rogash/WireImage)
• Two years ago, Purtzer led Mark McNulty and R.W. Eaks by one stroke after 36 holes, but McNulty won a three-man playoff with Purtzer and Don Pooley. Purtzer will take a three-stroke margin over seven players into Sunday's round. • Purtzer will be joined in the final group by Kirk Hanefeld and Jack Ferenz. Hanefeld, who hails from nearby Acton, Mass., is playing on a sponsor's exemption, while Ferenz earned a berth in the field via open qualifying on Tuesday. Should either Hanefeld or Ferenz finish in the top 10, they would earn berths in next week's Commerce Bank Championship in East Meadow, NY. • In the previous 25 events, 14 second-round leaders/co-leaders have won the tournament. However, the last to do so was Allen Doyle in 2003. • The winner of Sunday's event will receive 248 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. Jay Haas is the current leader with 1,455 points, followed by Denis Watson at 1,120 points. Brad Bryant is third with 947 points. • R.W. Eaks became the first player since Don Pooley at the 2004 Senior British Open (first round) to make consecutive eagles in a round on the Champions Tour. Eaks recorded his eagles on Nos. 18 and 1 (he started on No. 10). At one point on Saturday, Eaks was 9 under par in a stretch of nine holes. • Eaks made the day's biggest move following his 8-under-par 64, one shy of the all-time tournament scoring record (63 by Allen Doyle in 2003). Eaks moved from a T53 on Friday into a tie for second, a jump of 51 spots. • Massy Kuramoto made just the fifth hole-in-one in tournament history when he aced No. 17 on Saturday. Kuramoto used an 8-iron on the 167-yard hole. It was the 11th of his career and the fifth on the Champions Tour in 2007. The most recent ace at the Bank of America Championship came in 2001 by J.C. Snead. • One day after Hale Irwin's streak of consecutive holes without a three-putt ended at 185, Tom Purtzer's reign as the Champions Tour leader ended at 156 after just one day when he three-putted No. 9. Now the distinction of leading in that category falls to R.W. Eaks at 127. • The scoring average on Saturday dropped more than a half stroke with more pleasant weather conditions during the day. The field averaged 71.179 compared to 71.846 on Friday. A total of 21 players had rounds in the 60s compared to 13 a day earlier and 42 players had sub-par rounds, one better than Friday. • The most difficult hole on Saturday was No. 2 with an average score of 3.205 and only five players made birdies. The most difficult hole to birdie in the second round was No. 13 as only four players did so. Hole No. 18 remains the easiest after two rounds. The field averaged 4.538 (-.562) on Saturday after it averaged 4.692 (-.308) on Friday. There have been six eagles. • Among the seven players tied for second place are three former University of Houston golfers. The group includes Kirk Hanefeld, Tom Jenkins and Keith Fergus, who later served as the head golf coach for the Cougars. Fergus and Hanefeld were college teammates at the school. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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