JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - Matt Kuchar made the most of his short day at The Barclays.
Kuchar didn’t tee off until Friday afternoon at Liberty National and knew he had no chance to finish. He could barely see his ball cross the water and set up a two-putt birdie on the 13th hole that gave him the outright lead, and there was enough light coming from lower Manhattan across the Hudson River to hit his tee shot on the 14th. The horn sounded, and by then, he was ready to go home.
Kuchar was at 10-under par with five holes left and had to return Saturday morning to try build on his one-shot lead over Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland, who both finished the second round in the rain-delayed tournament.
Simpson had to play 29 holes _ 11 holes to finish his first round in the morning, followed by his second round _ and he was ready to go more. He ran off six birdies over an eight-hole stretch and had a 5-under 66.
Woodland was one of the last players to finish at twilight Friday, and he finished strong. Woodland, back on track after a win at the Reno-Tahoe Open three weeks ago, birdied four of his last five holes for a 64 to join Simpson in the clubhouse at 9-under 133.
As for Tiger Woods, he couldn’t get off the course fast enough.
Woods challenged the target set by Simpson with three birdies in five holes _ he was two shots behind _ and he had a pair of par 5s in front of him. He failed to make birdie on either of the par 5s, and made three bogeys out of the bunker through the 12th hole to fall off the pace. He made birdie on the 13th, the last hole he completed, but was still five shots behind Kuchar, who was in his group.
CANADIAN WOMEN’S OPEN
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) _ Top-ranked Inbee Park shot a 5-under 65 for a share of the second-round lead with playing partner Cristie Kerr in the Canadian Women’s Open.
Park, the South Korean star who swept the first three majors of the season and has six LPGA Tour victories this season, had seven birdies and two bogeys at Royal Mayfair to match Kerr at 8-under 132.
Park finished second last year at Vancouver Golf Club, three strokes behind teen star Lydia Ko.
Kerr, coming off the United States’ loss to Europe in the Solheim Cup, shot her second straight 66. She won the Kingsmill Championship in May for her 16th career LPGA Tour title.
Angela Stanford, 0-4 for the United States in the Solheim Cup, and France’s Karine Icher were a stroke back. Icher had a 66, and Stanford shot 68.
Ko was 6 under after a 69. Last year, the New Zealand amateur star became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history at 15 years, 4 months. Paula Creamer and 49-year-old Laura Davies also were 6 under. Davies had a 66, and Creamer shot 68. Charley Hull, the 17-year-old English player coming off a strong performance in the Solheim Cup, was 5 under after a 66.
BOEING CLASSIC
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. (AP) _ Bart Bryant got off to a fast start in his bid to win consecutive Champions Tour titles, shooting a 6-under 66 to take the first-round lead in the Boeing Classic.
Bryant had eight birdies and two bogeys at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, five days after winning the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y., for his first victory in his rookie season on the 50-and-over tour.
Duffy Waldorf and Bobby Clampett shot 67, and Bernhard Langer, Dick Mast and Kirk Triplett followed at 68. Langer tied the course record with a 5-under 31 on the front nine. Hometown favorite Fred Couples had a 69.
JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP
GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) _ Argentina’s Ricardo Gonzalez shot his second straight 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead in the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Championship.
Gonzalez birdied his final five holes on the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course, the site of the Ryder Cup next year. Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger was second after a 66.
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