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| September 7, 2003 | Sunday | Rajab 9, 1424 |
Howell III snatches one-stroke advantage
HAMILTON (Ontario) Sept 6: Charles Howell III shot a two-under-par 68 to move into a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Canadian Open on Friday.
Howell ended the day at five-under-par 135 for the championship, just ahead of Tom Byrum (69) and Japanese pair Kenichi Kuboya (67) and Hidemichi Tanaka (70).
Breathing down their necks are Briny Baird (66), Kelly Gibson (70), Fred Funk (68), Tom Lehman (69) and Loren Roberts (67) at three-under 137.
With no one able to pull away from the field, the tournament looks wide open as 25 players are within four shots of the lead at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club.
His second-round card featured 14 pars, a bogey and three birdies — two of them coming on both of the par-five holes.
Howell, who last won at the 2002 Michelob Championship, opened his round with seven straight pars on the back nine.
At the par-five 17th, he missed the green with a six-iron second shot, but got up and down with a 10-foot birdie putt.
Making the turn in one-under 34, Howell made his lone bogey at the par-four third, missing a par attempt from four feet.
At the par-five fourth, Howell hit driver, six-iron and two-putted from 20 feet for birdie and at the par-four seventh he drained a 20-foot birdie putt.
Once Howell posted his five-under score, it stayed on top of the leaderboard for the remainder of the round.
Of the 12 players tied for 10th or higher, seven teed off in the afternoon. One of them was Funk, who is among those who believe architect Harry S. Colt’s design is faring well.
The cut was made at three-over 143 and only three players posted the day’s low round of four-under 66.
Byrum escaped with a 69, but believes the set up is to his advantage heading into the weekend.
Leading second round scores:
135 Charles Howell III 67 68 136 Tom Byrum 67 69, Kenichi Kuboya (Japan) 69 67, Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan) 66 70
137 Briny Baird 71 66, Kelly Gibson 67 70, Fred Funk 69 68, Tom Lehman 68 69, Loren Roberts 70 67
138 Steve Allan (Australia) 72 66, Paul Azinger 70 68, Mike Weir (Canada) 69 69
139 David Frost (South Africa) 73 66, Tommy Armour III 68 71, Jeff Brehaut 68 71, Bill Glasson 68 71, Jim McGovern 71 68, Kent Jones 71 68, Mike Springer 72 67, Matt Gogel 69 70, Garrett Willis 70 69, Chris Riley 69 70, Bob Estes 70 69, Brad Faxon 67 72, Christopher Baryla (Canada) 71 68
Other International Players:
140 Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 71 69, Paul Gow (Australia) 73 67, Steven Alker (New Zealand) 72 68, Peter Lonard (Australia) 71 69
141 Carlos Franco (Paraguay) 74 67, K.J. Choi (South Korea) 71 70, Glen Hnatiuk (Canada), David Morland IV (Canada) 71 70, Mathew Goggin (Australia) 69 72, Stephen Ames (Trinidad) 72 69
142 Esteban Toledo (Mexico) 72 70, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 75 67, Thomas Levet (France) 72 70, Deane Pappas (South Africa) 72 70 143 Adam Scott (Australia) 74 69, Kaname Yokoo (Japan) 73 70, Derek Gillespie (Canada) 69 74, John Morgan (Britain) 71 72, Jon Mills (Canada) 71 72
ROMERO ON COURSE
CRANS-SUR-SIERRE (Switzerland): Argentine Eduardo Romero led the European Masters by two shots after the third round on Saturday, staying on course to become the European tour’s oldest winner.
The veteran Cordoban’s four-under-par 67 took him two strokes ahead of South African Ernie Els on 13-under-par 200, with overnight leader Robert Karlsson a further stroke back.
Romero caught Karlsson, his playing partner, by eagling the first and though he trailed the Swede and Els by a shot at the turn he proved more consistent over the back nine to move ahead.
At 49 years and 52 days old, Romero, winner of the event in 2000 and 1994, will be tour’s oldest champion if he completes his third European Masters victory, one year and 18 days older than Des Smyth when the Irishman won the 2001 Madeira Island Open.
Four years of doing yoga is Romero’s explanation for his continued success when he will be eligible to play seniors golf next year.
Leading third round scores:
200 Eduardo Romero (Argentina) 66 67 67
202 Ernie Els (South Africa) 65 69 68
203 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 65 67 71
204 Brian Davis 70 66 68, David Howell 68 69 67, Raphael Jacquelin (France) 69 67 68
205 Emanuele Canonica (Italy) 70 68 67, Paul Casey 68 70 67, Marc Farry (France) 66 73 66
206 Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 67 68 71
207 Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 67 67 73, Jarrod Moseley (Australia) 71 68 68, Erol Simsek (Germany) 70 70 67, Miles Tunnicliff 70 69 68
208 Andrew Coltart 70 72 66, Mark Foster 71 70 67, David Lynn 70 69 69, Alvaro Salto (Spain) 71 70 67, Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 69 71 68, Patrik Sjoland (Sweden) 67 68 73, Richard Sterne (South Africa) 71 64 73—Reuters
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