Consistent Claxton coasts out to four-shot lead at Peek'n Peak  PGA TOUR Staff FINDLEY LAKE, N.Y. -- Anyone who has stuck a tee in the ground and tried to master the game of golf knows it can be a complex and frustrating game. But with a four-stroke lead through two rounds of the Peek'n Peak Classic, Paul Claxton not only made it look easy with his second consecutive round of 66, he made it sound fairly simple afterward as well.  Paul Claxton hit every green in regulation Friday. (Jim Rogash/WireImage)
"I'm driving the ball well. I'm hitting my irons well. And I'm finally getting my putts to fall," he said. "I guess that's a pretty good combination." If only it were as easy as the 39-year-old University of Georgia graduate is making it look. Claxton finished Thursday afternoon in a tie for the lead at 6-under 66. He then picked up where he left off in the first group out on Friday morning with birdies on three of his first five holes. He later birdied holes 11-13, but said that pars on the 15th and 16th holes were the key to his bogey-free round. On No. 15, Claxton hit what he thought was a perfect iron, but the green -- still new from a course redesign last year -- played more firm than Claxton anticipated and the ball bounced into a bunker behind the pin. "I hit a nice sand shot to about six feet and made a nice par putt," he said. "Hit my worst tee shot of the tournament on No. 16 in the lip of the bunker and had to chip out. I managed to get it to about 12 feet and made par. Those things keep the round going and keep momentum going. It was a good finish." Claxton ranks at No. 3 on the Nationwide Tour money list. He won earlier this year at the Melwood Prince George's County Open near Washington D.C. and has five top-25 finishes this season. The Nationwide Tour veteran is well on his way toward making 'The 25' and earning his 2008 PGA TOUR card, and with a strong finish this week, Claxton could make up the $43,296 difference between himself and Tour's leading money winner Nick Flanagan and take over the top spot. "That's the goal of all of us out here. We want to be No. 1 on the money list. That goes a long way for next year for getting in events on the PGA TOUR. It would be wonderful to do," he said. "I'm not really thinking about it now, though. I'm off to a good start, but we have a long way to go. Out here, playing against these guys, you have to keep your foot on the gas for all four rounds. I'm out here taking one shot at a time." Roland Thatcher made a move on Friday, shooting a 5-under-par 67, and is tied for second four strokes behind the leader. Thatcher has made eight of his last nine cuts, finishing inside the top 25 in all eight events. With his consistent play, Thatcher ranks No. 10 on the money list. Jon Mills, who two weeks ago was playing in the U.S. Open at nearby Oakmont Country Club, shot a 68 on Friday and is also four strokes behind Claxton. "Everything is just starting to click for me and it seems like the breaks are going my way," said the winner of the 2005 Canadian PGA Championship. "It's nice to be playing well." Mills has top-10 finishes in two of his last three Nationwide Tour events. He shot 67-69 on the weekend at the Melwood Prince George's County Open to finish fourth behind Claxton. Last week, Mills finished T5 at the Knoxville Open presented by Food City. For the season, he's made eight of 11 cuts and has earned more than $70,000 to put him at 36th on the money list. The 29-year-old from Ontario, Canada, shot an opening-round 73 at the U.S. Open. Bogeys on the final four holes during his second round put him at 11 over for the tournament. The score would have been good enough to make the cut until eventual champion Angel Cabrera birdied his final hole to finish at even par and push all those at 11 over, including Phil Mickelson, outside the cut. "It was disappointing, but it was such a great experience to play in the event," Mills said. "The course was obviously tough. Second-Round News & Notes: Two double eagles and a hole-in-one were recorded on Friday. Zoran Zorkic and David Hearn each rolled in their second shots on the par-5 second hole. Justin Bolli hit a 6-iron 189 yards on the par-3 sixth hole for a hole-in-one. ... Todd Fischer was disqualified after he alerted an official that he believed he mistakenly used a club that was bent during his second round. ... John Riegger withdrew during the round due to injury. ... Miguel Carballo ended his consecutive cuts streak at 10. The rookie missed the cut for the first time in his career after winning the Movistar Panama Championship and made every cut since. ... Bogey-Free rounds on Friday came from Paul Claxton, Robin Freeman, Jon Turcott and Steve Friesen. Claxton's four-stroke lead matches the largest lead through 36 holes on Tour this year. Martin Laird also led by four strokes halfway through the Athens Regional Foundation Classic. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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