Daily Wrap-up: Round 2, CIMB Asia Pacific Classic
By Staff and wire reports
SELANGOR, Malaysia -- American Jeff Overton shot a course-record 9-under 62 on Friday for a share of the 36-hole lead with Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson in the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic.
Jacobson had a 64 to match Overton at 13-under 129 at The Mines Resort and Golf Club in the second-year event sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and Asian Tour.
"This golf course is so much fun to play," said Overton, winless on the PGA TOUR. "It's really challenging. If you're hitting it great, you can have scoring opportunities. I'm just having a blast."
Bo Van Pelt was a stroke back after a 64, and Mark Wilson (66), Stewart Cink (66), Jimmy Walker (67) and Jhonattan Vegas (69) followed at 9 under. First-round leader Robert Allenby followed his opening 63 with a 72 to drop into a tie for ninth at 7 under.
The jet-lagged Overton, a last-minute replacement for David Duval, had a chance to take the outright lead on the final, but missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the closing hole.
"I changed golf clubs a couple of weeks ago and my ball-striking has improved so much. Today everything clicked," said Overton, the 28-year-old Indiana native who had a scare before the tournament when his clubs didn't arrive until late Wednesday.
Overton eagled the par-4 15th, hitting a driver to 6 feet.
"I watched Mark Wilson hit it right at the stick, and I'm like, wow, this is a great little hole. Maybe I can hit my driver, too," Overton said. "I just hit it right at the pin. It came off just perfect, laying there on the front of the green and it rolled up there to 6 feet for eagle."
Jacobson won the Travelers Championship this summer for his first PGA TOUR title.
"The driving has been setting up a lot of opportunities," Jacobson said. "I've been driving it well and on this course, if you drive it on the fairways, it's not overly long and it gives you opportunities."
He saved par on 18 after hitting to a foot from a greenside bunker.
"Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the rough, in the bunker, in different lies. Like in the backyard, I would try to chip over a stone wall," Jacobson said. "I played a lot of weird shots through my youth and I think that by challenging myself that way, I have learnt a lot of different shots, which come in useful."
Three-time major winner Vijay Singh followed his opening 72 with a 64 to reach 6 under.
Defending champion Ben Crane was 5 under after a 68.
The winner will receive $1.3 million from the $6.1 million purse.
Notebook: Round 2, CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia
Weather: Partly cloudy and humid, with the high reaching 93. Winds variable at 6-12 mph.
Fredrik Jacobson
Jacobson's second round got off to a tough start when he bogeyed the first hole, but he was 8-under the rest of the way and put his name in the record books with his 36-hole score of 13-under 129, easily breaking the previous record of 131 set by Ben Crane and Thailand's Pariya Junhasavasdikul in 2010. Jeff Overton also is at 129 at the halfway point.
Jacobson has never held a lead on the PGA TOUR after two rounds. Jacobson, who his first TOUR title earlier this year, at the Travelers Championship, was the 54-hole leader at that event in Connecticut.
Jacobson opened 65-66 when he won the Travelers Championship. He shot rounds of 65-64 at The Mines Resort and Golf Club to put himself in a tie for first through 36 holes.
Jeff Overton
The Indiana native opened quickly, making birdie on his first three holes and adding two more to make the turn at 5-under. He picked up two more birdies (Nos. 12 and 17), plus an eagle at No. 15, to share the lead with Fredrik Jacobson. His 8-foot birdie attempt on No. 18 that would have given him a 61 just missed.
After playing at the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic last week in Orlando, where he tied for 37th, Overton received a call a few hours after the final round from his agent who informed Overton he was a sponsor's exemption into the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic because of a late withdrawal.
Overton flew from Florida to London on Monday, and from London to Kuala Lumpur, arriving Tuesday night. He played in the pro-am, beginning at 7:15 Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, his golf clubs didn't arrive on his flight. So he still played in the pro-am but used his amateur partners' clubs throughout the 18 holes.
Overton has never won on the PGA TOUR. The 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup team member has four runner-up performances, the last two coming a year ago, when he was second at both the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and The Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia.
His best 2011 finish this season came at the AT&T National (outside Philadelphia), where he tied for third. He also had top-10s at The Honda Classic and the McGladrey Classic (tied for sixth at both) and the HP Byron Nelson Championship (tied for eighth).
Overton's bogey-free 62 Friday matches his low round as a PGA TOUR professional. He also had a 62 at The Greenbrier's Old White Course at the 2010 Greenbrier Classic. His low 2010 round was a 64 in the first round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Bo Van Pelt
Van Pelt followed his 5-under 66 Thursday with a 64 Friday to put him at 12-under 130, a stroke off the pace set by Fredrik Jacobson and Jeff Overton.
Van Pelt has had only one bogey through his first 36 holes. It came on the par-4 fourth hole in Friday's second round.
Van Pelt's lone PGA TOUR victory came at the 2009 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. His top 2011 performance was a third-place showing at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. His other top-10 finishes were at the RBC Canadian Open (tied for sixth), the Deutsche Bank Championship (seventh), the Masters Tournament (tied for eighth) and the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola (ninth).
Miscellaneous
Defending champion Ben Crane followed up his opening, 2-under 69 with a second-round 68. He is tied for 18th. The 68 represents his sixth consecutive sub-70 round at The Mines Resort and Golf Club. A year ago, Crane won the inaugural CIMB Asia Pacific Classic with rounds of 67-64-66-69.
By bogeying the par-4 sixth hole, first-round leader Robert Allenby saw his bogey-free streak at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic end at 36 holes (going back to 2010). He also double-bogeyed the ninth hole and made nine straight pars on the back nine after opening his round with birdie-birdie. He is tied for ninth with three other players.
Vijay Singh recovered from an opening-round, 1-over 72 by shooting a 7-under 64 Friday. He moved from a tie for 41st to a tie for 13th. Singh is no stranger to this part of the world, having previously served as an assistant golf professional in Malaysia. He also has three of his 22 international victories in Malaysia -- at the 1984 Malaysian PGA Championship and the 1992 and 2001 Malaysian Opens.
On the strength of five birdies, Ryan Palmer joined Jeff Overton with the low nine-hole score this week. Palmer, like Overton, fired a 5-under 30. Palmer played the back nine in 1-under and shot a 65, leaving him tied for 13th.
Jimmy Walker (9 under, tied for fourth) is the only player in the field without a bogey this week.
Malaysia's Danny Chia and Thailand's Chinnarat Phadungsil are the low Asian Tour players through 36 holes. Chia shot a 6-under 65 Friday to go with his opening 71. Phadungsil followed his opening 70 with a 66. They are tied tied for 13th, seven strokes behind the leaders.
The other Malaysian in the field, Shaaban Hussin, is tied for 44th.
Miscellaneous Stats
Once again, players feasted on the par-5 third hole. After yielding 28 birdies in the first round and a scoring average of 4.416, Friday's stroke average was 4.541. There were 24 birdies Friday and two bogeys (Spencer Levin and Chez Reavie). Reavie has bogeyed the hole both days.
The following players had eagles Friday: Stewart Cink (No. 17), Jbe Kruger (No. 8), Jeff Overton (No. 15) and Camilo Villegas (No. 11).
There have been eight eagles through 36 holes, with no player making more than one and No. 17 giving up the most, with three.
Both Overton and Jacobson, the 36-hole leaders, have eagled the short, par-4 15th hole this week. Jacobson made eagle there in the first round, and Overton had an eagle there Friday.
Thirty-three players (out of 48) posted sub-par rounds Friday compared to 32 in the first round. Thirty-nine posted par-or-better rounds Friday compared to 40 Thursday.
Bogey-free rounds:
Second Round: Jerry Kelly (66), Chris Kirk (65), Jeff Overton (62), Ryan Palmer (65), Vijay Singh (63), Jimmy Walker (67)
First Round: Robert Allenby (63), Fredrik Jacobson (65), Jimmy Walker (66), Brendon de Jonge (68) and Kyle Stanley (68).
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