Date: July 20, 2013
Author: Omnisport

Bowditch leads Aussie charge in Mississippi

Weather has again disrupted the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi, leaving six players tied for the lead at the end of Friday&aposs play. The second round of the PGA Tour event remained incomplete when poor light forced officials at the Annandale Golf Club to stop play on Friday, following a break earlier in the day due to the threat of lightning. A group of six lead the Sanderson Farms Championship at 10 under with Argentina&aposs Fabian Gomez the biggest mover during the second round, carding an eight-under 64, to join Vaughn Taylor, Paul Stankowski, Troy Matteson and Kyle Reifers at the top of the leaderboard. Overnight leader Daniel Summerhays completes the sextet despite having only completed eight holes of his second round, while Australia&aposs Steven Bowditch, Brad Fritsch of Canada, plus American duo Chris Riley and Jim Herman are a further shot back at nine under. The second day&aposs play in Mississippi started with some players completing their first rounds with Kevin Kisner and Reifers rising to within two shots of Summerhays before the second round began. Gomez, who started the second round seven shots behind Summerhays, fired four birdies on the front nine to push into contention and the 34-year-old Argentine stormed home, picking up shots on the 15th and 17th holes, before carding an eagle on the par-five 18th to complete a bogey-free eight-under 64. Taylor and Matteson also produced impressive second-round performances with both Americans posting five-under 67s with the former not dropping a shot throughout. Summerhays started poorly with a bogey on the first hole but birdies on the fifth and seventh ensured he remained tied for the lead with 10 holes to play in his second tour around Annandale. Around 5pm local time, play was called off because lightning began to strike in Madison, Mississippi, and there was a delay of over two hours before the golfers returned to action. Two more hours of play w343 completed before bad light ended the day with 59 players yet to finish their second round. Bowditch had some serious ups and downs during the second round to move within a shot of the leaders, stringing three birdies together on the front nine before a run of four bogeys in five holes saw him languishing at four under. The 30-year-old Australian recovered, however, carding birdies on the 13th, 15th and 17th holes before an eagle on the 18th completed a four-under 68. Cameron Percy is the next Australian on the leaderboard at eight under overall, while Peter Lonard (seven under), Nathan Green (six under) and Nick O&aposHern (five under) all remain within striking distance of the lead.