Date: September 06, 2009
Author: PA Sport

Leishman fires with 62

Marc Leishman made full use of the perfect conditions to catapult himself into contention at the Deutsche Bank Championship – a nine-under 62 leaving him two strokes adrift of the leaders. The Australian&aposs faultless round included seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five 18th to lift him up from a tie for 48th overnight and into a share of third place with Retief Goosen (67) at 10-under. Sean O&aposHair fired a seven-under-par 64 to join overnight leader Jim Furyk (67) at the top of the standings. Leishman was in red-hot form from the start of his round, blitzing his way to a 29 on the outward nine, and then when he birdied the first and second on the way home looked set to break the course record. It was not to be as he could only make up one further stroke, on the par-five seventh, to fall a stroke short. “It was scoring conditions, that&aposs for sure,” he told pgatour.com. “It was getting out there really early on the smooth greens and no wind. It was low scoring conditions and I made the most of it, which was nice to do for a change.” American O&aposHair set up his impressive round by picking up eight shots in as many holes. His run began with birdie at the par-four 15th and was highlighted by eagle at the par-five 2nd as he turned for home. A dropped shot at the sixth blotted his copybook but it was enough to join Furyk, who shot a 67 on Saturday, as the clubhouse leader on 12-under. Aussies Geoff Ogilvy and Jason Day also remain firmly in the hunt at eight-under at the halfway mark. Meanwhile, Brett Rumford carded a third-round 72 to remain the leading Australian at the European Masters at six-under-par nine shots behind Swede Alexander Noren. Noren, seeking his first European Tour title, produced a sparkling 63 to move two ahead of South African Charl Schwartzel on 15-under-par. But Rory McIlroy, needing to win to go to the top of the Tour money list, had 33 putts in a 70 which left him 10 adrift in 34th place. Lee Westwood, with ambitions of finishing the season as No.1 as well, fared even worse. He three-putted the 14th, four-putted the 15th – both for bogey sixes – and then spun his approach to the last into the water. That led to another dropped shot, an inward 40 and a 73 which sent him tumbling to 53rd place on only two-under. Welshman Bradley Dredge, winner in 2006 and desperate to play against the Americans on home soil at Celtic Manor next October, is three behind in third place following a 68. The Deutsche Bank Championships Round 2 -12: Sean O&aposHair 66 64, Jim Furyk 63 67 -10: Marc Leishman (Australia) 70 62, Retief Goosen 65 67 -9: Dustin Johnson 68 65, Scott Verplank 65 68, John Senden (Australia) 69 64, Justin Leonard 65 68, Mike Weir 68 65, Kevin Sutherland 68 65 -8: Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 66 68, Jason Day (Australia) 68 66, Angel Cabrera 65 69, Padraig Harrington 67 67 -7: Charlie Wi 71 64, Pat Perez 70 65, Jason Dufner 66 69, Bill Haas 69 66, Jerry Kelly 66 69, Steve Stricker 63 72, Kevin Na 69 66, Jeff Overton 69 66 Also: -5: Greg Chalmers (Australia) 67 70 -2: Matthew Goggin (Australia) 71 69 E: Nathan Green (Australia) 68 74, Rod Pampling (Australia) 72 70 +2: Robert Allenby (Australia) 76 68 +4: James Nitties (Australia) 75 71 +7: Nick O Hern (Australia) 73 76 3rd Round of the European Masters -15: Alexander Noren 65 70 63 -13: Charl Schwartzel 67 68 65 -12: Bradley Dredge 68 65 68 -11: Miguel Angel Jimenez 65 68 69, Ross McGowan 67 67 68, Angelo Que 69 65 68 -10: Thongchai Jaidee 65 71 67, Chris Wood 66 72 65 -9: Felipe Aguilar 70 66 68, Johan Edfors 66 69 69, Paul McGinley 66 68 70 -8: David Howell 68 69 68, Maarten Lafeber 71 68 66, Graeme Storm 69 66 70 -7: David Dixon 69 69 68, Rafa Echenique 71 69 66, Ignacio Garrido 68 71 67, Luke List 70 69 67, Edoardo Molinari 70 67 69, Marcel Siem 67 70 69, Alessandro Tadini 69 68 69, Thaworn Wiratchant 71 68 67 Also: -6: Brett Rumford (Australia) 62 73 72 -4: Peter O Malley (Australia) 68 71 70 -2: Danny Lee (New Zealand) 71 67 73 +3: Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 69 71 76