BRADENTON, Fla. — Brian Gay finally figured out how to play the par 5s at Concession Golf Club, making up ground with an eagle-birdie finish for a 4-under 68 to share the 36-hole lead with Scott Hend of Australia in the Senior PGA Championship on Friday.
Hend had five birdies over the last eight holes for a 65, a far more conventional round of eight birdies against only one dropped shot.
They were at 10-under 134, two shots ahead of major champions Stewart Cink (67) and Retief Goosen (69), with Ben Crane making his senior debut with a 69 to join them.
But it was quite the adventure for Gay. He fanned a 5-iron into the bushes on the par-5 13th after starting the second round on the back nine of Concession. He twice went into the bushes trying to take his drive over the bunkers on the par-5 17th and then lipped out and took double bogey.
Gay made a par on the next par 5 at No. 3, but only after hitting his second shot into a palmetto bush, taking a penalty drop and getting up-and-down. But he got his reward with an eagle on the par-5 eighth and closed with a birdie.
“Another pretty good day. A little volatile,” Gay said. “Pretty similar to yesterday, except I butchered a couple of par 5s. Two of them with one bad tee ball, two good tee balls, but other than that, I putted well again. Just a couple of balls in the bushes.”
Hend knows all about volatile. In the opening round, the Aussie went eagle-double bogey and then later birdie-double bogey on his front nine. He managed to rally with three straight birdies to open with a 69. It was a much cleaner card Friday.
“I was disappointed in yesterday’s two double bogeys on the back nine, so I wanted to play that nine a bit smarter and a bit better today, so I didn’t short-side myself as much as what I did yesterday,” he said. “And it seemed to work out quite well.”
Hend also took advantage of playing in the morning, the first one out when the greens were pure and the wind had not arrived along the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Cink was within one shot of the lead until a bogey on his last hole. Goosen was bogey-free with just three birdies, only one of them on the par 5s.
Justin Hicks had the low score among the club pros and another 69 left him four shots behind, along with Steve Allan, Greg Chalmers and Soren Kjeldsen.
Bernhard Langer, the 68-year-old German who shot his age or lower for the 43rd time in the opening round with a 66, was 10 shots worse on Friday with a 76. That left him eight behind.