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Furyk, Quigley, Perry Share Lead At Buick Open

Published: Jun 30, 2007

GRAND - BLANC, Mich. - Brett Quigley held a two-shot lead at the Buick Open just after the turn and his mind drifted to an easy stretch of Warwick Hills.

A couple holes later, a huge oak tree taught him a lesson.

Quigley scrambled to save par at No. 13 - the second-easiest hole - and that contributed to him losing the lead Friday and finishing the second round in a three-way tie with Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry at 10-under 134.

"I tried to force the issue," Quigley acknowledged. "I knew if I could make four or five birdies, I might have a pretty good lead. As a result, I started thinking about results instead of staying in my process and got ahead of myself and came back to the field."

Quigley (69) and Furyk (68) had solid rounds after starting the day among the leaders while Perry's 9-under 63 lifted him from a tie for 73rd.

First-round leader Rocco Mediate (71), Scott Verplank (69) and Brian Bateman (70) will start the weekend only one shot behind the leaders, a negligible difference on a course ripe for low scores.

Perry was the latest golfer to prove that.

The 2001 Buick Open champion birdied five of his first seven holes, one-putted his first eight and was 10 under through 17 holes. He pulled his final tee shot, forcing him to chip onto the fairway and missed a 17-foot par putt to fall into a tie with Furyk and Quigley.

Perry matched his low round of the season. His last 63 closed the Memorial earlier this month, helping him finish third for his only top-10 finish since 2005. He was a season-best 11th last year at the Buick Open.

Perry's wife went to the hospital Wednesday because of food poisoning and on Thursday, he plunked two fans - shattering a woman's nose and hitting a man's shoulder.

"I don't know what to make of it," he said. "It's been an interesting week so far."

CHAMPIONS: Loren Roberts had his low round of the year, a 7-under-par 64, to take a one-stroke lead against Eduardo Romero after the first round of the Commerce Bank Championship in East Meadow, N.Y.

A powerful thunderstorm passed right over the Red Course at Eisenhower Park on Thursday night, damaging a few trees and knocking down a scoreboard and a hospitality tent just behind the 18th green. Crews worked through the night, and Friday's round got off on time.

Roberts, who leads the Champions Tour in scoring average, won The Boeing Championship at Sandestin in early June. He then played one week on the PGA Tour before taking two weeks off.

He didn't get off to a quick start Friday, making the turn at 2 under, but he had five birdies in his last eight holes on the 7,021-yard course to better his yearly average by almost five strokes. Roberts, who is tied for the tour lead in putting average at 1.706, needed only 29 putts and reached all but one green in regulation.

Romero, who finished second to Roberts in the Boeing and lost to him in a playoff in last year's Senior British Open, had a solid day with his irons - the longest of his six birdie putts coming from 7 feet. Romero came off a three-week break in his native Argentina.

Lonnie Nielsen, who has one top-10 finish this season, was at 66.

Jay Haas, who won the last two weeks on tour and has four wins this year, was at 67 along with Brad Bryant, Morris Hatalsky, Des Smyth, Tom McKnight and defending champion John Harris.

PGA EUROPEAN: Simon Khan shot a 4-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead against Paul McGinley and Colin Montgomerie after the second round of the French Open at Versailles' National Golf Albatross course.

Khan moved to 5-under 137 overall. McGinley shot 69 and Montgomerie birdied the last hole to finish at 70.

Overnight co-leader Kyron Sullivan of Wales shot 74 to drop two behind Khan, and was joined at 3 under by Thomas Bjorn (71), Zane Scotland (71) and Tom Whitehouse (69).

The other overnight leader, James Kamte, faded with a 78.