CROMWELL, Connecticut: Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson prolonged his love affair with the Travelers Championship when the title-holder grabbed the lead in a rain-hit second round on Friday.
Jacobson picked up four birdies and an eagle in a four-under 66 for a nine-under total of 131, his sixth straight round of 66 or better on the TPC River Highlands layout.
US Open champion Webb Simpson shot a 69 to remain within striking distance, four strokes behind the Swede on 135.
Rain stopped play for the day in mid-afternoon and 77 players must return on Saturday morning to complete their rounds.
Jacobson went out in the early groups and after opening with a par on the 10th, his first hole, went birdie-birdie-eagle to soar up the leaderboard, the run highlighted by a 40-foot putt for eagle on the par-five 13th.
“I started off really good today. It was good to get into a good start and get things running straight away,” he said.
“Would have liked to have a couple more as the day went on, but overall I played really steady.”
Jacobson dropped shots at the 14th and his final hole but added two birdies in his last nine holes to be well placed in his bid for a second PGA Tour title and to join Phil Mickelson as a repeat winner here.
“Last year I really felt like things started to click at the US Open and similar this time around,” he said.
“I do like the course, but I liked it the first three times I came here and I missed the cut. So I think it’s more important the way I am playing.”
The bad weather ended play prematurely and also brought a halt to good runs by Australian Nathan Green and American Charley Hoffman.
Green started with two bogeys before bouncing back with birdies on five of the next seven holes. He was three-under through nine and one shot off the lead at eight-under overall.
Hoffman opened with a par at the 10th before reeling off five consecutive birdies to join Green at eight-under.
“It was a nice five-hole run,” Hoffman said. “I wish I could have kept it going a little longer, but obviously I’ll be in a good frame of mind going into tomorrow.”
Americans Blake Adams (64) and Roland Thatcher (67), and Australian Stuart Appleby (65), were a shot further adrift at seven-under 133.
Appleby welcomed his return to form after missed eight cuts in 13 events this season.
Six share lead after
tight third-round
In Seoul, Brazilian Adilson Da Silva posted a five-under-par 67 yesterday to share the third round lead with five other players at the inaugural Volvik Hildesheim Open J Golf Series.
Thirteen-time Asian Tour winner Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, Asian Tour rookie Javi Colomo of Spain and local hopes Park Jun-Won, Lee In-Woo, and Park Boo-Won joined him with totals of 208 as the $300,000 event headed to an exciting finish today. Overnight leader Mo Joong-Kyung, also of South Korea, is a single shot behind the leaders after he posted 73 to take a share of seventh place at the Hildesheim Country Club in Jecheon, South Korea,
He has the same score as Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul and Thanyakon Khrongpha, and fellow South Koreans Ma Soo-Kil, Byun Jin-Jae and Kim Dae-Hyun.
The 40-year old Da Silva, who has won multiple times on the Sunshine Tour in southern Africa, believes that he can also start winning on this region’s elite circuit.
“It will mean a lot to me if I win my first Asian Tour title tomorrow. I’ve been working really hard these past few years and I hope that they’ll pay off,” he said, according to a press release from organizers.
“The course is in very (good) conditions and it’s a perfect day for scoring. Hopefully, I can put in some really low numbers tomorrow,” he added.
Colomo, meanwhile, thanked his wife for providing inspiration as posted three-under-par 69, promising to reward her with a trip to New York if he wins the event, that is jointly sanctioned by the Asian and Korean Tours.
“My wife Christina has been great all week,” said the 28-year-old.
“This is a physically demanding golf course and she has never complained. She has been a great source of comfort and inspiration and the only thing I need to do is to win it for us tomorrow.”
