Padraig Harrington carded four birdies on the front nine and finished with a 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Dick’s Open on Saturday in Endicott, N.Y.
Harrington had six birdies and one bogey and sits at 12-under 132 after two trips around En-Joie Golf Course. Dicky Pride (70) and Thongchai Jaidee (67) of Thailand are tied for second.
Matt Gogel (65) and Aussies Scott Hend (66) and Richard Green (67) are tied for fourth.
Harrington will be seeking his 12th career Champions Tour victory on Sunday, well aware there will be plenty of pursuers.
“The problem with 12 under is there’s probably a bunch of guys who could shoot 6, 7, 8 under par here who are going to have a chance tomorrow,” Harrington said. “Would have been nice to get away. Tomorrow, just going to have to come out and play well.”
Jaidee shot a 31 on the front nine, thanks to an eagle on the par-5, No. 5, and four birdies. He bogeyed two holes on the back nine before finishing with a birdie on 18.
Pride made three straight birdies at Nos. 3-5 but shot 1-over on the back nine. He had two birdies, but also had a bogey and a double-bogey.
One golfer who soared 44 places up the leaderboard was John Daly, who had a 63 that marked his lowest career score on the Champions Tour. It was also 10 strokes better than his first-round performance.
Daly, 60, made it clear the better showing had nothing to do with putting in more work between rounds.
“I haven’t seen a driving range in five years, no,” Daly said. “I don’t work on my golf game.”
Daly had an eagle on the par-5, No. 8 and made seven birdies during a bogey-free round.
He’s four shots behind Harrington but certainly in the mix heading into the final round.
“I hit the ball pretty good yesterday, just couldn’t get anything out of it, just couldn’t get anything close,” Daly said. “But today, chipped in twice and made a 60-footer, that always helps. Hit the ball good today, hit a lot of fairways and made a few putts.”
Daly’s only victory on the Champions Tour was back in 2017 when he won at the Insperity Invitational in the Houston area. In his most recent tournament earlier this month, he tied for 17th at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis.
Daly also received a ton of fan support while walking the course in Endicott.
“I’ve always loved (the fans),” Daly said. “There’s no skeletons in my closet. When I screw up, I screw up and I tell them. When I do things good, they see it. I’ve never lied to my fans. I think a lot of them relate to the life that I’ve lived and some of the ups and downs that I’ve had. We just connect so good and it’s been that way for 35 years. I wouldn’t change it for the world, I love them.”
Defending champion Steve Allan of Australia shot 68-72 over the first two rounds and is tied for 32nd at 4-under 140.
