Thresher takes to lead
MASS. OPEN
HAMPDEN — With Monday’s opening round yielding 30 players getting around under par, the general consensus was that the course setup helped create good scoring conditions.
Lengthening the par-4 16th hole by 99 yards to 442 yards and changing the angle a bit to more of a dogleg right as opposed to being straight up the hill was a chance to give GreatHorse some teeth.
Mother Nature also heard the call to make things more difficult as Monday’s light northeast breeze did a complete 180 and was a steady 15-20 mph and gusted up to 35 mph.
It showed in the scores as only eight posted red numbers, with a 5-under 67 from John Stoltz being the best of the day. Another four managed to get around in even par.
Among those able to successfully manage the harder conditions was two-time defending champion Jason Thresher, who carded a 3-under par 69 and heads into the final round at 9-under with a 2-shot lead over Stoltz and 4 ahead of first-round leader Matt Campbell.
“It’s a completely different course today,” said Thresher, who played bogey-free in the morning. “I didn’t give myself nearly as many birdie opportunities as yesterday, but I had a few that I cashed in.”
Thresher was one of the few to birdie the 16th, and then added them at Nos. 4 and 5.
“Luckily we played it with just a little bit of wind, but that’s a really tough hole right now from back there in the wind, you hit driver and have a middle iron in,” he said.
There were a number of players grumbling the longer setup should have been used on the day it was set to play downwind.
Stoltz made seven birdies during the morning, all over the first 11 holes. He leads the field with 13 birdies through 36 holes.
“The back nine was a lot different, obviously the wind picked up and it played extremely difficult,” he said. “I started off with a couple birdies on the back. I knew the wind was going to pick up as the day went on, so I needed a little cushion.”
He only gave one back to turn in a 67 and is 2 shots behind Thresher.
Campbell held his own during the gusty afternoon, finishing with a 3-over 75 and is alone in third place.
The biggest mover on the leaderboard was Chris Gentle, who started the day tied for 56th after a 74, but is now tied for seventh after a 68 and is among four at 2-under.
After an opening-round 72, James Driscoll bounced back with a 71 during the afternoon and jumped from a tie for 31st to 11th heading into the final round.
“It was tough. Pars were good and birdies were great, but it was easy to make a string of bogeys,” said Driscoll, who had three birdies and two bogeys. “I was fortunate enough to kind of scrape it around and put a decent round together.”
The cutline was 6-over 148 with 54 players moving on to today’s final round.
In the competition for the Massachusetts Cup given to the low amateur, Jason Cook of Easton has a 2-shot lead at 1-under ahead of Brett Krekorian of Andover. Nine amateurs survived the cut.