Titch leads in Classic

PORT Elizabeth professional Titch Moore fired a secondround 67 for a 12-under total to take a four-stroke lead at the Polokwane Classic, Sunshine Tour event yesterday at Polokwane Golf Club.

“To shoot five under after my seven under on the first day, I’m really happy with that,” Moore said.

“The game’s starting to come back and it would be nice to finish it off with a win.”

After having surgery to repair a tendon in 2011 and then struggling to get back to top form, missing five cuts this year and wondering when he would end a win drought stretching back five years, Moore needed a break.

He finally got one playing the par-four 18th.

He watched his wedge shot make a splash in the greenside hazard, then kick out and finish just off the green.

He was able to two-putt for par from there, meaning the seven-time winner on the Sunshine Tour has a four-shot cushion over Dean Burmester and Justin Harding.

It may not be the biggest title Moore has chased in his career, but it will certainly mean the world to him should he hold on for a victory.

Moore built on his firstround lead with a fast start yesterday, making three birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes.

His only bogey came on the short eighth, and he parred the next eight holes before a birdie at 17 and then his adventurous par on 18. THEY said it could be harmed and humiliated, but in the end it was Merion Golf Club that did the bullying in the first round at the US Open.

At 6 990 metres, the shortest US Open test in nine years and softened by three days of heavy rain over the past week, all the talk before the tournament began was whether major championship golf history would be made with a first-ever 62.

As it turned out, not only did Merion in Philadelphia avoid the fate of being the first major course to give up a 62, it also left some of the world’s best golfers battered and bruised. Of the 156 first-round starters, only five managed to better the par of 70.

Phil Mickelson led the way with a three-under 67 set on Thursday. Ian Poulter, who settled for a first round of 71, was scathing of TV commentators who he said had mocked Merion in the buildup to the tournament.

“They were joking around, laughing at 63s and 62s and just look at the board. I mean they need to respect this golf course. It’s brutal.”