Pampling Holds Onto Lead at Shriners After Round Two

With round two of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open suspended due to darkness, Rod Pampling sits atop the leaderboard at 14-under-par, for now.

Pampling, who shot an 11-under 60 in his first round, couldn’t find that same spark in his second round but still maintained the lead shooting a 3-under 68. In the early goings of Pampling’s round, it seemed like he was going to struggle as he was 2-over through his first five holes. Pampling managed to get back to even-par on his round before making the turn and even turned his round around for the better as he matched four birdies to one bogey to get to 3-under on the day.

Not far behind Pampling sits Brooks Koepka at 13-under. Koepka started his second round strong but almost immediately faced a challenge as he bogeyed his third and fourth holes to get to one-over. Through some slick maneuvering and an eagle right before the turn, Koepka was at 1-under through nine holes. Koepka got to 5-under on his round, thanks to this putt.

Koepka’s 5-under would have been enough to get a share of the lead but a missed putt from just under 5 ½ feet on the 18^th hole put him one behind Pampling.

The reason I said Pampling held the lead for time being is because Aaron Wise, who sits at 12-under currently, still has four holes left to go in his second round. Wise shot a 30 in his first nine to get to 6-under on the back and then birdied the par-4 second to get to 7-under on the day. Wise still has a shot to take the lead even before the third round starts.

Tee times for the third round have yet to be posted but television coverage of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. EST on the Golf Channel.

Until then, I’ll leave you on the lighter side.