honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 9:18 a.m., Friday, December 5, 2008

Golf: Lyle, Goggin share lead at Australian PGA

By DENNIS PASSA
AP Sports Writer

COOLUM, Australia — Jarrod Lyle tied the course record with a 9-under 63 Friday to take a share of the second-round lead with fellow Australian Mathew Goggin at the Australian PGA championship.

Lyle and Goggin, who shot a 68, are both at 9-under 135 through 36 holes. Paul Sheehan, a co-leader after the first round, was one shot back after shooting a second-round 70.

Six players, including last week's Australian Masters winner Rod Pampling (67), were tied for fourth at 7-under. Australian Nathan Green, who had a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th, shot a 68 and was three strokes back of the leaders.

John Daly, making his first appearance here since throwing his ball and putter into a pond off the 18th green in 2002, bogeyed his first three holes Friday and is expected to miss the cut after shooting a 77 for a 4-over total of 148.

Six groups will complete their second rounds Saturday morning, with the cut likely set at 145.

Six years ago, Daly was disqualified for failing to sign his scorecard, but would have missed the cut anyway. Daly also missed the cut last week at the Australian Masters at Melbourne. He is scheduled to play next week's Australian Open at Royal Sydney.

Daly only decided a few weeks ago to play here, but the move by organizers to secure him paid dividends — attendance for the first two days was up nearly 5,000 from last year, despite threatening weather Friday and a late afternoon suspension due to a thunderstorm on Thursday.

On Friday, he was subdued after taking a seven on 18 — putting two balls into the water when he knew he needed at least a birdie to make the cut.

The 27-year-old Lyle had nine birdies in his second round and also had two in six holes to complete his first round early Friday morning, giving him 11 birdies in 24 holes on the day.

Lyle, who spent nearly a year in the hospital in 1999 with leukemia, was one of 78 golfers who had to complete their first rounds Friday due to an early finish Thursday when storms hit the Hyatt Regency resort course.

He joins five others, including Goggin, who have shot a 63 on the course. The others are Australians Stuart Appleby, Wade Ormsby, and Nick O'Hern and American Bob Estes.

Lyle lost his U.S. PGA Tour card in 2007 after qualifying via the Nationwide Tour the year before. This year, he returned to the Nationwide Tour and finished fourth on the money list after two wins, again elevating him to the big tour.

"I think what happened to me last year was possibly the best thing that could have happened to me," Lyle said of losing his card. "Getting out there, playing bad, seeing what I have to do to succeed at that level and then coming back."

Not that it's been all perfect — he had a heated discussion with his father, John, over dinner on Thursday night.

"I pretty much had an argument with him about everything I'm doing and something kind of snapped in me," Lyle said. "He wants me to play a little bit more aggressive and I think maybe I have dropped off in my aggression."

He took his father's advice.

"I think today I was perfect," Lyle said. "I went at the flags when it was on and when there were shots that weren't on I just tried to give myself a putt. And I holed a couple of those myself."

Goggin said he had to get up at 4:15 a.m. Friday to start warming up for the finish of his first round.

"I'm not really an early-morning person," Goggin said. "Nearly all my birdies came after 10 o'clock, when it seems like I was able to wake up."

The sleepy-eyed Goggin was at par when he made the turn and had three birdies and an eagle on the back end.

Goggin wasn't surprised by Lyle's early low round.

"It was just about perfect for four hours," Goggin said. "I thought someone would go really low."