Kyle Long opens nine-stroke advantage in Twin Hills Invitational

Sports

Related Photos

Globe/T. Rob Brown Mike Cutshall of Lenexa, Kan., watches his putt during the second round of the Twin Hills Invitational.

Discussion

July 28, 2012

Kyle Long opens nine-stroke advantage in Twin Hills Invitational

By Jim Henry Globe Sports Editor The Joplin Globe Sat Jul 28, 2012, 11:38 PM CDT

Kyle Long made four birdies and an eagle Saturday afternoon while breaking par for the second straight day.

Ironically, two consecutive bogeys on the back nine were instrumental as Long’s lead ballooned to nine shots in the 60th Twin Hills Invitational.

Long, the defending champion, carded a 2-under-par 70 in the second round for a 36-hole total of 5-under 139 and a nine-stroke cushion over the field.

Chris Patterson matched par-72 and climbed into second place at 148, one shot in front of Scott Miller and Tug Baker. Miller also had a second-round 72, and Baker shot 77.

Marshall Wesson was fifth with 150, followed by Brad Watts, Nathan Collins and Ryan Knell at 151 and Ashley Roberson, David Byrne and Evan Wood at 152.

The first-place battle is much tighter in the seniors division.

John Walker set the pace with a 143 after a second-round 70, followed by Mike Cutshall with 144 and Chris Newby at 146. Cutshall shot 3-under 69 in the second round, and Newby, the first-round leader, shot 76.

Daryl Deel, Dave Wiederkehr and Jim Weaver were tied at 149, one shot in front of Bennie Crossland and Gene Jackson. Jackson’s 69 was his best score ever and a 12-shot improvement over the first round.

Long, after bogeying two of the first five holes, sank birdies on 6, 9 and 10 to go 1-under for the day. He made par-3 on No. 11 but ran into problems on the next two holes.

His second shot on the par-4 12th was short of the green, and his third shot went over the green under a tree.

“I had to punch a 3-iron on (the green) to about 40 feet and made it for bogey,” Long said. “When I see my ball under the tree, I’m thinking it could be a 7 and a lot of people could be back in the tournament.

“After that debacle, I hit behind a tree on the next hole (another par-4). I had to punch a 3-iron out sideways to 180 (yards from the green) and hit a 5-iron on and two-putted for bogey. That was another good bogey for me where it could have been a lot bigger score.”

Long quickly regained those two strokes on the par-5 15th when he hit a 4-iron within 15 feet of the flag and made eagle. He then birdied the par-5 16th and made two pars for a 70.

“It’s kind of a lesson learned,” Long said. “Just keep grinding because that round could have gotten away from me in a hurry. Instead I posted a good number.”

Big leads are nothing new for Long, who took a four-shot lead into the final round a year ago and won by nine.

“I’ve had it before in this tournament and let it get away, and I’ve also held it throughout the round,” Long said. “I feel pretty comfortable with what I have right now.”

“Kyle has to make a big mistake before I can even think about catching up with him,” Patterson said. “I’m going to play as good as I can, try to do my best. Obviously with a nine-shot lead, we’re kind of playing for second.”

Patterson shot 37-35 with birdies on the fourth and 11th holes and bogeys on 1 and 3.

“I hit the ball the pretty good, just putting has been a big issue for the last couple of days,” he said. “I started on the back nine, I hit it inside 10 feet probably four or five times and only made one birdie. I hit nine greens on the back nine and made one birdie putt.

“The front nine, same thing. I hit the ball great, hit almost every green. I only missed two greens all day, and I had two three-putts for my only bogeys.”

Miller’s 72 was his career-low round in a tournament. He made two birdies (3, 6) and two bogeys (2, 14) during his round of 35-37.

Baker shot 39-38 with two birdies (8, 13), five bogeys and a double bogey-6 on No. 3.