Stewart Cink maintained his fine form on day two of the Ally Challenge on the Champion’s Tour by backing up his Friday score with another fine display of six-under par to leave him sitting three clear at the top heading into the final round in Michigan.
Three men sit tied for second spot on minus eight, including Friday’s overnight leader K.J. Choi. Darren Clarke is tied for ninth after another decent showing, while Pádraig Harrington fell back with a second round 74, he sits T60 and with work to do on Sunday.
Clarke had most of his drama on the back nine after starting his day with a birdie and eight pars on the bounce to turn one under for the day. His return leg saw all of the action however, beginning with another birdie before handing two back on the par-five 13th and at the 15th.
He showed resilience however to birdie his final three holes to close out with a four-under 68. Clarke has found a run of consistency in recent weeks, and this may prove timely as the tour heads into the final few events of the regular season.
It was a day to forget for Harrington, whose back nine did all the damage on Saturday. Three bogeys and a disappointing double, coming on the par-4 fourth hole seemed to blow his chances this week. His 73-74 start to the tournament means the pressure is off Harrington on Sunday and he is free to attack the course before resetting and regrouping before the next event.,
Cink mentioned that patience was key to his round on Saturday: “Well, yeah, I started off with a huge eagle putt on the first hole from 80 feet, and it was awesome, but sometimes moments like that can kind of send shock waves through your system,” reflected the 2009 Open champion.
“While it didn’t really shock me, I just played really good golf after that and just didn’t show any results. I hit a lot of fairways and had a lot of birdie putts and just grazed the edges for like nine straight holes, and meanwhile the scoring was moving past me.
It could have been a moment to get a little frustrated and start trying a little too hard, but I knew that the really scorable part of the course was coming. Some of the early holes on the back nine are very gettable if you keep it in play. I was proud of myself for being patient. Stayed in the moment out there and was executing. A really good day.”
Cink’s second round was matched by Steve Allan who lies three shots back from the overnight leader on a tie with K.J. Choi and David Branshaw on eight-under. Allan was asked to sum up his day as he sits in good shape ahead of the final day’s action.
“I just was hitting the ball pretty nicely. I was really putting well,” he reflected. “I had a couple holes on the front nine that were a little bit scrappy and saved them with nice putts for par. Then just generally it was pretty solid. I was hitting the ball crisply. I did yesterday, too, but I messed the hole up and made a triple, so it was nice to get it back going again nicely today.”
Cink and Allan will head out for their third and final round at 5.10pm on Sunday with David Branshaw making up the three-ball. Darren Clarke kicks off his Sunday with Mark Hensby and Ken Duke for company. They tee off from the first at 4.40pm, while Harrington will be teamed up with Chris DiMarco and Rocco Mediate for his final walk around Warwick Hills. They hit the course on the 10th tee box at the slightly earlier time of 4.25pm.