Irishman Padraig Harrington and Ken Tanigawa shot matching 7-under 65s on Saturday to grab a share of the lead after two rounds of action at the Dick’s Open in Endicott, N.Y.
At 11-under 133 for the tournament, Harrington and Tanigawa sit atop the leaderboard alongside Canada’s Stephen Ames, who was in sole possession of first after the first round at En-Joie Golf Club. Ames fired a 3-under 69 on Saturday.
Harrington was steady throughout the second round, playing bogey-free golf while racking up seven birdies. He finished with a bang, going birdie-birdie-birdie at Nos. 16-18 to become a co-leader.
“I was a little frustrated probably through nine holes today,” Harrington said. “My playing partners were going so low, I wasn’t holing the putts. Then I don’t know if I was patient or things happened to go my way, but it was really nice to come home in 5 under.”
Meanwhile, Tanigawa got off to a sizzling start, posting four birdies and an eagle on the front nine. He then eagled the par-5 12th and birdied the par-4 13th before getting tripped up at the next two holes, settling for bogey and double bogey at No. 14 and No. 15, respectively.
Tanigawa recovered with a birdie at the par-4 16th before ending his round with a pair of pars.
“I started out great, I got it to 9 under and just hit a lot of good shots, made the putts to capitalize on those good shots,” Tanigawa said. “Overall, very happy, very good round for myself.”
Ames finished with five birdies against two bogeys, and he said that battling the heat has been a struggle.
“I’m just barely hanging in there,” Ames said. “The hardest thing for me right now is to try to keep my hands dry because I’m actually a no-glove guy. I’ve been doing a lot of wiping down and actually cooling my hands off in the ice buckets, so it’s been helpful.”
Bob Estes carded the low round of the day with an 8-under 64 to move 24 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for fourth with Paul Stankowski (67 on Saturday) and Steve Allan of Australia (69). All three golfers are one shot off the lead.
Ken Duke (66), Canadian Mike Weir (67) and Australia’s David Bransdon (67) are tied for seventh at 9-under 135 ahead of a four-way tie for 10th.
Harrington is the defending champion of the event.
–Field Level Media
