Owen shares lead at Verizon Heritage

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England’s Greg Owen took a share the halfway lead at the Verizon Heritage alongside Americans Jim Furyk and Charles Howell III.

England’s Greg Owen sits atop a very crowded Verizon Heritage leaderboard in a three-way tie for first place as Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia made big moves in opposite directions in South Carolina.
Owen shot four birdies and two bogeys in a two-under-par 69 at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island to move to seven under for the tournament and a share of the halfway lead with Americans Jim Furyk and Charles Howell III.
Owen’s compatriot Casey, meanwhile, fired a six-under-par 65 to bounce back from an opening 75 to make the cut, but Spain’s Garcia went into reverse following his opening 67, needing 10 more strokes in his second round for a six-over 77 that sa him miss the cut by two shots at two over for the tournament.
With the cut falling at level par, all 82 golfers that made it to the weekend will start the third round on Saturday within seven shots of the lead, with 32 players within three of Owen, Furyk and Howell III.
A shot behind on six under were Americans Chad Campbell (67), Bryce Molder (68), JJ Henry (68), two-time champion Boo Weekley (68) and Australia’s Stuart Appleby, whose 67 was his lowest round of the year.
Englishmen Luke Donald and Brian Davis are at five under following a 68 and 69 respectively, as is Heath Slocum, who had been on course to join the leaders at seven under before a double bogey at the par-four 18th left him with a 67.
Among others on five under are Slocum’s fellow American Zach Johnson, who posted a 66, South Africa’s Tim Clark (70) and Trevor Immelman (69) and Sweden’s Carl Pettersen (68).
Scotland’s Martin Laird overcame a wobble on his outward nine as he started from the 10th, bogeying the par-four 13th and double bogeying the par-five 15th. He rebounded with 12 holes of blemish free golf that included five birdies for a round of 69 that moved him to four under for the tournament.
First-round leader KJ Choi fell away with a second-round 74, 10 shots worse than his opening round, to finish on four under at halfway in a group also including Robert Karlsson of Sweden and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas.
Bouncing back from an opening 75, England’s Casey put his recent troubles behind him with a bogey-free round.
The world number seven had been forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury from his Shell Houston Open title defence two weeks ago and his Masters campaign at Augusta National last week was a short-lived affair as rounds of 75 and 78 saw him make an early exit.
Casey had been looking at the wrong side of the cut following his opening four-over 75 but he began to put things right as, starting from the 10th hole, he holed three birdies to go out in 32.
More birdies followed on the par-five second and par-three seventh holes before Casey completed his round with another at the par-four ninth for his 65, moving him to two under par for the week.
Swedish duo Richard S Johnson and Fredrik Jacobson, Americans John Daly, five-time winner Davis Love III, defending champion Brian Gay and Germany’s Alex Cejka were at level par following the second round and had to wait until the last putt dropped before they discovered they would be playing the weekend.
Garcia was definitely out of the running following a second-round 77 that included three birdies, five bogeys and two double bogeys.

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