Pavin rockets into Cap Cana lead
US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin leads a Champions Tour event for the first time at the Cap Cana Championship.
US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin leads a Champions Tour event for the first time after firing a blistering course-record 63 in the second round of the Cap Cana Championship on Saturday.
Pavin leads by one shot from former Open Champion Nick Price and by two from former Masters champions Fred Couples and Larry Mize after shooting nine birdies in a bogey-free round that took his tournament total to a 13-under 131 at the Punta Espada Golf Club in the Dominican Republic.
His 63 broke the record set here last year Bernhard Langer by a shot.
On a windless day, the second in a row, at least forty players found themselves under par on Saturday night in this 54-hole event.
Pavin, in his first season in 50-and-over golf, seized his chance and used the perfect conditions to rocket to the top of the leaderboard from a seventh place tie after the first round.
“Without the wind, you can shoot a good score,” he said of his lowest core since his 61 in the first round of the 2006 US Bank Championship on the regular US PGA Tour.
He won there and clearly hopes to win here as well.
“Today I made only two putts of any length at all.”
Pavin didn’t need to make any long putts. His iron play was so good he made most of his birdie putts look easy.
“I made a couple 10-to-12 footers early in the round and that helped (my confidence),” he said of birdies at Nos. 1, 5, 8 and 9.
“I can’t complain.”
Price found that using a belly putter for the third straight week was the missing piece in the puzzle of why his game initially seemed to deteriorate when he first joined the challenge tour two years ago.
It helped give him a faultless card that included six birdies, all from inside 10 feet.
“The last two days and the three days (at Allianz Championship) are as comfortable as I’ve ever been with the putter,” the three-time major champion said
“I’m starting to play like I can again and there are no (putting) surprises coming along. It’s given me a lot more confidence.”
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