Brett Quigley and Miguel Angel Jimenez fired 64s while Ernie Els carded a 65 to all earn a spot atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open on Saturday in Endicott, N.Y.
The trio sit at 12-under-par 132 heading into Sunday’s final round. They own a one-shot lead over first-round leader Joe Durant, who dropped after a second-round 69.
Padraig Harrington (2nd round 66) of Ireland and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (66) sit three shots back in a tie for fifth at 9 under. Tim Herron (68), John Huston (67) and Dicky Pride (68) are four shots off the lead at T7.
Els of South Africa birdied four holes in a row at one point to finish with seven overall. He’s also bogey-free through 36 holes.
“I knew today was going to be kind of a moving day, it was perfect conditions after the rain, ball in hand,” Els said. “I didn’t pick up any birdies coming in, but I can’t complain. I’m 12 under with two other guys I see and all to play for tomorrow. I wasn’t quite on it this morning with my swing, but I found it later on and I’m hitting the ball better.”
Jimenez also turned in a clean card but added one more birdie than Els to move into a tie for the lead.
“I’m very happy,” the Spaniard said. “I’ve been hitting very good, hitting very solid. The only thing I need to work on is my putter, you know, to get the result of the game on the golf course.”
Quigley followed suit, carding a bogey-free round while coming in with four straight birdies to end his round.
“I saw when I made the turn the scores were pretty low, then I saw Ernie made a couple more birdies and got it to 12,” Quigley said. “I knew I needed to keep the pedal down and keep making birdies. Fortunately, I did, finished with four. It’s nice.”
–Field Level Media