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Saturday, June 30, 2007

Perry, Furyk, Quigley Share Buick Lead     Send a link to a friend

[June 30, 2007]  GRAND BLANC, Mich (AP) -- Brett Quigley held a two-shot lead at the Buick Open just after the turn and his mind drifted to an easy stretch of Warwick Hills. A couple holes later, a huge oak tree taught him a lesson.

Quigley scrambled to save par at No. 13 _ the second-easiest hole _ and that contributed to him losing the lead Friday and finishing the second round in a three-way tie with Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry at 10-under 134.

"I tried to force the issue," Quigley acknowledged. "I knew if I could make four or five birdies, I might have a pretty good lead. As a result, I started thinking about results instead of staying in my process and got ahead of myself and came back to the field."

Quigley (69) and Furyk (68) had solid rounds after starting the day among the leaders while Perry's 9-under 63 lifted him from a tie for 73rd.

First-round leader Rocco Mediate (71), Scott Verplank (69) and Brian Bateman (70) will start the weekend only one shot behind the leaders, a negligible difference on a course ripe for low scores.

Perry was the latest golfer to prove that.

The 2001 Buick Open champion birdied five of his first seven holes, one-putted his first eight and was 10 under through 17 holes. He pulled his final tee shot, forcing him to chip onto the fairway and missed a 17-foot par putt to fall into a tie with Furyk and Quigley.

Perry matched his low round of the season. His last 63 closed the Memorial earlier this month, helping him finish third for his only top-10 finish since 2005. He was a season-best 11th last year at the Buick Open.

Perry's wife went to the hospital Wednesday because of food poisoning and on Thursday, he plunked two fans _ shattering a woman's nose and hitting a man's shoulder.

"I don't know what to make of it," he said. "It's been an interesting week so far."

Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh are not playing the Buick Open for the first time since 2001, giving more players a shot at a $882,000 check.

Woods (with his wife and baby) and Singh (resting a sore elbow) have combined to win four of the previous five tournaments about 60 miles north of Detroit.

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Furyk is the only player to break the stars' dominance at Warwick Hills, winning in 2003. He is shooting for his first victory of the year, 13th of his career. He has shot in the 60s in eight straight rounds at the Buick Open, matching Woods' tournament record, and 35 straight sub-par rounds.

Quigley hasn't finished better than second on the PGA Tour. He was the second-round leader at the Buick Open last year, one shot ahead of Woods, before finishing seventh.

Perry won twice in 2005, but has had to wait to win No. 10 on the PGA Tour.

Quigley was 4 under through 10 holes, giving him a two-shot lead over Furyk, before a lackluster finish ruined his chance to enter the weekend with a cushion.

Following a long delay at the 13th tee _ where Quigley cracked up players and caddies _ his drive to the right landed behind a tree. Quigley summoned a rules official, who said he could not have relief.

"My ball was on a wire that prevents lightning from killing the tree, but our rules are that the wire is part of the tree," he said.

Quigley thought about hitting onto an adjacent hole and back to the 13th green, but chose to chip into the fairway _ putting him just 5 yards closer to the pin _ and ended up two-putting from 24 feet.

He bogeyed No. 16, which is among the easier holes on one of the PGA Tour's most vulnerable courses.

At a tournament where the past two winners _ Woods and Singh _ finished 24 under, Quigley said everyone in contention has the same mind-set.

"It doesn't matter if you're leading or not, you have to shoot probably 10 or 12 under on the weekend to have a chance," he said.

The cut was 3-under 141 and among those that didn't make it were: Charles Howell III, sixth in FedEx Cup points, and Trevor Immelman, 17th in the world golf ranking.

[Associated Press - By LARRY LAGE]

    

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