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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Chopra Moves Close to Lead at PGA's Ginn
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[October 27, 2007]  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- Chances are, someone is going to emerge to claim a breakthrough victory this weekend at the Ginn sur Mer Classic. And this time, Daniel Chopra feels like it might be him.

Winless in his first 132 career PGA Tour starts, Chopra fired his second straight bogey-free round, a 7-under 66, to get to 13 under and within one shot of leaders Bob Estes and Tommy Armour III in the suspended second round of the rain-soaked event at Tesoro Club.

"If I play the way I'm playing right now I can win this week," said Chopra, one of many near the top of the leaderboard who've yet to win on tour. "I have two more days to keep continuing this kind of form. But obviously, it becomes more and more difficult to score as the week goes on."

Estes and Armour shot 68s after identical 64s on Thursday.

The tournament is about 2 hours from Chopra's Orlando home, so he decided to head there for dinner and a good night's sleep. He'll return Saturday, set to resume the quest for his first tour win.

"It just makes you feel a lot more relaxed," Chopra said.

Chopra's threesome in the first two rounds seemed plenty relaxed.

He was playing with Estes and Bob Tway, who started his opening round with four straight birdies - and that seemed to set the tone for a two-day scoring barrage by the group. Combined, they have 39 birdies and six bogeys entering the weekend.

"With the fairways soft and the greens soft, you still can make a lot of birdies," Estes said.

Soft doesn't even begin to describe conditions this week.

Squishy would be closer to accurate.

The course was soggy Thursday and even wetter Friday, because of intermittent rain overnight and during the morning. Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls in the fairway - and still had trouble finding dryish spots to play approaches from.

[to top of second column]

"Without that, it'd be unplayable," said Sean O'Hair (68), at 10 under along with Steve Lowery (66) and Michael Sim (67).

Play was delayed one hour at the start by rain and the round was suspended at 5:39 p.m. after another squall moved into the area. None of the players with afternoon starting times finished, meaning 64 will complete the round Saturday morning.

Weather permitting, that is. More rain was expected overnight.

"Divots just explode, it's so wet," Chopra said. "The ball has so much mud. Sometimes the entire ball is covered with mud, not just half of it."

The projected cut was 1 under, which is exactly where John Daly was with two holes remaining.

Daisuke Maruyama (66) was at 9 under, and Bryce Molder - who made his sixth cut in 20 starts this season - shot a 71 to reach 8 under.

"I've had some momentum building," said Molder, who didn't make a cut until July but has cashed in four of his past five starts. "I still don't feel like I'm there yet, so I feel like I want to keep it kind of building. Even if it's just for Q-school, it'd be great."

Notes:@Mark Calcavecchia played three holes before withdrawing, citing symptoms of vertigo. Carlos Franco was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard, and J.B. Holmes was disqualified after simply not showing up for his second round. ... Identical twins Derek (75, 1 over) and Daryl (75, 5 over) Fathauer missed the cut. "What an experience," said Barbara Fathauer, mother of the twins who are seniors at Louisville and grew up near the course.

[Associated Press; By TIM REYNOLDS]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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