Times wires
Friday, April 29, 2011
AVONDALE, La. — Bubba Watson's mother knew best.
Playing the Zurich Classic of New Orleans only because his mother, Molly, talked him into it because she wanted to watch him play, Watson shot 4-under 68 in shifting winds Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Josh Teater after the second round at TPC Louisiana.
"Mom knew I was going to play pretty good the first two rounds," said Watson, playing a four-hour drive from his hometown, Bagdad, Fla. "We've got two more to go, but she's right so far."
Watson, the Farmers Insurance Open winner in January at Torrey Pines, had a 10-under 134 total on the Pete Dye-designed course, a layout that he doesn't think fits his game.
"For me, it's daunting," Watson said. "There were a lot of tough tee shots for me. A lot of times the water's on the left for me being left-handed. It's hard to overcome, but somehow I'm overcoming it right now."
Teater shot 66, dropping two strokes with double bogey on the par-5 18th. John Rollins was 8 under after 69.
Dean Wilson matched the course record with 64 to join John Senden (67), Jason Dufner (69), Matt Jones (71) and Webb Simpson (69) at 7 under.
The long-hitting Watson eagled the par-5 11th — his second hole of the round — for the second time, holing a 20-footer to get to 8 under. He added a 4-foot birdie putt on 13 and a 13-footer on 14. He bogeyed the 18th when he hit his third shot over the green from a bunker.
"You're not sure what the wind's doing on some holes," said Watson, who has failed to win the three previous times he had the 36-hole lead. "So, you're always watching and trying to see what's going on to figure out how to play the holes."
LPGA: Sandra Gal birdied five of the final eight holes for 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Amy Yang (68) in the LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala., the tour's only event in a six-week stretch. Gal, who won the Kia Classic last month for her first title, was at 7-under 137. Stacy Lewis (71), the Kraft Nabisco winner three weeks ago, was two strokes back with Karen Stupples (71) and Song-Hee Kim (72). Seminole's Brittany Lincicome (73) was at par 144.
Westwood bounces back: World No. 1 Lee Westwood shot 4-under 68 in the second round of the Ballantine's Championship, bouncing back from a rough first day to stay six strokes off the pace in Seoul, South Korea. Brett Rumford shot 63 to lead at 10-under 134 in the tournament co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, the European Tour and the Korea PGA.