By John Shinn
It was kind of like “Murder on the Orient Express” Saturday at Westwood Park Golf Course. It wasn’t any one player who stabbed par right in the back during the second round of the Westwood Invitational Presented by OklahomaTickets.com. Several players took their shots.
The onslaught began early Saturday.
Championship Flight was the first off No. 1 tee Saturday morning. Players were greeted with little wind and pin placements that were receptive to any quality shot.
“I was making putts today,” said Sam Powell, who started the day with an eagle and kept rolling to a tournament and course record 61. “I didn’t make anything ridiculously long, but I don’t think I missed anything inside of 10 feet today.”
A hot putter usually goes a long way over Independence Day Weekend at Westwood Park Golf Course.
Powell wasn’t the only one who got the flat-stick working.
The single-day record is something Powell now shares. Clark Collier, who also teed off early Saturday, turned in a 9-under round.
Collier now stands 10 under heading into today’s final round. Powell leads the tournament by three strokes at 14 under. Taylor Artman is only three shots back. He was tied with Powell at 5 under heading into the second round. Artman kept himself in contention with a 64 to bolt to 11 under.
After two rounds, it appears very obvious the tournament scoring record is about to be demolished.
Powell’s within one stroke of the tournament record for 54 holes set by Tim Flemming in 1999.
Without gusty winds to defend the course, it’s been left extremely vulnerable. Thunderstorms rolled in after 6 p.m. Saturday. The last several groups had to rush to get their rounds in before the downpour hit. The entire second round was completed.
Competitors will find an extremely soft course when they arrive today. Worries over balls running through fairways or through greens will be few. Lift-clean-and-place rules will be a possibility.
“When there’s no wind out here, you pretty much just have to fire at every flag and make the putt,” Powell said. “There’s a lot of birdies out here if you can do it.
Masters Flight
The low-round tone continued into Masters Flight. No one in the flight broke par in the opening round, but three managed to get into red numbers Saturday. Mike McCurdy led the way with a 66 to get to 3 under for the tournament. He led Mike Ford, who fired a second-round 68, by one stroke. Kyle Kopp also got into the thick of things with a 67 to move to 1 under.
Gary Bonner, Scott Ward and David Hayward all shot even par rounds Saturday and lurk at 1 over.
First Flight
Jeff Morris put himself in position to run away with the First Flight title. He fired a second-round 68 to open a five-stroke advantage at 5 under. Greg England is Morris’s closest pursuer at 2 over. England shot a 72 Saturday to stay two shots ahead Ron Waters, who’s at 4 over after Saturday’s 71.
Bill McConnell (74) and Ameil Shadid (73) are at 6 over with 18 holes to play. Clay Horning (75) is at 8 over and Steve Hixon (74) is a 9 over.
Second Flight
David Smelser made a big move Saturday with a 72 and opened up a two-stroke lead in Second Flight. The round put him 8 over for the tourney. Billy Boswell has the best shot at catching Smelser. He fired a 73 to position himself at 10 over heading into the final round. Alan McCalip (77) and Rod Moody, who shaved 15 shots off his first-round score with a 69 Saturday, are both at 13 over. First-round leader Sean Simpson is also still a factor at 14 over of a second-round-79.
Third Flight
It could be very interesting today in Third Flight. It is the only grouping without a leader head into the final round. Kenny Hines shot a flight-best 75 Saturday to move to the top of the leaderboard at 13 over. But he has company with Mike Pierce, who fired a second-round 77 and is also at 13 over.
Darryl Overturf is two shots back after a second-round 80. Frank Schield is at 16 over after a second straight 78. Rick Heath is also in contention after a 77 Sunday to move to 18 over.
Fourth Flight
Rex Brown maintained the lead in the adjusted-scores flight, but he has a lot of close company heading into the final round. Brown will enter the final round at 11 under following Saturday’s 71. Terry Hansel made a big move up the leaderboard with a 62 to vault to 9 under. Wayne Stephens is five shots back after turning in a 69. Kevin Brown is a 5 under thanks to his second-round 67. Del Piper also has a shot at 4 under after turning in a 71 Saturday.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
