Billy Horshel leads at Sea Island, Simpson 2-back
Luke Donald and Simpson commit to Orlando
SEA ISLAND, Ga. – SEA ISLAND, Ga. –Billy Horschel stormed into the midway lead at the McGladrey Classic in Sea Island, Georgia by posting his second straight 6 under par 64. His 128 total is two better than first-round co-leader Webb Simpson and tour rookie, Michael Thompson. Louis Oosthuizen and Nick O’Hern share fourth at 8-under, and Johnson Wagner and Scott McCarron trail by six.The wind was up a bit on Friday, but Horschel was prepared.
“Yeah, I knew today the wind was going to blow a little bit harder,” he said following his round. “I thought I was going to start on the front side today, and I knew it's probably the toughest stretch of holes on the course. (Nos.) 1 through 5, I mean, 1 is not too bad, but the wind coming left to right it makes it a little bit tougher. I knew if I could get by that little stretch with even par or 1-over I'd be doing pretty well. And I got by that 1-under, which was nice, and then you get 6 through 8 downwind, can make up some ground there. 9 is not too bad, a little cross-wind.”
Horschel played with a mindset that the wind was his friend. He did what he could to prevent himself from fighting it, instead trying his best to find ways to use it to his advantage. He obviously did a great job because he finished 36 holes with a bit of a cushion over the field.
Horschel, who went to college at Florida, found it in his heart to speak well of the area and its natives, even if they do live in Georgia.
“The area is a great place,” he siad. “There's a lot of nice people here. They may be Georgia Bulldogs, but I get along with them pretty well. We respect each other. It's a great place here. You've got great views from the golf course. It's easy living, as I call it; it's laid-back, just the South the way it is. I'm a little bit of a high-strung, emotional guy, and so the more I can stay nice and relaxed and even keel, it helps me out on the golf course.”
At 139 on the all-important money list, Horschel like many others in the field this week, is hoping to solidify a spot in the top-125 to assure himself of keeping his playing rights for 2012. But, he says he is not worried about it.
“I'm actually not worried about it at all,” Horschel said. “I've been playing really well the last couple months, and I'm back to where I was '09 Q-school when I first came out of college, just the way I feel about my game, my confidence. It doesn't matter how bad I may be hitting it or what may be going wrong. I am going to figure out some way to play well that day. It wasn't that way -- it wasn't that case late last year and beginning of this year. I was still struggling a little bit trying to find my game and my confidence a little bit. I'm not too worried about 139 or making my tour card or staying inside the top 150, just worried about playing well and just -- whatever happens after these two weeks, it happens. I'm 24 years old, I'm not someone who's been out grinding for years and years and worrying about it. I've got plenty of time. I'm lucky enough that I got out here early on, and so that helps out a lot.”
Another story that continues to develop is the race for the money title between Simpson and World No. 1, Luke Donald.
Donald committed to play next week’s final fall series event in Orlando and Simpson agreed to play as well. So, an event that normally is all about players positioning to retain playing cards for the following season has blossomed into a battle for much more than that and has attracted the world’s best player back to work on this side of the pond.
Donald had left the United States following the final playoff event in Atlanta last month to play a couple of European Tour tournaments in Scotland and Spain as he prepared for their season-ending event – The Race to Dubai’s finale, the Dubai World Championship.
But since he has a chance to become the first player to ever win the money titles on both the U.S. and European tours in the same year, he wasn’t going to pass on the chance.
Donald wrote on his Twitter account (@LukeDonald) wrote on his Twitter account: "There was never really a decision to be made, I have a chance of making history. See you all at Disney next week #bringiton."
Simpson, when told of Donald’s “bring it on” comment said, “It is fun. It'll be nice to go down there. It's an interesting dynamic. We're not used to this. I'm sure there will be a lot of head-to-head talks, and I'm sure they'll think about pairing us together first two rounds.
“So a lot is going to happen next week, and a lot can happen this weekend. Like I said, the last couple days in here, I'm just going to try and win the golf tournament. If I can play well this weekend, even if I don't win, a great chunk will be added to the Money List.”
And a great chunk will be added to the drama that will unfold next week in Orlando.
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