The top of the leaderboard is crowded.
The middle portion of the leaderboard is crowded.
Things are crowded at Firestone. Except in the gallery, of course. Saturday is regarded as moving day and several players got out the two-wheelers and the vans to get themselves into contention in the Bridgestone Senior Championship at Firestone Country Club.
Woody Austin and Scott Parel made the biggest moves on moving day with rounds of 3-under 67 that kept them close to tournament leader Jerry Kelly, who remained in sole possession of the lead despite making bogeys on two of his final four holes to close with a second consecutive round of even-par and a 54-hole total of 2-under 208.
Austin, Parel and Colin Montgomerie share second place at 1-under 209 and Miguel Angel Jimenez, one of the first-round leaders and one of six winners in this abbreviated season, was alone in fifth place at 211.
Heading into Sunday’s final 18 holes there are 14 players within six shots of the lead and some of them carry dangerous credentials. Guys like Ernie Els, Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer and Steve Stricker. Austin, Els, Couples and Langer are in the top five of the Tour Champions scoring leaders this season. Langer, second on the money list, won the Cologuard Classic in early March and Els won the Hoag Classic one week later.
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Austin, seventh on the money list, began the day four shots behind Kelly but got within one shot with nines of 33-34 with just one 3-putt bogey and four birdies.
“I really played good today,” he said. “Reminded me of a 30- something kid that used to hit it pretty good. I drove it really well. And all my good irons kept going and I hit it really close. I actually to a point, that’s probably the worst score I could have shot. I mean, I really played solid.”
Parel, winner of this year’s Chubb Classic in February and in the hunt in this event last year until the final four holes, had an up-and-down round with five birdies and three bogeys to make up for his four-stroke deficit at day’s outset.
He admitted a love of the South Course.
“Because it’s tough,” he said. “I did get some lucky breaks, but you’re not going to get a whole lot of luck out there. You really have to strike the ball well. I haven’t driven the ball that great. I missed a bunch of fairways, but I put myself — even when you miss the fairways if you miss them in the right spot to where you can at least run it up — that’s what I think is fair about this place. It is penal if you miss off the tee, but it usually gives you a chance to recover if you miss it in the rough in the right spot.”
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Despite there being just four of 78 players under par, Kelly feels someone is capable of going low.
“There’s a 5-6 or 7-under out there, no question,” he said. “It just hasn’t been done yet but I definitely can see it.”
Kelly had three birdies and one bogey on the front nine to get to 4-under for the tournament at the turn but the back nine wasn’t as productive.
“I got a little loose on the backside for the second day in a row and got out of position and made some bogeys,” he said. “I’m glad I made at least one birdie back there. I could have made two or three more birdies, I was burning some edges. You’re going to make mistakes out here, I know that. I just need to make birdies to counteract the mistakes and live with the mistakes.”
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