Deepak Jain Sat, Jan 16 10 09:12 AM
Australia's Robert Allenby wielded a red-hot putter and defied a painful foot for the second day in a row to grab a share of the early lead in the Sony Open second round on Friday.
The four-times PGA Tour winner, who twisted his right ankle on Monday while walking with his wife outside the players' hotel, birdied two of the last three holes at Waialae Country Club for a three-under-par 67.
Despite finding only five fairways off the tee, Allenby scrambled superbly, saving par three times from bunkers and needing only 26 putts to join American Chad Campbell (64) at the top of the leaderboard.
The pair set the tournament pace at eight-under 132, a stroke in front of American world number three Steve Stricker (67) and compatriots John Merrick (68) and Jeff Quinney (67).
Americans Shane Bertsch (68) and Troy Matteson (67) were a further shot back at six under in the first full-field event of the 2010 PGA Tour.
Allenby, bidding for his first victory on the U.S. circuit since the 2001 Pennsylvania Classic, was delighted with his short game on another breezy day of sunshine at Waialae.
"I struggled off the tee, just wasn't able to hit the shots that were required," the 38-year-old told reporters. "That makes it pretty hard to hit the greens when you are coming out of this rough, it's a bit of a guessing game.
"I was happy with the way I managed myself around the course. I relied on my short game and so far that has been really good. I've been putting really well."
TOP BALL-STRIKER
Long regarded as one of the best ball-strikers in the game, Allenby was the hottest player coming into this year, having won the Australian PGA championship and the Sun City Challenge in South Africa in successive weeks last month.
"Coming into this tournament, I was hitting the ball as good as I could possibly hit it," he said.
"I only had two weeks off over Christmas and the last two weeks I've been hitting balls and putting and chipping."
His bruised right ankle is still a problem for him, though.
"It's still the same. It's still there and it's still annoying," he said. "It just stops me from making normal swings so a lot of my swings are abbreviated.
"But I'm managing. I'm not expecting too much, just managing my way around the golf course."
Twice winner Ernie Els carded a 70 to lie seven strokes off the pace while 2005 champion Vijay Singh was at a precarious one over after battling to a 72.
The cut was projected to fall at one-over 141 with Britain's Luke Donald and double major winner John Daly of the U.S. among those in danger of missing out.
Source: Web Search
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