Four of the Philadelphia Section PGA’s five-man contingent
at the 41st National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional
Championship made the 36-hole cut that came after Friday’s second round at the
PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Billy Stewart of The ACE Club and Jordan Gibbs of Gulph
Mills Golf Club remained in lockstep in the Assistant PGA Professional
Championship, which is also supported by Srixon/Cleveland Golf/XXIO, John Deere
and Golf Advisor.
Stewart and Gibbs were in a group tied for seventh after
Thursday’s opening round after each carded a 4-under-par 68 over the
7,123-yard, par-72 Wanamaker Course layout and each carded a 2-over 74 in
Friday’s second round as some of those notorious South Florida winds whipped up and
made scores generally higher.
That left Stewart and Gibbs in a group tied for 19th
at 2-under 142. It also leaves them paired together for Saturday’s third round as they battle for
low-Philly Section honors.
Sunnybrook Golf Club’s Andrew Turner might have a little bit
of a say on that low-Philly Section battle before the weekend is out. Turner,
winner of that whopping $100,000 payday for taking the Haverford Philadelphia
PGA Classic title on his home course earlier this year, added a 2-over 74 to
his opening-round 70 and is tied for 32nd at even-par 144.
Brian Bergstol of the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort made the
cut on the number at 4-over 148. Bergstol, who captured the Philadelphia PGA
Assistant Professional Championship at the Union League Golf Club at
Torresdale, battled back after an opening-round 76 to match par in Friday’s
second round with a 72.
Stewart and Gibbs sit seven shots behind halfway leader
Derek Berg of Sahalee Country Club in Washington. The winds didn’t seem to
affect Berg much as he added a 5-under 67 to his opening-round 68 for a 36-hole
total of 9-under 135.
Ryan Botts of Old Hickory Country Club in Tennessee was one
of four co-leaders after firing an opening-round 66, fell back a little with a
2-under 70 that left him alone in second place at 8-under 136, a shot behind
Berg.
The biggest move of the day was made by Casey Flenniken of Tessio
Village’s Tanasi Course in Tennessee as he authored a brilliant 8-under 64,
nine shots lower than his opening-round 73, to move into third place at 7-under
137. Flenniken had a pretty good round going at 3-under when he birdied 13, 14
and 15 and then eagled the par-5 16th on his way to a back nine of
6-under 30.
Benjamin Cook of Beechmont Country Club in Michigan had
shared fifth place with an opening-round 67 and added a 1-under 71 for a 6-under
138 that left him alone in fourth place.
The 33-year-old Stewart, a Malvern Prep and Saint Joseph’s
University graduate, started on No. 10 at the Wanamaker Course Friday and had
an up-and-down first nine on the backside. He bogeyed 12, birdied 13, bogeyed
14 and 15 and birdied 16 to get to 1-over for his round.
Stewart, a product of the Llanerch Country Club junior program,
then rattled off 10 straight pars before finishing up with a bogey at the ninth.
The 30-year-old Gibbs, the 2016 Philadelphia Section PGA Championship
winner, also went off the back nine and got off to a good start with birdies at
13 and 15. But a bogey at the 16th and a double bogey at the 18th
slowed his momentum. He birdied the third to get back to even-par for the
round, but finished up with bogeys at five and eight.
Both Stewart and Gibbs have more than enough game to take a run
at a top-10 finish in this event, which pays $12,000 to the winner out of a total
purse of $113,000.
Jakob Gerney of Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia added a
4-over 76 to his opening-round 75 for a 151 total that left him three shots off
the cutoff to the low 70 and ties.
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