GOSHEN?? Jeff Curl hasn?t been in this position in five years - sitting on a lead heading into the final round of a golf tournament.
After birdieing his first three holes to take the outright lead at the Connecticut Open, Curl never looked back. He fired his second straight 3-under-par 67 at Torrington Country Club to move to 10-under for the tournament and take a three-shot lead.
?My ball-striking, I feel like I have been doing this all summer. I just haven?t been in a tournament where I can showcase it,? said Curl, an Ellington native.
Curl leads defending champion Jason Caron by three shots and four other golfers (Jim St. Pierre, Tommy McDonagh, Eric Steger and Bill Downes) by four. Curl and Caron will play in the final group at 11:40 a.m.
St. Pierre, a Shelton resident and assistant pro at Redding CC, is having his best effort in the Open since winning it in 2002 at New Haven CC. He made seven birdies en route to a 4-under 68 and a 6-under 138 total. He did it all despite tweaking a recurring back injury on the third hole.
?I played basically 15-16 holes today, so I don?t think it can get any worse,? St. Pierre said.
Mike Ballo Jr. is seventh at 4-under 140 and four more golfers are tied for seventh, but seven shots behind Curl.
Just 15 players are under par for the tournament, including two-time champion Frank Bensel and 2003 winner and Milford resident Steve Sokol, both of whom are at 1-under 143. The cut came at 4-over 148. Among those missing the cut are Cody Paladino, the reigning Connecticut State Amateur champion (149), New Haven CC assistant pro Bill Street (149), former Yale University golfer Jeff Hatten (150), Jerry Courville Jr. (151) and Ivan Lendl (157).
Cory Muller, a Torrington native who now plays out of CC of Darien, also missed the cut by 1. He played both days with Lendl and former PGA Tour winner Ken Green. Continued...
?I knew I had to shoot even par or better today and just didn?t make any birdies,? Muller said. ?The greens were considerably slower today. I?ve been playing the greens for 20 years. Even if your brain sees and knows something, it?s tough to get your body to change what it feels.?
Curl, 34, shot a final-round 65 to come from behind to win the Open in 2007 at Lake of Isles. His last win came in October of 2008 on the EGolf Tarheel Tour.
?If I?ve learned anything in golf, I can?t control what anybody does (today),? Curl said. ?I?m positioned and like the way I?m playing. ... As long as I go do what I need to do, I should be fine.?
Caron had the lead outright early Tuesday when he birdied five of his first 11 holes to get to 7-under for the tournament. The defending champion fired a 66, which included a 50-footer for par on the third hole.
?It was an awesome announcement on the first hole (being recognized as defending champion),? Caron said. ?As soon as they announce it, I?m ready to play golf, I?m ready to get into my zone and just play.?
The 66 included nine 3s on Caron?s scorecard. ?I can?t remember the last time I had nine 3s.?
St. Pierre, 41, said the swing on the third hole ?almost forced him down to one knee? the pain was so bad. Yet he managed to post another under-par round at the club where he was an assistant pro in 2000.
?From that point on, it was just survival,? St. Pierre said.
McDonagh is a two-time Connecticut State Amateur champion (2006 at Torrington CC, and 2011) and Met Amateur winner (2006 and 2008), one of the few players ever to win both twice. He shot a 70 at 6-under 138 through two rounds at the Open.
?It was twice as hard as yesterday,? McDonagh said. ?And the higher you go up (in elevation), the harder (the wind) blows. ... I hit a lot of greens. I didn?t make it too hard on myself.? Continued...
Downes, the head pro at Hampden CC in Hampden, Mass., made five birdies and one bogey to post 68 in his first Open and get into contention for today?s final round.
?I haven?t been in the heat (competition for a title) for a long time,? Downes said. ?It?s right around where I?ve got to be, with a chance if I can get something going. ... I don?t hit it quite as long anymore, but that?s not really a factor out here. You have to place yourself around this golf course.?
Steger, a co-leader in the first round with Curl, shot 71 to be in the group at 6-under.
Source: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2013/07/31/sports/doc51f86021d91a0131666349.txt
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