In his first Major Championship start of the season, Stephen Ames has a share of the lead after his Friday round. @KitchenAid_Golf | #SrPGA pic.twitter.com/4JIovDSdCE
— KitchenAid Senior PGA Champ (@seniorpgachamp) May 27, 2022
Stephen Ames is tied for the lead midway through the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, the second major of the season on the PGA Tour Champions schedule.
Ames finished the day with a five-under 66 after he posted seven birdies, with a double bogey on the fourth hole, and is eight under through the first two rounds in Benton Harbor, Mich.
“It was the same as yesterday. I had some other doubles that I threw in there, as well, but that’s golf. Two bad swings, and it cost me two doubles, unfortunately, but overall, I’m happy with the way things have progressed,” said Ames, adding that his putter is working for him.
“Putting has been a bit of an issue the six events that I’ve played. I’ve had opportunities but I couldn’t make the putts to close things out,” he said.
“I’ve been working a little bit on that, mentally more than the stroke itself. Those things I’ve put in place this week that I’ve been working on and it’s coming out, which is nice. It’s freed me up quite a bit,” he added.
“The things I work on with the psychologist at this stage right now of my career, it’s always about the mental part, not the physical part. That’s what we try to get out. Just to try to get out of our own way, basically,” said Ames, who faced chilly weather on Friday.
“Yeah, different course, weather, it’s cold. Not my cup of tea, literally. I’m not a fan of the cold weather even though I lived in Canada, but I never went out and played golf in this,” he said.
“You’ve got to deal with the elements, and again, that’s always a mental challenge, so it’s something that I’ve been working on, as well, but we all do as individuals. That was my goal today was to battle that out,” said Ames.
At six under, Mike Weir is tied for third, two shots off the lead, after he shot a 71 on Friday. Weir, who started the day in a tie for third, one shot off the lead, birdied the ninth and 10th, but bogeyed his final two holes to finish the day at even par.
“There’s lots of golf left, 36 holes left. My iron play has been pretty darned good, so if I can straighten it out a little bit off the tee, my putting has been feeling better, so yeah, I just like the position I’m in. There’s lots of golf left. I’m not really thinking about if I’m in the lead or behind. I like the position I’m in,” said Weir.
“It was kind of one of those days. For whatever reason, some days you get those where, let’s say, you’re looking at a tree and you square up to it and you don’t feel square. You feel like you’re fighting your alignments. For me, that’s what I was struggling with,” he said.
“Yesterday. I seemed to step into it really nicely and find my alignment just fine. Today, I was a little bit off, so I’ll work on that. Yeah, it was a day of just kind of hanging in there, some totally different golf course, south wind to north wind and cold, the ball wasn’t traveling today as far so you had to adjust for that. Yeah, it was just tough,” said Weir.
“The guys who shot some good numbers today, Ames and Scotty McCarron, that’s really good scoring this morning because it played tough out there,” he added.
The leaderboard is here.
PGA Tour
Nick Taylor and Adam Svensson both go into the weekend at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Tx., in a tie for 23rd.
Taylor, who was tied for the lead at the start of the day, took a two-shot lead after he birdied five of his first nine holes on Friday, but bogeyed four of his next six holes.
A double bogey on his final hole of the day left Taylor with a one-over 71 on the day and three under through the first two rounds.
Svensson was bogey-free until his final hole of the day. That left him with a 68, also three under through the first two rounds.
Click here for the leaderboard.
Korn Ferry Tour
No Canadians will play the weekend at the NV5 Invitational in Glenview, Ill., after Albin Choi, Ben Silverman and David Hearn missed the cut.
That leaderboard is here.
LPGA Tour
Ashleigh Buhai finished 1 up against Maude-Aimee Leblanc in Day 3 round robin play at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play event in Las Vegas on Thursday.
Leblanc has been eliminated with a 0-2-1 record.
Day 3 matches are here.
Saturday’s round of 16 pairings are here.
Epson Tour
With first round play suspended due to darkness, Maddie Szeryk opened the Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship with an even par 73 on Friday near Tampa. That left her in a tie for 27th.
Click here for the leaderboard.
