7-under 63 lifts ex-Hog Morris into tie at top
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
FORT SMITH - Rich Morris made a late charge Friday to tie for the lead at 10 under par at the Nationwide Tour's Fort Smith Classic.
Morris, who is from Fayetteville and played for the Arkansas Razorbacks, is tied with 2006 Fort Smith Classic champion Darron Stiles at 130.
"It was a great day. I had a lot of good stuff happen, and that made the day a lot more fun,"Morris said. "I've been hitting it great, putting it good. Hopefully, I can keep it going."
Matt Weibring is third at 9-under-par 131, while Kris Cox, Tee McCabe, David Morland, Justin Hicks and Won Joon Lee are in a group at 8 under.
Morris doesn't have status on the Nationwide Tour. He got into the event after playing in the Monday qualifier, the third consecutive week he's done that. After making the cut last week at Valdosta, Ga., he had to drive all night to make this week's qualifier at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Alma.
He started with a double bogey on the 10 th hole Thursday but played the next 35 holes at 12 under par. That included one bogey in Friday's round, when he had to take a relief drop after his ball rested up against a tree. It also included an eagle on the par-5 11 th hole to get him to 9 under.
"I made a bomb,"Morris said. "A lot of days those don't go in."
Morris also birdied No. 14, then made four consecutive pars coming in. He thought he had a birdie at the 18 th hole, but his putt stopped with the ball hanging over the edge of the hole.
"I stood there for my 10 seconds. No go, no dice. It didn't go in,"Morris said.
Morris' last tournament victory came on the Tight Lies Tour in 2006. If he can finish in the top 25 this week, he won't have to try to qualify for next week's event at Greenville, S. C.
Stiles also shot 7-under-par 63 on Friday, making birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 12 to start his round. He chipped in on 18 to get to 8 under par and made two more birdies on the front nine coming in.
"The greens are at a perfect speed, the perfect speed to make putts,"Stiles said. "Nothing's really going to get away from you unless you hit it in the wrong spot. Fortunately, I've been able to avoid that. If I hit it pretty much inside 15 feet today, I made it."
Weibring, Cox and Tommy Gainey began the day as the co-leaders at 6 under par, and all three remain in striking distance. Gainey is three strokes back at 7 under after shooting 69 on Friday.
"I just didn't think, went brain-dead, and that's how it is out here,"Gainey said. "You've got to think over every shot. I let it get away from me today. I had an opportunity to really take it deep, and I didn't take advantage of that."
Only five of the top 25 players on the Nationwide Tour made the cut, which had been projected at 1 under par all day before slipping to 2 under as the final players finished. The only players in the Nationwide Tour's top 25 money leaders to make the cut were No. 6 Stiles, No. 13 Tee McCabe (8 under ) No. 22 Bryce Molder (3 under ) No. 16 Henrik Bjornstad (2 under ) and No. 17 Casey Wittenberg (2 under ).
PGA Tour veteran Blaine McCallister was among those missing the cut after making bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 to finish at 1 under.
Players with local ties making the cut included Conway's Molder, Fayetteville's Nick Beach (3 under ) former Arkansas Razorback Craig Lile (5 under ) and Morris.
"When good things are happening, you want more, you want more,"Morris said. "The zone if you will. You want to keep playing, you want to keep going. Days like this, I'd play another 18 if they'd let me."
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