By John Berkovich
Media Director - Canadian Professional Golf Tour
Garrett Frank fired a six under par 66 to hold a one stroke lead over Mauricio Molina in the ATB Financial Classic in Calgary and is 11 under 133 heading into the weekend.
Sharing third spot at 136 are Stuart Anderson (69) and Graham DeLaet, who jumped to the first page of the leaderboard with a scorching 64.
Tom Stankowski shot 70 to sit alone in fifth at 137 while Mitch Tasker (68), Scott Gibson (68), Josh Habig (67), Mike Grob (66), Andrew Smeeth (68), Peter Laws (65) and Brett Lederer (66) are five shots back at six under 138.
“The wind wasn’t as bad today but it still got up at times,” said Frank. “I’ve been hitting my irons real well all week and I’m real fortunate to be where I am at, because my driver is all over the map.
“If I don’t get it straightened out it is going to be a really long weekend. I hit a couple of slap shots all over the place and was lucky to find them just inside the margins. I have to go get that worked out.”
Starting on the back nine, Frank parred his first hole before reeling off three birdies at his next four holes.
“I hit it in the front bunker at No. 11 and made a pretty good sand shot to about 12 feet for birdie,” said Frank.
“That gets the momentum going when you start like that.
“I burned the lip at 12 and did the same thing at 13 for eagle but was able to tap-in for birdie.”
Hitting it to five feet at No. 14, Frank nailed his third birdie, followed by three scrambling pars from the rough.
After a poor wedge at his ninth led to his only bogey, Frank came home with four birdies on his inward half.
“I smoked one way down the fairway at my tenth that must have hit a sprinkler head or something because it ended up just short of the green,” continued Frank.
“I hit a little flip shot close and made an easy one.
After spraying another tee shot at eleven, Frank hacked one out of the deep stuff for another scrambling par, followed by another birdie at his twelfth – a par five - after hitting his second shot left of the green and chipping it close.
With the pin in a bowl at 15, Frank used the slope of the green to good advantage, watching his ball roll back to a foot for another birdie.
Airmailing the green at 17, he then hit a deft chip to 18 inches for his final birdie of the afternoon.
“I cleaned up a lot of my stuff near the hole, which is where it really counts,” concluded Frank.
“I’m thrilled with where I am at but if you tempt fate enough like I did today, you are going to get into trouble out here.”
Twice a Canadian Tour winner this year, Mauricio Molina (pictured) lurks one back.
“Only one back of the lead,” smiled Molina, who shot his second consecutive 67. “I kept it straight on a tight golf course with good ballstriking.”
“There was less wind today, which made it easier. I hit only three fairways yesterday but was in the fairway most of the time today.”
With one eye on the leaderboard, Molina birdied his final two holes on his front nine to turn in two under before draining three on the back side.
“The field is strong here and you have to watch the board sometimes,” he continued, “but I am very seasoned at this and usually just go about my business.”
“This weekend I have to keep it on the fairway and putt like I have to win this tournament.”
Despite a solid 69 that included two birdies and an eagle on the front side, first round co-leader Stuart Anderson finds himself three back heading into Saturday.
“I got off to a great start with a couple of awesome shots on the first hole and made birdie,” said Anderson.
“I made two good swings on the par-five third and hit an unbelievable chip shot into the hole for eagle.
Playing steady golf with one birdies and nine pars over his next ten holes, Anderson also had to endure some hecklers in the gallery.
“I had a few hooligans following me today who were making comments that got me flustered,” he explained.
“They were saying they wanted to see birdies and not pars. It got in my head a bit and took me out of my rhythm.
“The only bad swing I made was at the fourteenth when I quit on a six-iron off the tee and pulled it into the rough for bogey.
“Still, when you can follow-up up a 67 with a 69, it is good. Four rounds in the 60s would be even better.”
Making a big charge Friday was Graham DeLaet.
“When you’re four under through your first five holes you know you have something pretty good going,” said DeLaet, who had just one bogey against nine birdies.
“At the same time, you still have to play a lot of holes and can’t get ahead of yourself.
“My putting was a bit of a weakness last year but it’s really come around now,” he continued. “I’m also a lot stronger mentally and working on those two things has made a difference from last season.”
A group of 60 players made the cut at even par 144.
In the Clubhouse
Byron Smith, playing partner of Mauricio Molina on Friday, revealed a previously hidden talent. He served as interpreter during Molina’s interview. Smith’s mother is Mexican and he learned Spanish growing up.
The comeback of the day goes to James Allenby. After opening with 80, he fired a tournament low 63 to make the cut at 143.
CALGARY, Alta. - Scores Friday from the second round of the $150,000 ATB Financial Classic, at the 7,185 yard, par-72 Sirocco Golf Club (a-denotes amateur)
Garrett Frank 67-66-----133
Mauricio Molina 67-67-----134
Stuart Anderson 67-69-----136
Graham DeLaet 72-64-----136
Tom Stankowski 67-70-----137
Mitch Tasker 70-68-----138
Scott Gibson 70-68-----138
Josh Habig 71-67-----138
Mike Grob 72-66-----138
Brett Lederer 71-67-----138
Andrew Smeeth 70-68-----138
Peter Laws 73-65-----138
Lee Curry 70-69-----139
Andrew Parr 69-70-----139
Bryn Parry 71-68-----139
Russell Surber 71-68-----139
Josh Geary 70-69-----139
Eugene Smith 70-69-----139
Hoyt McGarity 71-69-----140
Jae Woo Im 70-70-----140
Jim Lemon 72-68-----140
Byron Smith 72-68-----140
Brett Bingham 71-69-----140
Ryan Yip 70-71-----141
Matt Marshall 71-70-----141
Michael Gligic 72-69-----141
Brady Stockton 73-68-----141
David Jackson 77-64-----141
Hugo Leon 75-66-----141
Justin Smith 69-72-----141
Danny Sahl 68-73-----141
Wes Heffernan 71-71-----142
Jason D’Amore 72-70-----142
Andres Gonzales 73-69-----142
Ryan Horn 72-70-----142
Richard Scott 73-69-----142
Andrew Johnson 70-72-----142
Jordan Irwin 70-72-----142
Tyler Martin 68-74-----142
Jaime Kurelik 74-68-----142
Andy Matthews 76-67-----143
Drew Stoltz 74-69-----143
Mike Mezei 71-72-----143
Barrett Jarosch 77-66-----143
Brad Heaven 71-72-----143
James Allenby 80-63-----143
Oliver Tubb 73-70-----143
Luke Hickmott 74-69-----143
Liam Kendregan 72-71-----143
Tyler Harris 72-71-----143
Joseph Greiner 75-68-----143
Ryan Panichpakdee 74-69-----143
Garrett Sapp 71-73-----144
Alex Coe 76-68-----144
Kris Wasylowich 73-71-----144
Erik Justesen 74-70-----144
George Coetzee 70-74-----144
Brady Schnell 68-76-----144
Greg Machtaler 72-72-----144
Darren Hupfer (a) 74-70-----144
THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS DID NOT QUALIFY
Jon McLean 76-69-----145
Daniel McCarthy 71-74-----145
Warren Pineo 73-72-----145
Ryan Thornberry 76-69-----145
Ezequiel Reyna 75-70-----145
Matt Daniel 76-69-----145
Darren Griff 76-69-----145
Matt Johnston 74-71-----145
Richard Gilkey 80-66-----146
Mike Sica 73-73-----146
James Love 78-68-----146
Tommy Barber 71-75-----146
Dale Vallely 76-70-----146
Derek Gillespie 77-69-----146
Conner Robbins 73-73-----146
Todd Halpen 73-73-----146
Aaron Goldberg 74-72-----146
Taylor Wood 75-71-----146
Marc Peterson 75-71-----146
Kent Eger 75-72-----147
David Williamson 77-70-----147
Ciaran McMonagle 74-73-----147
Tim Wood 76-71-----147
Jon Turcott 75-72-----147
Yohann Benson 71-76-----147
Marc Bourgeois 77-70-----147
Zach Shriver 76-71-----147
Donn Sirianni 78-70-----148
Derek Oakey 72-76-----148
Ryan Williams 71-77-----148
Ben Weir 74-74-----148
Jordan Krantz 73-75-----148
George Bradford 77-71-----148
Daniel Im 77-71-----148
John Colyar 75-73-----148
Kory Storer 72-76-----148
Eric Wang 73-75-----148
Pan Singhaseni 77-71-----148
John Cassidy 79-70-----149
Jason Kang 80-69-----149
Mitchell Gillis 72-77-----149
Isaac Weintraub 77-72-----149
Nemanja Savic 77-72-----149
Bryan Novoa 74-75-----149
Brad Ward 77-72-----149
Erik Olson 75-74-----149
Michael O’Neal 75-74-----149
Kent Fukushima 72-77-----149
Phil Telliard 77-72-----149
Pat Howard 74-75-----149
Chris Wall 73-76-----149
Jim Seki 77-72-----149
Brad Tilley 73-76-----149
Joe Johnson 74-75-----149
Mike Roters 77-73-----150
Scott Ford 75-75-----150
Robert Hamilton 71-79-----150
Jim Fitzpatrick 77-73-----150
Lucas Lee 75-75-----150
Jeffrey Rangel 74-76-----150
James Hahn 78-73-----151
Brian Benedictson 75-76-----151
Danny Mijovic 78-73-----151
Victor Ciesielski 77-74-----151
Ryan Plitz 71-80-----151
Todd Killingsworth 78-74-----152
Mark Leon 75-77-----152
Adam Speirs 78-74-----152
Jason Anthony 78-74-----152
Dean Kennedy 75-77-----152
Trey Denton 74-78-----152
Brenton Fowler 79-73-----152
Jesse Barnsley 75-78-----153
Justin Itzen 75-79-----154
Jacob Kimball 82-72-----154
Wes Martin 80-74-----154
Greg McAuley 78-76-----154
Matt McQuillan 76-78-----154
Elliott Paylor 75-79-----154
Matt Makinson 79-76-----155
Eric Couture 79-76-----155
Ryan Vallely 78-77-----155
Ryan Thomas 77-78-----155
Caesar Coello 78-77-----155
Anthony Schumacher 79-77-----156
Troy Butterfield 76-80-----156
Dirk Ayers 76-80-----156
Clayton Rask 83-75-----158
Mark Rice 85-74-----159
Tim Sawatzky 86-76-----162
Hansol Koh 80-84-----164
Chase Osiowy 90-80-----170
