At 14-under 202, Anderson is being chased by Graham DeLaet and Byron Smith, two players who are also looking for their first win of the season. Smith's 10-birdie round of 9-under par 63 should give Anderson something to think about before he tees off Sunday.
By John Berkovich
Media Director - Canadian Professional Golf Tour
Sharing fourth spot are Scott Gibson and Josh Habig who both shot 66 and Garrett Frank with a 71.
Tyler Harris matched Smith’s 63 to climb into solo seventh at 206, while Jim Lemon (67), Andrew Parr (67), Mike Grob (69) and Mauricio Molina, who fell to a 73, are five back.
“The pins today were in a lot of great spots,” said Anderson, who had three birdies on each side.
“Graham and I both missed a couple of putts but we fed off each other’s energy all day. It was a good group to play in.
“If one of us was to go sideways or backwards, it would have been a lot different.
“The biggest turning point for me was the par-5 eighth.
“I pulled it in the left trees and ended up going for the green; accepting the fact that if I didn’t get over the trees, I could still make par.
“I hit it in the water, dropped it at a great yardage, and spun it back to four feet for a par.”
After a birdie at nine, Anderson pulled a rabbit out of the hat at No. 11 for par.
Attempting to drive the green, he pushed it well right into the waist-high fescue and was forced to hack it into the short rough well short of the green.
With plenty of green to work with, Anderson chipped to four feet for another par save.
“Those momentum pars can change your whole day,” he said. “I told myself I could make pars at both of those holes and I did.”
Byron Smith, a winner in Victoria earlier this month, sits one back.
Draining three straight birdies to start his round, he cooled off with two pars, followed by birdies at seven, eight.
Turning in four under, he picked up birdies at eleven and twelve and three of his last four.
“It was 63 but I’m a little disappointed that it wasn’t a 62,” said Smith, tongue-in-cheek.
“I really didn’t drive it that great and actually hit a couple of wayward shots that I got away with. The only time I didn’t was at nine when I made bogey after hooking my drive right off the map.
“I hit my irons well and a lot of good putts and some good ones that didn’t drop.
“Confidence is everything in golf,” he added. “A lot of these guys can hit it very well so it comes down to confidence, momentum, believing in yourself, and knowing that when you get it five under par that you want more.”
Sealing his stellar round were two closing birdies.
Second round leader Garrett Frank’s round could have been two better if not for a rules infraction at No. 1.
“I have some ridiculously bad blisters on my feet and thinking they would be more comfortable, I teed off in my tennis shoes. I slipped on the first tee and pulled my drive. I realized I needed my golf shoes,” explained Frank.
“I had my caddy (Tour player Derek Oakey) run back and get my golf shoes and put the bag on my shoulder and carried it myself, which you are allowed to do on this tour.
“I feel terrible about it,” said Oakey. “I was running down the path to catch up to Garrett and a volunteer offered me I ride, which I took. I caught up with Garrett at the second hole where he teed off with one tennis shoe and one golf shoe.
“Tim Garbutt, the local tournament director, took me aside and told me there was an issue with me taking a ride.
“My mouth just dropped because as soon as Tim told me, I knew it was two shots. I wanted to tell Garrett because I wanted to break it to him as easy as possible.
I approached Garrett and said, ‘Don’t kill me but here is what happened.’ I repeated what Tim told me and Garrett said, ‘There is nothing we can do about it. Let’s just go and see if we can make up some birdies coming in.’”
“I thought that if I was my own caddy when I was carrying my clubs, there is no rules violation,” said Frank. “I figured that if Derek was considered just a spectator when he was taking the ride, I was okay. If he was technically my caddy at that time, then it was a rules violation.”
“I appreciated that (Canadian Tour Tournament Director) Randy Korn heard me out, which is all I asked for.
“It rattled me a little bit,” continued Frank. “I hit a horrible tee shot to start and accepted that I would make no worse than bogey; and it ends up a triple. It took me a couple of holes to calm down and I then I started hitting some great shots.
“It was still a good ballstriking round and it could have been a lot lower because I lipped out on a few putts. It was an interesting day.”
AMJ CAMPBELL MOVING DAY
Garrett Frank was penalized two strokes when on the first hole; he wanted to switch golf shoes. His caddy used a cart to retrieve a pair and thus, violated a rule.
Also shooting 63 today was Tyler Harris who finished early at 10 under, giving the leaders something to look at. “I hit all 18 greens and gave myself the opportunities for birdies and eagles,” said Harris. “There are a lot of birdies out there if the weather stays calm.” His words proved prophetic.
Best Regards
Canadian Tour - $150,000 ATB Financial Classic
Sirocco Golf Club - - 7,185 yard, par-72
(a-denotes amateur)
Stuart Anderson 67-69-66-----202
Byron Smith 72-68-63-----203
Graham DeLaet 72-64-67-----203
Josh Habig 71-67-66-----204
Scott Gibson 70-68-66-----204
Garrett Frank 67-66-71-----204
Tyler Harris 72-71-63-----206
Jim Lemon 72-68-67-----207
Andrew Parr 69-70-67-----207
Mike Grob 72-66-69-----207
Mauricio Molina 67-67-73-----207
Matt Marshall 71-70-67-----208
Ryan Horn 72-70-66-----208
Andres Gonzales 73-69-66-----208
Tyler Martin 68-74-66-----208
Eugene Smith 70-69-69-----208
Luke Hickmott 74-69-66-----209
Michael Gligic 72-69-68-----209
Jae Woo Im 70-70-69-----209
Josh Geary 70-69-70-----209
Tom Stankowski 67-70-72-----209
Richard Scott 73-70-67-----210
Danny Sahl 68-73-69-----210
Wes Heffernan 71-71-68-----210
Peter Laws 73-65-72-----210
Oliver Tubb 73-70-67-----210
Russell Surber 71-68-71-----210
Liam Kendregan 72-71-67-----210
Joseph Greiner 75-68-67-----210
George Coetzee 70-74-67-----211
Alex Coe 76-68-67-----211
Jason D’Amore 72-70-69-----211
Brady Stockton 73-68-70-----211
Brett Bingham 71-69-71-----211
Bryn Parry 71-68-72-----211
Ryan Yip 70-71-70-----211
Lee Curry 70-69-72-----211
Hoyt McGarity 71-69-71-----211
Andrew Smeeth 70-68-73-----211
Hugo Leon 75-66-71-----212
Andrew Johnson 70-72-70-----212
Barrett Jarosch 77-66-69-----212
Jaime Kurelik 74-68-70-----212
Brad Heaven 71-72-70-----213
Andy Matthews 76-67-70-----213
Justin Smith 69-72-72-----213
Mitch Tasker 70-68-75-----213
Brett Lederer 71-67-75-----213
Mike Mezei 71-72-72-----215
Greg Machtaler 72-72-71-----215
Brady Schnell 68-76-71-----215
Kris Wasylowich 73-71-72-----216
Drew Stoltz 74-69-73-----216
Jordan Irwin 70-72-74-----216
Ryan Panichpakdee 74-69-74-----217
Garrett Sapp 71-73-73-----217
Erik Justesen 74-70-73-----217
David Jackson 77-64-76-----217
James Allenby 80-63-75-----218
Darren Hupfer (a) 74-70-77-----221
