Furyk grabs 4-shot lead

AKRON, Ohio — Former US Open champion Jim Furyk fired a second consecutive four-under-par 66 to open up a four-shot lead after the second round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Friday. Furyk finished 36 holes at eight-under 132 and has a solid lead heading into the weekend over Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Americans Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson in the final tune-up for next week’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. “I felt like I had more confidence,” said Furyk. “I hit the ball more solid and I am just hoping to improve a little bit every day and hopefully Sunday I will have a lot of confidence.” Reigning Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth, who is trying to dethrone Rory McIlroy as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, climbed the leaderboard with a two-under 68 and is tied for eighth, six strokes adrift of Furyk. Lowry and Watson matched Furyk’s 66 while Johnson fired a three-under 67 for a four-under 136 total. Furyk, 45, always seems to be in contention at this event as he has finished in the top-15 at the WGC-Bridgestone four of the past five years. He also finished runner-up twice, losing a playoff to Tiger Woods in 2001 and in 2012 when a bogey at the 72nd hole left him in second. He began Friday just one shot back of first round leader Danny Lee and said knowing he was close helped motivate him to shoot a low score. Furyk, who started on the 10th tee, had a strong finish with birdies at the seventh and eighth holes. He made bogey on the final hole but that was offset by some superb putting throughout a round that featured seven birdies. Spieth, who tied for fourth in his last outing at the Open Championship at St. Andrews, recorded his first ever round under par at the WGC-Bridgestone. His round of six birdies and four bogeys included a 20-foot chip-in for birdie at the par-four third which got him to three under. He followed that with back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and fifth. New Zealand’s Lee (72), Henrik Stenson (69) and Graeme McDowell (71) were tied at 137, five shots behind Furyk. Gonzales takes share of lead Andres Gonzales vaulted into a share of the lead with fellow American Brendan Steele after a 21-point second round at the PGA Barracuda Championship in Reno Friday. Gonzales rolled in 11 birdies and had a bogey and matched Steele’s 26 points after 36 holes in the unique tournament, which features a Modified Stableford scoring system assigning point values to shots rather than registering a score relative to par. Steele’s round at the Montreux Golf and Country Club included an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey. His eagle came at the par-five second hole when his bunker shot found the cup. Steele has one USPGA Tour win, at the 2011 Texas Open. Gonzales has two top-10 finishes this year but is still seeking his first win on the Tour. Former winner J.J. Henry and Swede Jonas Blixt were two points behind the leaders. Blixt totaled 12 points in the second round and Henry had 11. — AFP