Kirk fights malaise to take lead at Houston Open

by tammy Sat Apr 02, 2011 6:15 pm

Chris Kirk was feeling burned out just three months into his first year on the PGA Tour.

He changed drivers and irons, and feels a lot better about things after two rounds at the Houston Open.

The PGA Tour rookie shot a 3-under 69 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Anthony Kim and 2008 winner Johnson Wagner.

Kirk has carded his first two sub-70 rounds since mid-February at the Tournament Course at Redstone to reach 9-under par. He missed four cuts in his previous five starts and conceded that he wasn't motivated to turn things around.

"Just was kind of in a little bit of a funk," he said. "I don't really feel like I was playing that bad of golf. I just lost interest somehow."

He rekindled his intensity with the equipment change this week, and opened with a 66 on Thursday. He then birdied two of his last three holes Friday to take the outright lead and make up for a double bogey on the par-5 4th.

"Golf is such a frustrating game, and you have a couple of weeks like I did the last few weeks, and you feel like you don't know how to play anymore," he said. "And then, as soon as that happens, you play a round like I did (Thursday) and just, I don't know. It's a crazy game, that's for sure."

Padraig Harrington, first-round leader Jimmy Walker and Josh Teater were two shots back at 7 under.

Organizers groomed the Tournament Course at Redstone to simulate conditions that players will see at the Masters next week, and the setup lured many of the world's top players to Houston.

Phil Mickelson (70) and Lee Westwood (72) were part of a large group at 4 under and Ernie Els (72) and Fred Couples (72) were among the players at 1 under.

Kim shot a 64, the lowest round of the day and four strokes better than his lowest round when he won last year. He's trying to become the first back-to-back winner of the event since Vijay Singh won in 2004 and '05, the last two years it was played at the adjacent members' course.

________________
Angle Rolls
traghetti da Brindisi