Justin Hicks In Front By Two At Web.com Tour Championship
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Mckinney, Texas – On a day where most of the first-round leaders were moving backward Justin Hicks grinded out a two-under-par 69 at TPC Craig Ranch in round two to take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship.
Two shots back are Canadian Brad Fritsch and first-round co-leader Justin Bolli.
Four players are three shots back including last week’s winner Russell Henley and James Hahn, who is 13th in earnings..
With the wind and cold weather playing a key factor in making conditions tougher on Friday Justin Hicks was able to stay patient by relying on stellar ball striking.
“I’m just trying to hit a lot of fairways and greens and hopefully give myself a lot of opportunities and get one or two to fall,” he said “On a demanding golf course like this greens in regulation are going to be a key to guys playing well, I think. And lucky for me, between the conditions and the golf course, it suits a guy that’s
going to hit a lot of greens.”
Fritsch, who is 21st on the money list, is looking to earn his PGA TOUR card for the first time. His best finish to date on the Web.com Tour was a T2 at the Mylan Classic in September.
Bolli is a three-time winner on the Web.com Tour, who was a member of the PGA TOUR in 2008 and 2010. He came into the Web.com Tour Championship 44th in earnings.
Through two rounds Hicks, the two-time Web.com Tour career winner, is leading the tournament in fairways hit (24/28) and greens in regulation (30/36) which is a direct result of the work he put in on the practice range heading into this week.
“We obviously regrouped the last few weeks and got a few things figured out,” he said. “At the start of the week we’ve been hitting the ball a lot better and hopefully it will continue over the weekend.”
Currently 11th on the Web.com Tour money list, Hicks is hoping to give himself even more chances on the weekend.
“I like to give myself as many opportunities as I can to putt for birdie,” he csaid. “We’ll just stick to our formula and try and give ourselves a lot of looks. I have a philosophy that you can never make too many birdies. So, hopefully we just try and make as many birdies as we can and add them up at the end of the week.”
With his PGA TOUR card locked up heading into the tournament, the former Michigan Wolverine will also celebrate his birthday at the end of the week.
“I’m 38 on Sunday and I try not to think about being 12 years from the Champions Tour but maybe that age has something to do with how patient I’ve been,” Hicks revealed. “We’re already thinking that we have a TOUR card coming as part of my birthday gift. But really a strong week here no matter what it is would be a strong way to finish off this season, especially on my birthday.”
On Sunday, the 25 leading money winners will be awarded PGA TOUR cards for 2013.
