{"id":409073,"date":"2011-04-30T00:23:44","date_gmt":"2011-04-30T00:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/30\/golf-eagle-hunter-watson-takes-charge-in-new-orleans-reuters\/"},"modified":"2011-04-30T00:23:44","modified_gmt":"2011-04-30T00:23:44","slug":"golf-eagle-hunter-watson-takes-charge-in-new-orleans-reuters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/30\/golf-eagle-hunter-watson-takes-charge-in-new-orleans-reuters\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf-Eagle hunter Watson takes charge in New Orleans (Reuters)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

* Watson grabs one-shot lead at the TPC Louisiana<\/p>\n

* Eagles the 11th hole for second day in a row (updates at end of day)<\/p>\n

NEW ORLEANS, April 29 (Reuters) – Long-hitting American Bubba Watson<\/a> eagled the par-five 11th for a second consecutive day on his way to a one-shot lead in the second round of the New Orleans Classic on Friday.<\/p>\n

Joint pacesetter overnight with Australian Matt Jones<\/a>, the left-hander fired a four-under-par 68 in dazzling sunshine at the TPC Louisiana and stayed in front of the late starters as the greens firmed up and wind strengthened in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old Watson, from nearby Bagdad in the Florida panhandle, also recorded three birdies and a lone bogey to take control of the PGA Tour event with a 10-under total of 134.<\/p>\n

American Josh Teater<\/a>, a rookie on the circuit last year, briefly got to 11 under before double-bogeying the last for a 66 and second place.<\/p>\n

John Rollins<\/a> carded a 69 to lie third at eight under, a stroke in front of fellow Americans Jason Dufner<\/a> (69), Webb Simpson<\/a> (69) and Dean Wilson<\/a> (64), plus Australians John Senden<\/a> (67) and Jones (71).<\/p>\n

Watson, who clinched his second PGA Tour victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, was delighted to be heading into the weekend in contention for another title.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we strive to do,\u201d the slim American told reporters. \u201cWe always want the pressure. We always want the nerves, the butterflies. We\u2019re trying to win golf tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten lucky enough to win two so far and I\u2019m trying to go for my third. It would be nice to pull it off here in New Orleans \u2026 two and a half hours away from where I grew up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just putted really well, hit a lot of good tee shots and stayed out of the water as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

WEEKEND STRATEGY<\/p>\n

Asked if his strategy would change for the weekend, Watson replied: \u201cNo. If I could play the same the next two days, I have a great shot at winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Watson eagled the 11th after hitting a booming 343-yard drive followed by a soaring six-iron over a cypress tree that landed 32 feet from the pin.<\/p>\n

On Friday, he eagled the same hole after belting his tee shot 329 yards down the fairway, striking his second from 244 yards to 20 feet and coolly knocking in the putt.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that hole was good for me,\u201d he said with a smile. \u201cI hit two good shots. The fairway and tee shot was a little scary for me but it worked out today.\u201d<\/p>\n

British world number three Luke Donald<\/a>, beaten in a playoff for The Heritage on Sunday, was hot on Watson\u2019s heels with seven holes to play before losing momentum.<\/p>\n

Eight under overall, Donald bogeyed the third, his 12th hole of the day, and then double-bogeyed the fourth before carding a 71 to end the round five strokes off the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to make a few mistakes occasionally,\u201d said the Englishman, who could become world number one with victory this week. \u201cUp until then I played pretty solid golf.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough 29 holes, I only missed a couple greens. But I\u2019m still there or thereabouts and the greens are only going to get firmer. It will be a tough weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cut fell at one-under 143 with last week\u2019s Heritage champion Brandt Snedeker<\/a>, former world number one David Duval<\/a> and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell<\/a> among those missing out.<\/p>\n

(Editing by Frank Pingue\/Nick Mulvenney; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)<\/p>\n

Please double-click on the newslink:<\/p>\n

for more golf stories<\/p>\n

for more sports stories<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Continued here:
\nGolf-Eagle hunter Watson takes charge in New Orleans (Reuters)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

* Watson grabs one-shot lead at the TPC Louisiana * Eagles the 11th hole for second day in a row (updates at end of day) NEW ORLEANS, April 29 (Reuters) – Long-hitting American Bubba Watson eagled the par-five 11th for a second consecutive day on his way to a one-shot lead in the second round of the New Orleans Classic on Friday. Joint pacesetter overnight with Australian Matt Jones , the left-hander fired a four-under-par 68 in dazzling sunshine at the TPC Louisiana and stayed in front of the late starters as the greens firmed up and wind strengthened in the afternoon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":408881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-409073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nGolf-Eagle hunter Watson takes charge in New Orleans (Reuters) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/30\/golf-eagle-hunter-watson-takes-charge-in-new-orleans-reuters\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Golf-Eagle hunter Watson takes charge in New Orleans (Reuters) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"* Watson grabs one-shot lead at the TPC Louisiana * Eagles the 11th hole for second day in a row (updates at end of day) NEW ORLEANS, April 29 (Reuters) - Long-hitting American Bubba Watson eagled the par-five 11th for a second consecutive day on his way to a one-shot lead in the second round of the New Orleans Classic on Friday. 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