Englishman Paul Broadhurst fired a bogey-free 8-under 64 on Saturday to jump into the lead after two rounds of action at the PURE Insurance Championship in Pebble Beach, Calif.
The unique event has 80 PGA Tour Champions pros play one round at Pebble Beach Golf Links and one round at Spyglass Hill Golf Course before the low 50 and ties advance to Sunday’s final round at Pebble Beach.
Broadhurst collected eight birdies at Pebble Beach on Saturday, giving him the low round of the day and moving him three spots up the leaderboard. He sits at 14-under 130 for the tournament, five shots ahead of Vijay Singh of Fiji.
“I had two unbelievable days,” Broadhurst said. “I hit some of the best irons I’ve hit in a long, long time over the two days really. Spyglass is a little bit harder than Pebble. … I was really happy last night, the way I played, tried to come out and do the same today. It doesn’t always happen like that, not with this game.”
Starting on the back nine, Broadhurst picked up a par at No. 10 before notching birdies at four of the next five holes. He later rattled off three consecutive birdies at Nos. 4-6.
“I think everything went my way, although I played really well tee to green,” Broadhurst said. “I’ve putted solidly as well, which obviously you have to do to get it to 14 under. Yeah, I’ve had two really good days.”
Singh was playing at Spyglass and carded a 4-under 68, recording five birdies against one bogey — at the par-4 16th.
Doug Barron (65 on Saturday) and Paul Goydos (71) are tied for third, six strokes off the lead. Goydos was a first-round co-leader with Steven Alker of New Zealand and Justin Leonard.
Alker shot a 72 on Saturday to slip into a tie for fifth. Leonard had a 76 to plummet into a tie for 16th.
“Broadhurst has shot some phenomenal rounds, we’ve got some chasing to do,” Alker said. “Hopefully a little bit of wind tomorrow could make the difference.”
Joining Alker in fifth are Boo Weekley (69), Glen Day (70), Rocco Mediate (69), Tim Herron (69) and Canadian Stephen Ames (67). Each member of that group is trailing Broadhurst by seven shots.
