Allenby fires 65, takes second-round Booz Allen lead
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) – Robert Allenby can’t even make a fist with his right hand when he wakes up in the morning because of a mysterious swelling that has pained him for months. It would seem a debilitating ailment for a golfer, yet the Australian was able to get enough grip on his game Friday to shoot a 6-under 65 and take the second-round lead in the Booz Allen Classic. Allenby’s round was the best of the day on a surprisingly player-friendly Blue Course at Congressional Country Club, giving him a 9-under 133 total and a two-stroke advantage over first-round leader Matt Gogel, Lee Westwood and fellow Australians Adam Scott and Steve Elkington.
Allenby is the only player on the leaderboard who has to run hot water over his hand in the morning just to relieve stiffness and make a round of golf possible.
“At first we thought I had rheumatoid arthritis, or some sort of arthritis,” said Allenby, who first woke up with two swollen hands after the Nissan Open in February.
“We did a bunch of blood tests. Last week or two, it’s only just started to go down. Only a couple of fingers in my right hand feel a little stiff and achy, but my left hand feels much better. … I’ve had no feel, no touch around the greens at all. Even to this day we still don’t know what was causing it.”
Allenby has managed to compete in recent weeks because the ailment doesn’t affect his tee-to-green game, just his chipping and putting. The mental part has just as tough – not knowing what was wrong or whether to keep playing – but a review of his eating habits at the Nissan has him believing he finally has a diagnosis.
“I had some food that was so spicy that I just couldn’t even get it down. I look back and think maybe I’m allergic to some sort of chili or something,” said Allenby, who plans to get tested for allergies after next week’s U.S. Open.
Allenby’s solid iron play Friday helped overcome the lack of feel he has while putting. He didn’t make a putt longer than 10 feet, and he didn’t have a three-putt. He took advantage of an early tee time to birdie four of his first six holes as Congressional played considerably easier in the morning than in the afternoon for the second straight day.
To even consider putting “easy” and “Congressional” in the same sentence might have been heresy in the past – Ernie Els won the U.S. Open here in 1997 with a score of 4 under – but heavy rain early in the week have made the course soft and manageable. The earlier the better has been the rule, with the greens more smooth, the wind calmer and the humidity a tad less overbearing in the morning hours.
“I don’t think we thought it was going to play like this,” said Phil Mickelson, who followed an even-par afternoon round Thursday with a 4-under morning round Friday. “It’s playing as easy as it can because of the softness of the greens, and guys have been able to attack some pins.”
The cut was at 1-under 141, wiping out only Padraig Harrington (144) among the eight golfers represented in the world top 10.
Gogel, who has struggled much of the year, shot an improbable course-record 63 with a 7 a.m. tee time Thursday, but he couldn’t keep that pace Friday afternoon in a round of 72 that included three birdies and four bogeys. Gogel missed seven of 14 fairways and put his tee shot in the trees at No. 8, where he had made such a clinical birdie the day before.
“If you don’t hit fairways out here, you’re going to have a hard time hitting greens,” Gogel said.
Defending champion Scott was tied for second after a 67 – he’s been in the 60s all six rounds he’s played in the Booz Allen over two years – while Ernie Els (67) was tied for sixth with Paul Goydos (69), Shigeki Maruyama (67), Tommy Armour III (68) and Jim Furyk (69).
All will return Saturday to chase the Australian with the swollen hand.
“I hope he has some more problems with his hands,” Elkington joked, “at least on the weekend.”