Round two of the Golfweek/FCWT Holiday Invitational moved from the GOLD COURSE at Tiburon to the BLACK Course. It was a new day for competitors which resulted in some shifting in the leaderboard. Seventeen year old Joon Kim of Treviso, ITALY (2007) who took the early lead with a 1 under par opening round on the Gold Course, struggled on Thursday and dropped into a tie for 4th. Meanwhile, Gregor Slabe of Ljubljana, SLOVENIA, 2007, who is currently ranked 48th in the Golfweek/Titleist rankings, carded a 2 over par (74) to take the lead. Slabe began the day in a tie for 3rd with Alexander Popov of Naples, FL (2007) and two strokes back of Kim. Slabe was two under par through 15 holes, but an 8 on number 16 did him in. Gregor's experience allowed him to rebound nicely and par both 17 and 18 - that's why he was an FCWT All-American last season. The mental game of golf cannot be underestimated. One stroke back of Slabe is Donnie Shin of Columbia, MD (2007). Shin carded a round of even par on Wednesday and followed that up with a round of +4 76 on Thursday, but Shin is exactly where he wants to be - within striking distance. Shin already has 2 wins at FCWT events this season: Back Creek and Pine Needles, and is currently ranked 68th in the Golfweek/Titleist rankings. Rarely does a player earn 3 or more wins during a season, but Shin is going to give it his best effort. In third place going into the final round is Roberto Francioni of Hausen, SWITZERLAND (2008) who carded a round of even par on Thursday after an opening round of 77. Also carding a round of even par and moving up the leaderboard to T7 was Ryan Crum of South Salem, NY (2007). Even par was the best round of the day on this difficult course. In a tie for 4th are: Jay Vandeventer of Bristol, VA (2009) and first round leader Joon Kim of ITALY. In 6th place is Jordan Elsen of Kenosha, WI (2006) after a round of 73 (+1) on Thursday. In a tie for 7th and 6 shots back of the leader are: Ryan Crum of South Salem, NY (2007), Nicholas Marshall, and sixteen year old Tyler Burton of Highland Park, IL (one of 3 players to card an eagle on Wednesday). Kenny Wittenberg rounds out the Top 10. |
