Bryant makes double-eagle, still shares Allianz lead
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Boca Raton, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Bart Bryant made an albatross on the par-5 18th on Saturday to keep his piece of the lead after two rounds of the Allianz Championship.
Bryant carded a 3-under 69 to end at 9-under-par 135. He stands alongside Paul Goydos, Tom Pernice Jr. and Rod Spittle. Goydos and Pernice shared the first- round lead with Bryant and also shot 69 in round two. Spittle fired a 6-under 66 to gain his piece of the lead.
Bernhard Langer, the 2010 champion, shot 2-under 70 to end 36 holes at minus-7. He was joined there by Olin Browne (67), Guy Boros (68) and Mark Brooks (69).
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Rocco Mediate matched Spittle's 66 on The Old Course at Broken Sound Club. Mediate is in a 4-way tie for ninth at 6-under-par 138.
Bryant got on the board with a birdie on the second. Back-to-back birdies at seven and eight moved him into the lead at minus-9.
Around the turn, Bryant rolled in a birdie effort at the 10th to push his lead to two strokes. However, he followed with bogeys on the 11th and 12th.
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Another bogey at the 14th dropped Bryant two shots behind Pernice and Spittle. Bryant stumbled to his fourth bogey in seven holes at the 17th to slide to minus-6.
Bryant holed a 6-iron from 195 yards out at the par-5 18th for double-eagle. That helped him jump back into a share of the lead.
"I hit a really great drive. Thought I'd hit 5-iron and was thinking about 6- iron and hit the six. I got it up in the air and thought with the wind I'd have a chance to get it close and have a chance for eagle," Bryant explained. "Got myself back in the tournament with that shot. It's kind of surreal it went in."
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Goydos converted birdie chances at the third and fourth. He ran off nine straight pars from the fifth to remain at minus-8. Goydos tripped to a bogey on the 14th, but came back with birdies at 16 and 18 to regain a piece of the lead.
"I hit the ball really, really well. As the day went on, I started hitting it better," Goydos said. "Tee to green it was very good, but I didn't make any putts."
Pernice played the front nine in even-par with a bogey at the second and a birdie at the eighth. He soared into a share of the lead thanks to three birdies in a 4-hole stretch from the 12th. Pernice finished his round with three pars in a row.
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Spittle poured in three straight birdies from the first, all from inside eight feet. Back-to-back birdies at six and seven moved him to 8-under. He was tied for the lead until the 11th, where he stumbled to a bogey after finding sand off the tee.
The 2010 AT&T Championship winner bounced back with a 10-foot birdie effort on the 12th. After five pars in a row, Spittle 2-putted for birdie on the par-5 18th to grab a share of the lead.
NOTES: Bryant's double-eagle was the 35th in Champions Tour history ... All four leaders have previously had a piece of the 36-hole lead on the Champions Tour ... Defending champion Michael Allen carded a 3-under 69 and is tied for 13th at 5-under-par 139 ... Steve Lowry and John Huston had the only bogey- free rounds on Saturday.