In his first year of eligibility at the U.S. Senior Open, George McNeill shot a 4-under-par 66 to take the 36-hole lead on Friday at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
McNeill posted the low round of the championship thus far and separated from the pack by birdieing two of his final four holes. At 6-under 134, he has earned a two-stroke lead over Irishman Padraig Harrington, who’s chasing his third U.S. Senior Open title in five years.
Harrington, like McNeill, improved on his first-round score by two shots with a 3-under 67. The defending champion will play in the final pairing with first-timer McNeill on Saturday.
“I don’t think I’m going to try to do anything different than I normally would at a tournament,” McNeill said.
McNeill turned 50 last October and hasn’t won in his first season on the PGA Tour Champions. He won twice on the PGA Tour, with his latest victory in 2012, and he openly acknowledged that his record at USGA championships isn’t the best either.
“My best (U.S. Open) finish, I think, was Oakmont in 2007. I think I finished — I made the cut on the number, and I think I finished last of the guys that made the cut,” McNeill said. “So nothing too exciting. All the other championships, I believe I missed the cut.
“Never really had a good feel for U.S. Opens. I don’t know if age is helping me. This Senior Open is obviously I’m doing OK so far.”
McNeill started his round on the back nine and birdied Nos. 12, 13, and 17. His only bogey came at the par-4 third, dropping him to 4 under. But a two-putt birdie at the par-5 sixth put him back ahead of Harrington again, and he drained a long birdie putt at the par-3 ninth to extend his lead.
Harrington’s round of four birdies and one bogey was enough to keep him near the top of the leaderboard. The World Golf Hall of Famer has been around the block enough to know what championship golf can throw at him.
“Look, as I said, I’d like to play well on the weekend, but if I don’t play well, I’m going to try to win this tournament another way. It’s just one of those things that with experience I know things don’t go your way at times when you’re leading, and things can feel like bad breaks,” Harrington said. “It doesn’t mean I have any perfect ability to deal with it. I’ve certainly seen all these situations. So I won’t be surprised by anything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to handle it that well either.”
Stewart Cink and South Korea’s Charlie Wi were tied for the first-round lead. After posting identical even-par 70s Friday, they are tied for third at 3 under along with Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (68).
Cink won the first two majors of the season, the Senior PGA Championship and the Regions Tradition. He was 3 over for his round before birdieing Nos. 6, 7 and 9 to get back to even for the day.
“It was really not just the last hole, but I made significant putts on my last four holes. So that definitely helps the confidence,” Cink said. “Just seeing the ball go in the hole is huge in this game. I salvaged an OK round today when it was really pretty rough all around … Dug myself a little hole, but the last four were — it was really good to salvage those.”
