Playing in just his seventh Legends Tour event since turning 50 earlier in the year, Webster carded four birdies and two eagles to shoot the low round of the week and reach -12, four clear of Peter Baker and Thomas Gogele. Keith Horne and Brian Davis are a further shot back on seven-under-par.
After a brilliant opening 68, Webster once again proved able to master the firm and fast conditions at Brocket Hall as he seized control of the tournament in search of a maiden Legends Tour victory.
A birdie at the reachable third was followed by two magnificent eagles at the 6th and the 9th as Webster surged to the top of the leaderboard. A dropped shot on the difficult 11th was quickly cancelled out by birdies at 13, 17 and another – crucially – at the last, where a curling six-footer finally hit the bottom of the cup.
“I got a new putter on putter on Monday and I’ve only used it for a couple of days – it’s seems to be working! I’ve been rolling it really well and every putt I’ve looked at I really fancy which is a nice thing,” said Webster.
“I’ve been really steady off the tee, given myself a lot of chances. My ball striking has been good this week, and my course management too – that’s what you’ve got to do when it’s hard and bouncy. Gameplan for tomorrow is pretty much the same. I’m really looking forward to it. Bakes [Peter Baker] is a great player, he’s won a lot of times out here and is a fellow Midlands boy so it should be fun.”
Like Webster, Baker also began the day at -5 and took a big step forward with a hard-fought 70, capped by a brilliant par save at the last. “It was a strange day, I never really had it today, but looking at it now, I’m quite pleased to shoot three-under,” said the former Ryder Cup player.
The highlight of Baker’s round was a magnificent eagle on the 13th that really kickstarted his afternoon. “The hole before I made a great up-and-down so that sort of set me up really. I then hit two great shots to the 13th and then holed about a 30-footer. My two best shots of the day and obviously an eagle is a big bonus.”
Brilliance on the 13th was matched by bravery on 18 as he scrambled a par-five after being out of position on multiple occasions. “I hit a terrible tee shot and then I went for it a little bit too much and blocked myself out in the trees… then missed the green right, which kicked it sort of 30 yards right into a bad lie. I just hacked it onto the edge and luckily holed the putt. It wasn’t very pretty, but I was battling away there and trying to hang in there.”
Baker joined Thomas Gogele at -8, after the German repeated the 69 he managed in round one. Earlier in the day, South Africa’s Keith Horne posted the clubhouse lead at -7 with a topsy-turvy round that included double-bogey sevens on two of the par-fives and a strong back nine response that featured four birdies.
Having won in China and finished second in Switzerland and at the OFX Irish Legends, the South African is currently sitting third in the Order of Merit and has strong designs on the top spot currently behind held by Australia’s Scott Hend – particularly with Hend in 18th spot after a 68.
Horne was far from satisfied with his performance on day one – despite carding a bogey-free 68 – and today was left to rue two bad swings during his battling 71.
“I hit one poor shot today on the sixth hole, I pulled my 3-wood just a fraction and it hit a tree just off the fairway and went 50 yards left into the bush, so that was a little unfortunate and I made a seven from there,” said Horne.
“And then I hit a bad second shot into number 10 with the same club into some long grass and lost it. So that was another blue number. Those two cost me a minimum of five shots – so it would be 12-under instead of seven. But that’s golf. So we’ll take seven-under and hopefully progress from there tomorrow. I still feel like there’s a good score out there, maybe seven or eight under. I think the winning score is going to be close to 14 or something like that. So I’m going to need a good one tomorrow.”
Clubhouse Leader Interview
