THUNDER BAY – Saturday is traditionally known as moving day in golf.
Blake Olson decided to get a head start on the field.
The 27-year-old Pensacola, Fla. resident equalled the low round of the day on Friday at the Staal Foundation Open, taming the par 72 Whitewater Golf Club track with a blemish-free 8-under 64 that included an eagle on the picturesque par 5 third.
Add in six birdies and it was good enough for a two-shot lead heading into the third round as he goes in search of his first career Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada victory.
“It’s just been easy golf. I’ve been hitting it pretty stripy this week. I haven’t made any bogeys, so it’s been a pretty clean card,” said Olson, who teed off in the first group of the day alongside Dylan Wu and Daniel Kim.
“I’m in a great spot going into the weekend.”
It was the eagle that jumpstarted his round, which followed Thursday’s 6-under 66.
“It was just a driver-five iron and I probably hit it up there to (about) six feet and rolled it in,” he said, adding his game is rounding into shape nicely at the right time.
“It’s been getting close. I’ve been kind of talking to people and saying I’m playing well, but just not having the results. I was lucky enough to play two good rounds this week. There’s still a lot of golf to play.”
Olson wasn’t the only golfer with a hot hand on Friday.
Nashville’s Zach Zaback also shot a bogey-free 8-under, narrowly missing chipping in for eagle on the 18th, good for a two-way tie for second at 12-under 132 that equalled Australian Brett Coletta’s two-day total.
Zaback, who finished eighth in Windsor last week, said it was an attitude adjustment he made after his opening nine on Thursday that turned his tournament around.
“Today I just wanted to build off the back nine from yesterday to see if I could keep that going,” the 24-year-old said.
Joining the 8-under parade was Californian Mark Anguiano, who shot an ordinary 2-under 70 on Thursday, but caught fire in Round 2.
Anguiano, fourth on the Order of Merit, had four birdies on each of his nines, and rocketed up the leader board, jumping 45 spots into a three-way tie for sixth with Americans Hunter Stewart and Stoney Crouch.
“Today my goal was to just have the best attitude I could,” said Anguiano, who claimed top spot in Windsor last week, following a sixth-place finish three weeks ago at the GolfBC Championship.
“Yesterday I didn’t have my best attitude. It was tough after winning last week to try to get on the same track as I was last week, but I did that today. I putted a lot better. Yesterday I missed about four putts inside five feet, which is not like me. I’m usually pretty solid from those distances. But today I made pretty much everything I needed to make.”
Jake DuVall is the top Canadian, the former B. C. Amateur champion going 68-67 to sit at 9-under 135 heading into the weekend.
Ian Davis and David Bradshaw, the first-round leader, round out the top 5 at 11-under 133.
