Ginn sur Mer Classic round two: Estes and Armour head charge of the old brigade

What’s surprising in conditions as taxing as those at Port St Lucie is that it’s the old ‘uns who are still leaders of the pack: three players over 40 in the top five. If nothing else, you’d think the distances involved would tire them out a little, and the way Bob Estes talks fatigue does indeed seem to lurk on every tee.

But fate has played to their advantage Saturday as they are in the clubhouse with a good chance to rest while those unfortunate to be have been on the Friday afternoon roster still have to get their second round done early in the day. I’m beginning to fret that they’ll ever get this one done. So far things are going backwards and the forecasts suggest there won’t be much let-up in the wind and rain that have left the course a mess; more sloppy than simply muddy we are told.

The stats are hammering home the need to keep things neat off the tee. The top three all rank top 10 for hitting fairways. But that only helps to bolster the real key ingredient, which is hitting greens, and that seems to be what is hurting Daniel Chopra slightly. Otherwise his figures are the most impressive - top 10 for everything except distance, where he’s 11th!

Hot on his heels though is Daisuke Maruyama, one of only two to shoot seven under on Friday. He’s not quite got Chopra’s distance but is matching him for everything else, and then some. But for the horror of a quadruple bogey on the 15th on Thursday he’d be just a shot off the lead now alongside Chopra.

I still wonder how well our leaders will stand up to the rigours of another two rounds round this long course. Having said that, there’s a dearth of experienced opposition to take them on. The one big exception is Sean O’Hair, looking faintly menacing although he only managed to find seven fairways on Friday. Steve Lowery’s mind is also probably being concentrated by his need for money to make the safety zone - and he matched Maruyama’s seven under on Friday. But watch out too for Lucas Glover and Steve Flesch if they can maintain their charge from the back - they are both eight behind with six holes to go in round two.