Langham has lead at Willow Creek

By Mike Sorenson
Deseret Morning News

SANDY — Except for one thing, Franklin Langham is happy to be leading the Utah Championship and playing in the final group today.

Langham fired a 4-under-par 67 Friday at Willow Creek Country Club, which puts him at 130 and a shot ahead of four other golfers.

The only problem is, because of his first-place standing Langham will be teeing off at 2:55 p.m., meaning he'll miss the football game between his beloved Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina this afternoon.

Perhaps if Langham had shot a 75 and played early he could have caught the Georgia game, but he'll be happy to miss the game this time for a chance to get a victory this weekend.

"I'm happy to be where I'm at," he said. "Everyone would rather be one shot ahead. It's going to be a shootout this weekend, but I'm right there."

South African Craig Lile, who shared the first-round lead with Langham, birdied the last two holes to finish at 11-under 131 with Garrett Willis, Edward Loar and Richard Johnson.

Another shot back at 132 are two golfers, Vance Veazey and Ron Whittaker.

Three local golfers made the cut, with Layton's Barry Schenk and Bountiful's Garrett Clegg leading the way at 137. Schenk, a former Weber State golfer, had a sparkling 65, while Clegg, a former University of Utah golfer, shot 70.

Farmington's Daniel Summerhays shot 70 to make the cut right on the line — his fifth Nationwide cut in six tries.

Langham is a 39-year-old PGA Tour veteran who has won more than $4 million in seven full seasons over the past 15 years.

He has struggled for much of this season, missing 11 cuts in 19 tournaments with only one good finish — a second place in Missouri in late July.

Langham said his recent good play is the result of "a combination of things," including some swing changes and increased confidence in his putter.

"I struggled with my game early in the year, but I've been working hard on my game," he said. Langham has been working with Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, who work with several PGA Tour players, including Mike Weir and Dean Wilson.

Langham birdied all five par-5s but bogeyed the par-3 7th and 12th holes, which kept him from taking a larger lead into the weekend.

Loar is a a 6-foot-4 left-hander, who was an all-American at Oklahoma State, where he was a teammate of Boyd Summerhays for a year and helped lead the Cowboys to a NCAA Championship.

He's only made four cuts in 13 tournaments and ranks 149th on the money list, but he could make a huge jump with a win this week. Loar started on the back nine and shot 36 but came back with a 29 on the more difficult front nine. The day before he shot a 29 on the back nine.

"Something has clicked," he said. "I'm starting to hit good shots."

When we last saw Willis, he was winning the tournament at Willow Creek two years ago where he beat three other golfers by a shot.

In shooting a 64 Friday, Willis had seven birdies on his card and no bogeys.

"I feel comfortable out here," he said. "It's nice to play a course where you know what you're going to hit before you ever step on the tee."

Johnson, a 35-year-old from Wales, had two eagles on his card in addition to a double bogey.

Lile was tied for the lead at one point before hitting his tee shot on No. 7 (his 16th hole) behind a tree and making double bogey. However he came back to birdie the next two holes, sinking a 25-footer at his final hole.

NATIONWIDE NOTES: The cut came at 4-under-par 138 with 65 golfers advancing to the weekend. Missing the cut among the locals were Jay Don Blake and Kenny Ebalo at 140, Dan Forsman (141), Boyd Summerhays (143), Ryan Ellis (144), Mark Owen (144), Steve Schneiter (146), Tony Finau (148), Kury Reynolds (150) and Gipper Finau (154) ... Although they didn't made the cut, the Finau brothers attracted the largest galleries and finished 1-2 in driving distance for the second straight year. Gipper averaged 360 yards on his drives, while Tony averaged 349.8. The Nationwide Tour leader, Jeff Wood, averaged 332 per drive ... Finau will play again today as a "marker" in the first group with Matt Weibring.