Over on the 34th US Senior Open, some thing atypical goes on and I have no cause of it. It sounds extra like Rory at Congressional more than one years again than a Champions Tour event.
I mean, for the most component the leaderboard looks as if you would count on at a USGA-backed occasion. Only nine guys inside the field are underneath par, and every other 6 are even par... And they are all names that you'd anticipate to look. (I need to give a shout out to Gary Koch, who's T8 at 1-underneath. Koch spends most of his time doing on-path remark for NBC, and he went through all of the degrees of qualifying to get his chance right here. He clearly is "better than most.")
But sitting at the top of the leaderboard is Michael Allen. In a lot of ways, he plays like Inbee Park -- nothing flashy, just getting the job done. He started the second round in a 7-way tie for the lead at 3-under. Then, on a day when the best rounds were 3-under, Allen calmly posted a 7-under 63... 4 strokes better than everybody else! It's insanely good play on a course that's clearly been playing tough. (Tom Watson, for example, said Omaha Country Club had the worst rough he'd EVER played.) Just how good was his round, you may ask?
Allen now holds the file for the biggest 36-hollow lead in US Senior Open history -- five strokes. That's all. And like Inbee Park, he is one of these folks who just seems to fly beneath the media radar while doing it.
After a little searching around I located a summary of Friday's play in this web page at PGATOUR.Com. (That's also where the image came from.) Rather than rehash that article, I'll just endorse you study it to get the highlights of where the men are at the midway factor.
But now Michael Allen, like Inbee Park, finds himself staring history proper in the eyes... Although it could not be the type of history he'd like to be remembered for:
"Man, oh, guy. The largest lead?" Allen said with a grin. "So I can blow the most important lead. Is that what you are telling me?"It's not the kind of thought you'd like to have knocking around in your head while you try to win your second major.
But alternatively, Michael Allen has demonstrated again and again that he's lots difficult enough to address it.
If you're interested in watching how he does, NBC will be doing the coverage today between 3pm and 6pm ET.
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