WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, July 29, 2011 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge fired a three-under par 67 to seize a share of the lead after Friday's second round of the $6 million Greenbrier Classic.
Two sets of back-to-back birdies against a lone bogey left de Jonge even with American Webb Simpson on seven-under par 133 after 36 holes with 18-hole leader Trevor Immelman of South Africa one stroke adrift after a round of 70.
"I started out a little bit shaky, but I made some good pars beginning of the round and got some momentum going," de Jonge said. "I felt like I had pretty good control of the ball all day, which you need on these greens."
De Jonge, who started off the 10th tee, three-putted the 11th green for a bogey but answered with a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-4 16th and went up and down from a bunker in front of the green for a birdie at the par-5 17th.
The African added an eight-foot birdie putt at the fourth and a three-footer for birdie at the fifth to take the lead.
"I'm playing nicely coming in this week, so hopefully I can keep it going," de Jonge said. "The last couple years I've had a couple stretches where I've played well for an extended period of time."
De Jonge seeks his first US PGA title. His best showing, a solo third place, came last year at this event, giving him hope for a breakthrough this week.
"I think the biggest thing is just getting out of my own way," de Jonge said. "It's very, very difficult to win out here. It's difficult to win anywhere.
"So (I'm) just sort of staying in what you do, keep going at the same speed you had been the first three rounds if it's the final round -- staying in your own routine I guess is the best way to put it."
Simpson fired a 68 to grab a share of the lead, although he showed no sign of a run early with eight pars and a bogey at the par-3 third on the outward nine.
But he birdied the 10th and answered a bogey at 11 with a birdie on the next hole, then birdied the par-4 14th and closed with a birdie on the par-3 18th to join de Jonge in Saturday's final pairing.
Immelman birdied the third but bogeys at the fifth and par-3 eighth slid him back and a birdie at 17 was not enough to rejoin the leaders.
Another stroke back on 135 were Britain's Brian Davis and Americans Michael Letzig, Scott Stallings, Gary Woodland and Derek Lamely.
Leading scores on Friday after the second round of the $6 million Greenbrier Classic (USA unless noted, par 70):
133 - Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 66-67, Webb Simpson 65-68
134 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 64-70
135 - Michael Letzig 69-66, Scott Stallings 70-65, Gary Woodland 65-70, Derek Lamely 65-70, Brian Davis (GBR) 71-64
136 - John Merrick 69-67, Charles Howell 68-68, Chris Baryla (CAN) 67-69, Aron Price (AUS) 69-67, Chris Couch 68-68, Chez Reavie 67-69
...
137 - Camilo Villegas (COL) 71-66
138 - Nick O'Hern (AUS) 70-68, Andre Stolz (AUS) 69-69, David Hearn (CAN) 66-72
139 - Ryuji Imada (JPN) 69-70, Fabian Gomez (ARG) 71-68, Steve Allan (AUS) 71-68
140 - John Senden (AUS) 70-70, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 70-70, Andres Romero (ARG) 71-69, Steven Bowditch (AUS) 65-75
141 - Sergio Garcia (ESP) 72-69, Bi-o Kim (KOR) 71-70, Adam Hadwin (CAN) 70-71
Failed to qualify
142 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 70-72, Matt Jones (AUS) 70-72, Steve Elkington (AUS) 75-67
143 - Phil Mickelson 70-73, Stuart Appleby (AUS) 71-72
144 - Nathan Green (AUS) 71-73, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 72-72, Sunghoon Kang (KOR) 71-73
145 - Matt McQuillan (CAN) 74-71
146 - Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 73-73, Rod Pampling (AUS) 73-73, Marc Leishman (AUS) 73-73, Tom Watson 75-71
147 - Arjun Atwal (IND) 72-75, Retief Goosen (RSA) 70-77, Jarrod Lyle (AUS) 74-73, Cameron Percy (AUS) 75-72
148 - Garth Mulroy (RSA) 74-74
150 - Jin Jeong (KOR) 75-75
153 - Alexandre Rocha (BRA) 80-73
WD - Michael Sim (AUS)