Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 15, 1995 TAG: 9507170128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Gallagher shot a 6-under-par 65, matching the best score of the first two rounds, to reach the midpoint at 8-under 134.
Blaine McCallister's 67 and Jim Carter's 69 left them one stroke off the lead, and Steve Pate, Jim McGovern, Ted Tryba, Scott Hoch and Fred Funk were in a group at 136. (Scores in Scoreboard. B4)
Don Reese also shot 65 Friday and was one of nine players at 137. Kirk Triplett, who was eight under after 15 holes, bogeyed 16 and was penalized two strokes for putting from the wrong marker on the 18th green. He's also at 137.
Gallagher, who made a 12-foot birdie putt on 18, had moved from a pack at five under with an eagle on No.15.
``I was trying to land the ball on the green and it came out a little soft,'' he said of the sand wedge from 20 feet. ``But it hit the fringe hard and released really well. I was surprised it rolled as far as it did.''
Gallagher made a similar shot two weeks ago on his way to winning the St.Jude Classic in Memphis, his second victory of the year. He has also finished second twice and is sixth on the money list with $832,038.
``A win here could get me on the Ryder Cup team,'' said Gallagher, who currently stands 11th in the rankings, one spot away from an automatic berth for the international event. ``That was one of my goals at the start of the year.''
Carter, who snuck onto the leaderboard late Thursday with a bogey-free 66, followed with a scatter-shot 69 that included seven birdies and five bogeys on the 6,797-yard River Course of the Kingsmill Golf Club.
He capped a three-birdie string by chipping in from deep grass on the par-3 5th, but also three-putted twice. All of his bogeys came in two stretches after he had pushed his score to 10 under.
``That stuff happens,'' he said after closing with three straight bogeys. ``The finish is discouraging, but I'll learn from it. It'll probably help me on the weekend, so maybe it's just an investment.''
Defending champion Mark McCumber and Curtis Strange, who lives at Kingsmill, just made the cut at even par.
In all, 73 players qualified to stick around. Most notable among those going home were Chip Beck, Mike Hulbert, Kenny Knox, and Virginia-born brothers Lanny and Bobby Wadkins. Lanny Wadkins, Hulbert and Knox share the course record of 266, and Wadkins and Hulbert are former champions.
by CNB